Hershey cuts product development by three months using AI
Hershey's vice-president of brand development Daniel Mohnshine says the company has shaved three months off its innovation pipeline by using AI to accelerate concepting, prototyping and consumer feedback loops.
The acceleration reflects a broader shift across consumer brands where marketing now sits at the center of product development, data strategy and innovation. At Hershey, that means the CMO oversees R&D, consumer communications, creative and media alongside traditional marketing functions.
Where AI is actually making a difference
Much of the public conversation around AI focuses on content generation. The real gains at Hershey are happening earlier in the process.
"We use AI in a couple of ways," Mohnshine said. "One is, it's a great tool for gathering insights. Having insights and understanding what's coming next is critical to speed."
The company applies AI to concept faster and develop prototypes, then collect consumer feedback much faster than before. For a company the scale of Hershey, removing three months from development cycles changes the economics of innovation. It allows teams to test more aggressively, react faster to emerging behaviors and fail earlier before expensive commitments.
"Failing fast is valuable," Mohnshine said. "Failure is learning."
The speed creates internal tension
Acceleration brings risk. Hershey still requires internal processes and legal review before launches. The difference is that legal and compliance teams now understand the consumer-first mentality across all functions and want to support faster timelines.
"With extra speed comes risk," Mohnshine acknowledged. "But if you put the consumer at the heart of everything across all functions, everybody gets it and they want to support you."
AI won't replace marketers, but it will change the job
Mohnshine rejected the narrative that AI will eliminate marketing roles. "The biggest myth is that it's going to replace jobs or somehow replace marketing and the skills required. We still look for people that are highly strategic and understand consumers and can use AI as a tool to amplify skills they already have."
Human judgment remains critical, particularly as brands compete for attention. The winning work at this year's marketing awards wasn't random disruption. The best campaigns found ways to surprise audiences while staying grounded in brand identity.
"The future winners in marketing are going to be able to disrupt consumers and act a little bit unexpectedly," Mohnshine said. "Not that they're off-brand, but unexpected enough that they capture attention and motivate people to pay attention and act differently."
The real advantage is speed at the fundamentals
For all the AI hype, the competitive edge may come from mastering basics faster than competitors. Getting consumer-centric, using available data and applying fundamentals well at speed.
The future belongs not to the loudest brands or the most automated ones, but to companies capable of learning quicker than everyone else without losing their identity.
Learn more about AI for Product Development and how it's reshaping innovation timelines across industries.
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