New Delhi, Sept. 4 -- Consumer healthcare and food conglomerate Nestle has upped its annual technology budget for its Indian unit, which has previously allocated Rs.110-130 crore each year in the immediate aftermath of the Covid-19 onset.
The company that had reported an annualised budget of around Rs.155 crore the previous year has pushed the needle to Rs.180 crore in the year ended March 31, 2025. Notably, in the previous financial year, the total tech spend was logged at Rs.193.89 crore, albeit for a 15-month period as the company changed its accounting period. Annualising it, Nestle upped tech spend by around 16% last year.
Although Nestle did not respond to TechCircle's questions about digital transformation efforts at the firm, our analysis of the company's public reports has shown that in the last decade, it has accelerated its digital journey across consumer marketing, distributor outreach, and in factories.
"Our commitment to building a robust AI and data foundation has been pivotal. With a team that is humble, hungry, innovative, and smart, we are now on a journey to be GenAI-ready, driving operational efficiency and creating significant business value. Together, we've harnessed the power of data to enhance employee effectiveness and position ourselves for a future defined by intelligent solutions across the value chain," said Krishna Guha Roy Head, Digital and IT, in the annual report.
Nestle is using data analytics, and is moving from information-based platforms onto predictive platforms. With sales automation software guiding decisions, Nestle's sales teams can identify high impact outlets, regions, promotion strategies. Its distribution centers are also fully tech-enabled, while factories across India are environmentally sustainable and digitally connected with the latest technologies, the company has noted.
Nestle's sales network has tapped into AI- and ML-powered technologies to expand its RUrban reach with the launch of Re-Distributor Management Solution (RD DMS), a cloud-based platform designed specifically for RUrban distributors. To be sure, RUrban is the company's strategy for smaller towns and villages. The system is complemented by smart automation that links consumer and trade initiatives from planning to point-of-sale execution.
The company has also upgraded its recommendation engine with MSS 2.0-the evolved version of 'Must Sell SKUs'-which delivers more granular, subchannel, and pin code-specific recommendations. This upgrade improves relevance across geographies and customer segments, driving higher sales efficiency.
Nestle's factories are also advancing towards full-scale Industry 4.0 deployment, using interconnected systems and real-time data analytics to improve efficiency, productivity, and flexibility. The company has rolled out Digital Manufacturing Operations (DMO), which helps optimise workforce deployment and introduces new-age capability-building solutions across factories.
In 2025, Nestle aims to strengthen enterprise-wide AI capabilities and data literacy further, while its Digital and IT teams will focus on investments aligned with strategic priorities-driving operational excellence and long-term resilience.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from TechCircle.