Dabur taps Accenture to scale AI across core operations

Homegrown consumer goods company Dabur has signed a multi-year collaboration with Accenture to accelerate artificial intelligence adoption across its business, deepening the FMCG maker's digital transformation as consumer goods companies increasingly turn to AI to sharpen demand forecasting, improve supply chain efficiency and protect margins.

The partnership announced on Tuesday will see Accenture help build a unified enterprise data foundation that combines structured and unstructured data into a centralised data lake, enabling AI-powered decision-making across finance, procurement, marketing, sales and supply chain functions. 

The initiative marks Dabur's next phase of digital transformation after becoming one of India's earliest cloud-only FMCG enterprises in 2023, when it migrated its core business applications to the cloud with Accenture as its implementation partner. 

As part of the latest programme, the company will deploy AI-enabled control towers and digital dashboards to provide real-time visibility into business performance, while advanced analytics will be used to identify revenue growth opportunities, optimize costs and improve end-to-end operational visibility.

Dabur also plans to roll out generative AI-powered conversational assistants that will allow business users to query enterprise data in natural language and access insights faster without relying on traditional reporting systems.

"At Dabur, our AI strategy is focused on enabling faster, more informed decisions in response to evolving consumer expectations and dynamic market conditions," said Manas Mehra, Global Chief Information Officer at Dabur India. He said the company aims to build a "digital brain" on top of a strong data foundation to improve demand sensing, governance and enterprise-wide intelligence.

Ankur Chaudhary, Managing Director and Lead for the Products Group, India Business at Accenture, said FMCG companies are facing growing operational complexity amid changing consumer behaviour and diversified product portfolios. Embedding AI into core business processes would enable faster decisions, stronger demand sensing and more resilient operations, he said.

Unlike many earlier enterprise AI programmes that focused on experimentation, the Dabur engagement is centred on measurable business outcomes. The companies said the transformation will prioritize high-impact use cases linked to value realization, spend optimization and EBITDA margin expansion, while also redesigning operating models, governance and workforce capabilities to support AI adoption at scale.

The announcement reflects a broader shift among Indian consumer goods companies from isolated AI pilots to enterprise-wide reinvention. As growth moderates and competitive pressures intensify, FMCG companies are investing in AI to improve forecasting accuracy, optimise inventories, automate decision-making and increase productivity without proportionately expanding costs.

For Accenture, the Dabur engagement adds to a growing portfolio of AI-led transformation programmes with major consumer brands. Globally, the consulting firm has expanded its strategic work with Unilever to deploy generative AI, AI-powered digital twins and data-driven manufacturing across its operations. 

In India, Accenture has also been deepening AI and digital transformation engagements across sectors. Recent collaborations include modernisation programmes with enterprises such as Malabar Gold & Diamonds and Mankind Pharma, alongside its expanding ecosystem partnerships with AI companies including OpenAI and Anthropic to help clients move from pilots to production-scale AI deployments.