Consumer Goods Leaders Urged to Treat AI as Enterprise Mandate, Not IT Initiative

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach Newswire - 25 June 2026 - Speaking at the Global Summit of the Consumer Goods Forum, Dr Malina Ngai, Group CEO of AS Watson, shared a clear message to industry leaders: AI transformation is not an IT programme - it is a CEO mandate.

Presenting on the subject "CEO AI Playbook" for retailers and manufacturers, Malina shared that while many organisations have identified AI use cases, few have addressed the real barrier to scale: culture and system design.

"AI does not transform companies. Leaders do," said Malina. "Culture moves when everyone moves. If AI sits in IT, it fails. If every function moves together, it scales."

From Pilots to Enterprise Synchronisation

Malina challenged the traditional cascade model - CEO to IT to training to business units - calling it too slow for today's environment.

Instead, she outlined a CEO-led synchronised approach in which all businesses and functions adopt AI simultaneously, supported by IT and HR. AI is horizontal, not vertical. Everyone moves in parallel, embedding AI directly into workflows, decisions, and performance management.

"This is not about experimentation at the edges," Malina said. "It is about enterprise-wide execution."

Redefining ROI: From Static Returns to Compounding Value

"Traditionally, we start with a defined investment. We build a business case, implement the solution, and drive initial adoption. Once deployed, we measure productivity gains and calculate ROI. The focus is on achieving a fixed financial return within a set timeframe. Value is captured once - not compounded."

"In AS Watson, we begin with Value Creation - identifying high-impact AI use cases aligned to strategy in each function. Once value is proven, we drive Adoption across workflows to embed it operationally."

"As adoption deepens, we achieve Value Scaling - expanding across functions, geographies, and additional use cases . That leads to measurable Value Realisation which funds and accelerates the next wave of value creation. This is how ROI becomes compounding value."

The Agility Equation

A central moment of the keynote was the introduction of a simple formula:

Agility = Acceleration – Friction

Acceleration comes from technology investment and ambition. Friction comes from complexity, silos, slow decision rights, and misaligned incentives.

"Agility is not a talent issue. It is not a capability issue, not a software issue," Malina said. "It is a leadership choice and a system design issue."

She opined that most companies overinvest in acceleration while underinvesting in friction removal - leaving AI initiatives stalled in pilots rather than scaled across the enterprise.

"The question is not how to add more speed," she said. "It is what friction leaders are willing to remove."

A CEO Agenda

Closing the session, Malina positioned AI as a defining leadership test for the industry.

"AI will not transform the company because you bought it. It will transform your company because you led it."

"The return on AI doesn't come from the tool. It comes from the courage to change how the company works."

"GenAI will not just change how retailers and manufacturers work — it will change how we work together."

"Retail will become more human, not less. Technology will be invisible. Customers will remember how we made them feel, not how advanced our systems were."

In an environment defined by margin pressure, supply chain volatility, and shifting consumer expectations, the message resonated clearly: AI-driven agility is no longer optional - it is structural.


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About AS Watson Group

Established in 1841, AS Watson Group is one of the world's longest-standing and most recognised retail companies with roots in Asia. Today, the company operates over 17,000 stores across 12 retail brands in 31 markets, employing 130,000 people globally. This makes AS Watson Group the largest international health and beauty retailer in the world.

In the fiscal year 2025, AS Watson Group reported revenue of over US$26 billion. The company's technology-enabled O+O (Offline plus Online) platforms serve over 6 billion shoppers annually, seamlessly integrating physical and digital retail experiences.

AS Watson Group supported over 180 charitable and non-profit organisations every year, dedicating over 40,000 hours of volunteer work to serve over 370,000 people in need in our operating markets.

AS Watson Group is also a member of the world-renowned multinational conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings Limited, which has four core businesses - ports and related services, retail, infrastructure and telecommunications in over 50 countries.

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