AI Strategy: How PepsiCo and Infosys Built a Unified Sales Platform That Scales
PepsiCo's Direct-to-Store Delivery operation is massive-500,000+ weekly store visits and a 25,000-person field force across PepsiCo Foods North America. Keeping that machine on track requires accuracy, speed, and repeatable execution at every stop.
To keep pace with consumer expectations and new retail models like click-and-collect and dark stores, PepsiCo moved from a closed, aging stack to a flexible, mobile-first platform. Infosys partnered with the team to co-engineer the shift and bring AI-driven decisioning to the frontline.
The Two-Phase Build: Modernize First, Then Add Intelligence
Phase one consolidated dozens of workflows into Sales+, a unified, cloud-native, mobile-first platform. It replaced more than 40 legacy apps with a connected ecosystem on iOS, giving every role a guided experience that reduces noise and surfaces what matters.
Phase two added "Smart" capabilities-real-time insights, predictive recommendations, and automation across the go-to-market chain. The goal: extreme productivity and faster decisions from the depot to the shelf.
On the engineering side, Infosys helped deliver what they describe as the world's largest implementation of Xamarin mobile apps, with ERP-like capabilities and full offline functionality. The program tied into a broader ERP transformation while retiring legacy systems that were nearing end of life.
What Frontline Sales Get Today
- Role-based tools that guide planning, store execution, and selling-without jumping between dozens of apps.
- Digital planograms and asset management to keep shelves compliant and displays on point.
- Proactive notifications so reps can act before small issues become lost sales.
- Paperless proof of delivery and mobile banking to speed cash flow and remove manual steps.
The result is fewer taps, less context switching, and more time with customers. Sales teams can focus on selling and service instead of wrestling with fragmented workflows.
Where AI Fits-and Why It Matters to Sales
- Predictive recommendations that guide orders, promotions, and execution priorities by store and route.
- Real-time insights that highlight exceptions and opportunities while reps are in the field.
- Automation that removes repetitive tasks and standardizes best practices across territories.
Infosys also used generative AI to reduce tech debt and improve developer productivity, helping the platform evolve faster without breaking reliability or scale. Their AI suite (Infosys Topaz) is embedded across core processes so improvements show up where work actually happens-on the handheld.
Metrics Sales Leaders Should Track
- Time in store per stop and units per stop (are visits getting leaner and more productive?).
- Order accuracy, returns, and on-shelf execution by planogram.
- Display compliance and conversion from recommended actions.
- Route adherence and visit cadence by segment.
- DSO improvements from paperless POD and mobile banking.
- Customer satisfaction at the account and store level.
A Practical Playbook You Can Apply
- Consolidate frontline workflows into one mobile-first, role-based app with offline support.
- Map the end-to-end route-to-cash process; strip out steps that don't help sell or serve.
- Integrate with ERP and your core data sources so AI recommendations are grounded in reality.
- Embed "next action" guidance in the workflow-don't make reps hunt for insights.
- Train field leaders on how to coach to the new metrics and run weekly reviews.
- Release in slices, collect feedback, and iterate fast based on rep adoption and store outcomes.
Sustainability and Speed
Digital proof of delivery, mobile banking, and digital planograms remove paper and waste while speeding operations. That's good for margins, the environment, and the customer experience.
Why This Partnership Worked
A long-standing alliance gave Infosys deep context across PepsiCo's Make, Move, and Sell processes. Both teams operated as one-shared priorities, shared knowledge, and a clear bar for measurable outcomes.
Resources
- Xamarin overview (Microsoft) for background on large-scale mobile app builds with offline support.
- Complete AI Training: Latest AI courses if you're upskilling sales teams on AI-driven workflows and coaching.
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