PepsiCo is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation with a long-standing presence in over 200 countries around the globe. For years, the company has been a leader in the food and beverage industries, offering a wide selection of over 500 consumer products across seven business divisions and employing over 300,000 people globally.
In 2020, PepsiCo appointed Athina Kanioura as its first-ever chief strategy and transformation officer. Kanioura has over two decades of experience in technology implementation and she set out to revolutionize how PepsiCo used technology internally. During her nine-month tenure, Kanioura made it a point to understand the operations of the organization and its people from the top executives down to the delivery drivers and warehouse workers.
Kanioura realized that when a company implements new tech tools, they should strive to make all employees feel like they’re part of the process. She also emphasized the importance of cultural change as well as clear communication when using technology, knowing that it can be intimidating and bring up fear among staff.
From launching the PepsiCo Digital Academy to global standards and strategic change management, Kanioura’s five-year global digital strategy has been carefully tailored to fit the needs of the organization. The digital academy offers instructor-led programs, videos, blog posts and podcasts on topics such as leadership and management, as well as “future-ready” skills – all of which have given employees the opportunity to increase their knowledge and further understand the digital transformation.
Overall, Kanioura understands the need for technology and the opportunities it can open; however, she stresses the importance of workers when carrying out digital strategies. Even though tech moves at rapid speed, humans do not and she emphasizes the need for change management. Kanioura believes that in order for businesses to expedite technological innovation, leaders should identify change agents and reward them for their contributions.
Ultimately, Kanioura is adamant that the use of technology should always be kept in mind as a tool to benefit the users and empower “the human” and to never be considered differently.
