The makers of America’s trusted household brands rely on its people — from the scientists ensuring product safety, to the farmers growing wheat for bread and the truckers on the road to the retailers — and some companies have embraced how AI can support — not supplant — their teams that are integral to the industry’s mission: delivering for the consumer, every day.

Conagra Brands is one such company leading in this space. The company is leveraging the responsible use of AI to enhance and support its efforts by “putting employees at the center of its AI strategy” across its IT, Supply Chain, R&D, Demand Science, Brand and Design operations.

Conagra is utilizing generative AI, intelligent automation and strategic collaborations with Ernst & Young LLP (EY) and Microsoft to empower employees with resources that accelerate decision-making, efficiently synthesize large data sets and enable growth. According to the company, some examples include:

• Fueling Employee Empowerment and Productivity: By utilizing Microsoft technology solutions, such as Microsoft Power Platform and Azure OpenAI Service, Conagra employees utilize agile tools to drive productivity and automate routine tasks. In addition, the company has tested new solutions to solve more complex manual processes within its production facilities. For example, Conagra and Microsoft joined forces for a two-day hackathon to develop new automated product labeling procedures to improve the accuracy of key information found on product labels, aiding traceability and quality assurance.
• Enhancing AI-Driven Branding Solutions: Conagra and EY are exploring the potential of generative AI models to develop branded imagery to support marketing and advertising projects. The teams are evaluating existing design processes and product images, fine-tuning datasets and training AI models to create images that can be tailored to specific brand requirements. This initiative aims to scale, accelerate and streamline the content creation process through iterative collaboration with the Conagra team.

“We have established a strong technology foundation that enables our employees to identify, prioritize and build fast and flexible solutions powered by AI for the benefit of the entire company,” said Tracy Schaefer, senior vice president and chief information officer at Conagra Brands. “These initiatives, which blend IT and business strategy, will help Conagra introduce new dynamic approaches for our business and respond quickly to industry trends.”

Learn more about how Conagra is leveraging AI with a focus on empowering employees here.