Leadership Perspectives

Florence Bateson is the Senior Business Relationship Manager at Kellanova, supporting European Commercial Execution. With more than 22 years at Kellanova, Florence has built extensive organizational knowledge through the delivery of both tactical and strategic transformation initiatives across Supply Chain, Research & Development, and Revenue Growth Management. Passionate about driving efficient, effective ways of working that unlock potential, Florence now leverages her end-to-end business experience in Information Technology to deliver data and technology solutions that empower field sales teams to better serve customers.

My role is to partner with Commercial Execution leaders across Europe to understand their ambitions and pain points, and to help them deliver their goals. Together, we explore where data and technology may be creating barriers or where they could unlock new opportunities. I then work with our regional and global architects to assess both existing and emerging solutions that address these challenges and enable our commercial ambitions.

We stay ahead of market trends by assessing external signals with what we see in our own execution data. We leverage syndicated and customer insights to track shifts in shopper behavior, category dynamics, and competitor activity, and we supplement these with store-level indicators. In parallel, we stay closely connected to technology developments with our strategic partners, enabling us to translate emerging customer needs into relevant technology solutions.

Customer focus starts with being clear on what “value” means for each customer; whether that’s growth in a priority category, improved availability, better shelf productivity, or simpler ways of working for their teams. From there, we ensure our field sales efforts add value to individual customer objectives. Utilizing internal and external data to inform actions to take by customer/store and tools and systems to check compliance and performance to tailor future activities to the store’s reality.

Over the next five years, I expect the “IT for Sales” landscape to shift in three big ways: from tools to connected platforms, from reporting to real-time decision support, and from manual admin to automation (including AI). For companies like Kellanova, that’s a growth opportunity, because the organizations that win will be the ones that can turn data into simple, timely actions for sales teams and customers. For Kellanova, I see three practical areas to lean into: field sales as retail partners (not just executors): equipping teams with store-level insights, opportunity alerts, and guided actions so every visit creates value. A stronger data foundation and common measures: integrating key customer/retailer and execution data into a trusted ecosystem so we can move faster and scale what works across markets. Responsible AI and automation: using AI to reduce time spent searching for insights and capturing information, while keeping governance, privacy, and security front and center.

For me, innovation enables sales growth when it removes complexity and unnecessary manual activity for us and our customers; helping us spend less time on admin and more time creating value in-store. The biggest opportunities I see are in: (1) bringing together retailer, execution and promotional data in automated insights; (2) using analytics and responsible AI to prioritize the highest-value opportunities and allowing this to route our field sales teams, and (3) automating in-store capture, so we improve execution quality without adding workload. (4) Communication tools that allow actions in the field to be seen by the whole customer team (account manager, customer service rep, and marketer) so collectively they can move the dial.

The innovations I see as most critical are: (1) automated insights at field teams’ fingertips; (2) end-to-end communication tools that connect field, account, and support teams; (3) dynamic routing informed by live, store-level insights; and (4) image recognition to improve the speed and consistency of in-store capture and execution. Our Field Sales Next Gen program is already exploring how we can deliver against these. Working with StayinFront to understand how their portfolio can enable each of these areas gives me confidence that we can continue to accelerate growth at Kellanova.

Sustainable growth has to come from delivering more value, not just higher prices. For me, that means winning through a combination of disciplined revenue growth management, strong availability and execution at shelf, and the right innovation in the right channels. It also means using data and technology to target effort where it will have the greatest impact; improving forecast accuracy, reducing out-of-stocks, tailoring assortments and promotions, and freeing up selling time, so we grow volume and share while strengthening customer partnerships.

I look for a partner that builds an open, honest, and transparent relationship, aligned to shared outcomes. Who can deliver top quality sustainment of our current solution whilst able to engage and deliver strategic change for the future with us. They should be able to deliver strong technology and analytics capabilities, while also embedding the change management and adoption support that is essential when introducing new ways of working. Above all, they need to be as customer, consumer, and employee-centric as we are; simplifying critical day-to-day activities and freeing up capacity to focus on growth opportunities.

StayinFront’s AI capability is most valuable when it helps our teams move from capturing information to acting on it. Tools such as actionable alerts and Next Best Action help focus visits on the biggest execution opportunities, while image recognition can significantly improve the speed and consistency of shelf and display audits by identifying gaps, compliance issues, and opportunities directly from in-store images. Features like burst capture and image stitching make it practical to capture full fixtures, and the resulting KPIs can be updated quickly so actions are clear during the visit, not days later. Combined with Dynamic Routing, these insights help us get to the right stores at the right time, improve availability and visibility, and ultimately drive more effective retail execution.

My priorities are to help our field sales teams spend less time on low-value admin and more time creating value with customers, while improving the consistency and quality of execution in our must-win outlets. Practically, that means three things: (1) providing a single, trusted view of store performance with clear ‘what to do next’ recommendations; (2) focusing visits on the highest-value opportunities through smarter planning; and (3) reducing time spent capturing data in-store. StayinFront can support this by continuing to deliver great sustainment support, partnering with us in delivery of tactical topics that come up, and continuing our work on building a roadmap to onboard the latest capabilities that deliver this value.

I’m a mixer! I love a mix of our traditional / Classics in Special K or Corn Flakes with one of our newest Crunchy Nut Granola flavor extension “Barista”. It allows me to combine my classic side with my more adventurous, caffeine-needing side!