EY Report: AI-Driven Platforms Reshape Consumer Product Selection, Exposing Competitive Gaps

Event summary

  • 71% of surveyed consumer product executives agree structural disruption requires rapid transformation, but most organizations remain unprepared.
  • 47% of executives believe influencing algorithmic product recommendations will be critical within five years, yet only 21% believe they can deliver this today.
  • Only 11% of organizations report sales, marketing, and e-commerce operating as a unified growth engine.
  • 77% of organizations say partnerships with retailers, platforms, and digital channels are now central to their commercial strategy.

The big picture

The EY report highlights a critical shift in the consumer products sector, where brands are no longer just competing for attention but for visibility within AI-driven platforms. This transformation is driven by the increasing control of discovery through search, recommendations, and retail media, necessitating a fundamental redesign of commercial decision-making processes. The report underscores the urgency for organizations to integrate sales, marketing, and e-commerce functions to remain competitive in an ecosystem-driven commercial model.

What we're watching

Competitive Advantage
How the widening gap between AI-driven platforms and traditional commercial models will impact brand visibility and selection.
Organizational Readiness
Whether companies can turn expert experimentation into scalable capabilities to influence algorithm-driven discovery.
Governance Dynamics
The pace at which organizations address governance complexity and unclear decision rights to enable end-to-end commercial decision-making.