‘We must lead this shift’ Unilever taps Google Cloud to supercharge business transformation and pioneer 'agentic commerce'

Unilever has signed a five-year deal with Google Cloud under which it will use the hyperscaler's AI, data, platform, and marketing capabilities to accelerate business transformation.

The aim is to build new capabilities in brand discovery, measurement, and AI-augmented marketing for Unilever’s global portfolio, which includes brands such as Dove, Vaseline and Hellmann's.

"Technology has moved to the core of value creation at Unilever,” said Willem Uijen, chief supply chain and operations officer at Unilever.

“As brands are increasingly discovered and chosen in environments shaped by AI, we must lead this shift," Uijen added.

"This collaboration with Google Cloud sets a new level in how technology can power commerce and growth in the fast-moving consumer goods industry, ensuring Unilever is agile, fit for the future, and equipped to unlock value at every level of the company.”

By migrating its integrated data and cloud platform to Google Cloud, Unilever plans to build an enterprise-wide, “AI-first digital backbone”.

The consumer goods giant said it hopes to generate demand faster, turn data into actionable insights, and respond to market shifts in a more agile way.

Unilever targets 'agentic commerce' gains

The deal will focus on three core pillars: agentic commerce and marketing intelligence, an integrated data and cloud foundation, and advanced AI.

Under the agreement, the two companies will work together to build next-generation marketing capabilities across brand discovery, conversion, and measurement to deal with shifts in technology and consumer habits.

Meanwhile, Unilever will transition key enterprise applications and data platforms to Google Cloud, creating a connected environment for scalable AI deployment across the value chain.

Notably, Unilever said the partnership will help fast-track its adoption of emerging technologies, combining Unilever's expertise with Google's AI capabilities.

“In partnering with Unilever as it boldly reimagines its business processes, we are not just modernizing legacy systems; we are deploying our advanced models, such as Gemini, to create a system of intelligence that reasons, learns, and acts, said Tara Brady, president, EMEA, at Google Cloud.

"This will set a new standard for agility and consumer engagement in the [consumer packaged goods] CPG sector.”

Unilever is one of the world’s largest suppliers of beauty and wellbeing, personal care, home care, and foods products, and has undergone a significant transformation over the last five years.

In 2023, for example, the company signed a deal with Accenture that enabled it to become a cloud-only operation. The move saw the company switch to running most of its cloud estate on Microsoft Azure.

Elsewhere, the consumer goods giant has focused heavily on a range of AI projects through its Horizon3 Labs, and already has 500 AI applications in place.

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