Mario Morales Book a call

Data strategy & AI advisory · Manufacturing, supply chain and procurement

From Data & AI pilots to production.

Data strategy, data governance and AI leadership for manufacturing, supply chain and procurement.

28+ years at PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, HP and Fujitsu. Former Global Data & AI Products Lead for Manufacturing & Procurement at PepsiCo, where I built data foundations covering ~$40Bn of procurement spend and surfacing ~$70MM in working-capital opportunities. Based in Barcelona, working across Europe.

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Available for senior leadership roles and advisory mandates

Track record in numbers

PepsiCo · Procter & Gamble · HP · Fujitsu
~$70MM

working-capital opportunities from spare-parts data, Europe alone

~$40Bn

global procurement spend on one data foundation · 90+ countries

30%

efficiency gain via intelligent automation across global BPO centres

$8MM

agriculture cost savings in Europe

$8Bn

European procurement organisation supported · 600+ associates, 30+ locations

~€15MM

services tower scope I owned (€10–15MM) in global IT outsourcing deals at HP

23/50K

SAP production systems / users upgraded for P&G

28+

years in enterprise IT, Data & AI · 16 at PepsiCo

What I do

I help consumer-goods and industrial companies turn supply chain, procurement and manufacturing into measurable value through Data & AI. Not pilots that stall: industrialised, governed solutions that run end to end.

Services

Where most companies stall, I start

Each engagement targets one problem and ends with concrete deliverables. Engagements are scoped after a discovery call.

Featured · Entry offer

Data & AI Value Diagnostic

A fixed-scope assessment of where Data & AI can create value in your operations. It ends with a prioritised use-case map and a 90-day plan. Low commitment, clear next steps.

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2–3 weeks
Scope
Fixed
Output
Prioritised use-case map
Output
90-day plan
Strategy4–8 weeks

Data & AI Strategy & Roadmap

AI ambition without priorities, budget logic or sequencing.

  • Value-based use-case portfolio
  • Maturity assessment
  • 12–36 month roadmap
  • Business case
Scale6–12 weeks

From Pilot to Production

Pilot purgatory: use cases that never scale.

  • Industrialisation playbook
  • Data foundation and MLOps blueprint
  • Scale-up plan per use case
Organisation4–8 weeks

Data & AI Operating Model

Unclear ownership between business, IT and data teams.

  • Target operating model
  • Roles and RACI, governance board
  • Delivery cadences
  • CoE / federated design
Governance4–6 weeks

Data Governance & Responsible AI Readiness

Data quality, master data and AI risk blocking scale. EU AI Act on the horizon.

  • Governance framework
  • Data quality rules approach
  • AI risk and use-case inventory
  • EU AI Act readiness plan
OperationsProject-based

Manufacturing & Supply Chain AI

OT/IT data silos. Predictive maintenance, spare parts, scheduling and shop-floor copilots stuck in pilots.

  • Use-case assessment
  • IT/OT data architecture
  • Vendor evaluation
  • Pilot design with scale criteria
OperationsProject-based

Procurement Digitalisation

Manual source-to-pay, low automation, weak spend data.

  • S2P / R2P digital roadmap
  • Automation and BPO design
  • Procurement data foundation
  • Agentic AI use cases
Leadership2–3 days/week · 3–12 months

Fractional / Interim Head of Data & AI

No senior Data & AI leader, or a gap during hiring.

  • Hands-on leadership
  • Portfolio and vendor governance
  • Team set-up
LeadershipPer session

Executive Workshops & Speaking

Leadership team needs a shared view of AI value and risk.

  • Half-day / one-day workshop
  • Keynote
  • Board briefing
StartupsAdvisory retainer

AI Startup Advisory

Founders selling into manufacturing and CPG without an enterprise lens.

  • Value proposition
  • Product roadmap
  • Go-to-market
  • Enterprise-buyer perspective

Prices are not listed. Every engagement is scoped after a discovery call.

Impact

Proof I have done it, at global scale

Six programmes I led. Challenge, approach and outcome, at public level.

PepsiCo · Manufacturing

~$70MM

working-capital opportunities identified in Europe alone

Global Spare-Parts Data Foundation

Challenge
Spare-parts (MRO) data fragmented across factories and systems, with no global view of inventory or excess stock.
Approach
Delivered a global spare-parts data foundation that brings MRO inventory data from factories into one governed, analysable view.
Outcome
Exposed excess MRO inventory and identified ~$70MM in working-capital opportunities in Europe alone.

PepsiCo · Procurement

~$40Bn

global procurement spend on one data foundation, 90+ countries

Global Procurement Data Foundation

Challenge
Spend data split across regions, systems and source-to-pay tools, with no single global view of spend, suppliers or consumption.
Approach
Established the Global Procurement Data Foundation: one governed data layer for PepsiCo's global procurement spend, built for advanced analytics and global reporting.
Outcome
~$40Bn of spend across 90+ countries in one foundation, enabling global reporting on spend, supplier consolidation and consumption.

PepsiCo · Procurement

30%

efficiency gain through intelligent automation

Digital Procurement across three regions

Challenge
Source-to-pay across Europe, AMESA and Asia Pacific running on manual, fragmented processes and BPO centres.
Approach
Led IT and digital strategy for Global Procurement: Requisition-to-Pay automation, BPO solutions, platform deployments and data solutions for advanced analytics and agentic AI.
Outcome
30% efficiency gain through intelligent automation (RPA) across global BPO centres. Enabled the CPO's Digital Procurement vision.

PepsiCo · Agriculture

$8MM

agriculture cost savings in Europe

Agriculture Data Foundation for Europe

Challenge
Agricultural value chain data fragmented across seed planning, growers, crop tracking and plants.
Approach
Founded and built a Europe-wide data foundation digitising the chain end to end, from seed planning to full potato production.
Outcome
$8MM in agriculture cost savings in Europe. The foundation became the data backbone of PepsiCo's Regenerative Agriculture ambition.

PepsiCo · Manufacturing

Pilot → production

governed, scalable AI across factories and the value chain

Industrialising AI in Manufacturing

Challenge
Manufacturing AI solutions living as isolated pilots, with inconsistent data and no path to scale.
Approach
Defined the global Data & AI product portfolio. Built data preparation, contextualisation and MLOps foundations. Set data governance, data quality and Responsible AI guardrails.
Outcome
Solutions moved from isolated pilots to governed, scalable production across factories and the value chain.

Procter & Gamble · via HP

23 / 50K

SAP production systems and end users

Global SAP upgrade

Challenge
Supply Chain and Finance SAP landscape to be upgraded globally without disrupting operations.
Approach
Programme Manager for the upgrade to mySAP 2005, leading a 200-member multi-region team.
Outcome
Delivered across 23 production systems and ~50,000 end users.

About

Where operations, technology and data meet

Computer Systems Engineer by training, with executive education at MIT Sloan and UC Berkeley Haas.

For nearly three decades I have worked where operations, technology and data meet. Most recently I was PepsiCo's Global Data & AI Products Lead for Manufacturing & Procurement, defining the roadmap, data foundation and portfolio of AI and data products that shape how the company plans, produces and moves products. That included the global spare-parts data foundation, which identified ~$70MM in working-capital opportunities in Europe alone.

Before that I led IT and digital strategy for PepsiCo Global Procurement across Europe, AMESA and Asia Pacific, and in parallel for Europe Agriculture. I established the Global Procurement Data Foundation, covering ~$40Bn of spend across 90+ countries; digitised source-to-pay, with a 30% efficiency gain through intelligent automation across global BPO centres; and founded the Agriculture Data Foundation for Europe, from seed planning to full potato production, now the data backbone of PepsiCo's Regenerative Agriculture ambition, with $8MM in agriculture cost savings. Earlier, I supported the Europe Chief Procurement Officer across an $8Bn spend organisation with 600+ associates in 30+ locations.

Earlier, at HP, I ran the global SAP upgrade for Procter & Gamble across 23 production systems and ~50,000 users with a 200-person team, after six years at P&G owning its global SAP planning solution.

What I do best is the part where most companies stall: turning connected operations and promising pilots into data foundations, governance and delivery models that let AI run in production and show up in the P&L.

Career

1997 – now
  1. 07/2026 – nowSelf-employedBarcelonaIndependent Data & AI Advisor
  2. 10/2025 – noweWorksESADE AcceleratorAI Startups Advisor
  3. 04/2025 – nowCIONET Spain12,000+ leaders, 20+ countriesIndustry 4.0 Advisory Board Member
  4. 07/2024 – 07/2026PepsiCoGlobal Data & AI Products Lead — Manufacturing & Procurement
  5. 01/2021 – 07/2024PepsiCoIT Lead — Global Procurement & Europe Agriculture
  6. 04/2018 – 01/2021PepsiCoIT Business Relationship Manager — Europe Supply Chain
  7. 01/2017 – 04/2018PepsiCoIT Business Relationship Manager — Europe Procurement & Legal
  8. 04/2010 – 12/2016PepsiCoSenior PMO Manager — Europe
  9. 09/2008 – 03/2010Fujitsu ServicesSenior International Solution Architect (EMEA)
  10. 09/2003 – 07/2008HPOutsourcing Consultant (services tower lead, €10–15MM scope) · IT Program Manager · IT Supply Chain Consultant
  11. 11/1997 – 09/2003Procter & GambleIT Manager — global SAP DRP / planning solutions

Credentials

Education and certifications

Education

  • BSc Computer Systems EngineeringUniversidad Iberoamericana · 1993–1997
  • Strategy & Innovation for AIMIT Sloan · 2024–2025
  • Digital BusinessMIT Sloan · 2021–2024

Executive education

  • Data Strategy as a Competitive AdvantageUC Berkeley Haas · 2023
  • Product ManagementUC Berkeley Haas · 2022
  • Intrapreneurship & InnovationHEC Paris · 2021

Certifications

  • Developing & Managing a Successful Technology StrategyMIT Sloan
  • Accelerating Digital Transformation with Algorithmic Business ThinkingMIT Sloan
  • The Foundation Negotiator

Expertise

Five capability areas

Strategy & leadership

  • AI & Data Strategy
  • Digital Transformation
  • Data & AI Operating Model
  • Global Programme & Portfolio Delivery
  • C-level Stakeholder Management
  • Change Management & Adoption

Data & governance

  • Data Foundations
  • Data Products
  • Medallion architecture (Bronze/Silver/Gold)
  • Data Governance
  • Data Quality
  • Master Data
  • Responsible AI (GDPR, EU AI Act readiness)

AI & automation

  • Machine Learning
  • MLOps
  • Generative AI
  • Agentic AI
  • Intelligent Automation (RPA/UiPath)
  • Advanced Analytics

Operations domain

  • Manufacturing
  • Supply Chain
  • Procurement / Source-to-Pay
  • Agriculture
  • IT/OT integration (MES, ERP)
  • Industry 4.0

Platforms

  • Microsoft Azure
  • Databricks
  • Informatica
  • Power BI
  • SAP (S/4HANA, APO, BW)
  • Ariba
  • Credo AI

Speaking & insights

Perspectives on making AI work in real operations

Keynotes, panels, executive workshops and board briefings.

Past stages

  • Advanced Factories Summit 2026
  • World Digital Procurement Summit3rd edition
  • Tech Visionary CollectiveProcurement Leaders

Boards & networks

  • CIONET SpainIndustry 4.0 Advisory Board Member
  • eWorks — ESADE AcceleratorAI Startups Advisor
Invite me to speak

Contact

Start with 30 minutes.

Tell me the problem. In a short call we check whether I can help and what a first step looks like.

Discovery call

30 minutes, online. For advisory mandates and leadership roles.

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Email

LinkedIn

Posts, articles and full profile.

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CV

Full career history, PDF.

Download CV