Reclaiming Category Management: Why Now Is the Moment to Lead Again

Category management was built to be commercially strategic. More than 35 years later, the 8-step framework is still widely used – and yet something has shifted. Simon Dunn presents findings from Wave 1 of the Future of Category Management research – drawn from over 100 survey responses and 35 hours of interviews – where the discipline stands, where it is stalling, and what needs to change. Joining him is Dr. Brian Harris – the architect of modern category management – to reflect on what the data means, plus a live demonstration of AiRICA, Intent AI’s commercial growth platform built to close the data-to-decision gap.

What You’ll Learn

• Why 43% of organizations lack confidence their current category management approach will remain effective – and what is driving that gap
• What 35 years of structural change have done to the framework Brian designed – and why the original insight still holds
• Where capability gaps are sharpest: data use, AI readiness, and the Applied Learning Loop
• Why 73% of commercial teams are using AI minimally or not at all – and what the real barriers are
• How AiRICA is compressing the data-to-decision cycle for category and commercial teams in practice

Key takeaway: The strategic purpose of category management was always there. The data shows it has drifted – and the tools to reclaim it are now within reach.

Join the Research
Wave 2 is live now. In return for around 12 minutes of your time to complete their survey, you will receive a summary of the findings including earlier and deeper insights than will be shared publicly. Participate: optimaretail.com/getinvolved

About the Speakers
Simon Dunn is the founder of Optima Retail and lead researcher behind the Future of Category Management study across major global retail markets. His work focuses on category strategy, commercial capability, and the structural forces reshaping how suppliers and retailers create value together. optimaretail.com

Dr. Brian Harris is widely recognized as the architect of modern Category Management. He developed the 8-step process that has shaped the discipline for over three decades and, as CEO of Intent AI, is now at the forefront of defining what next-generation category management looks like in an AI-enabled commercial environment.

Julie Beck is Chief Customer Officer at Intent AI, where she leads the commercial application of AiRICA – an agentic, AI-powered growth decision system built on next-generation category management principles. Her focus is on translating analytical capability into commercial decisions that category teams can act on immediately. www.intentaitech.com

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