From data silos to actionable insights: Innovating within legacy constraints for the digital enterprise
Market View
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Interview with
Konstantin Artyukhov
GLOBAL HEAD OF STRATEGY AND FP&A
NOMAD FOODS
about
Konstantin Artyukhov
Konstantin Artyukhov is the Global Head of Strategy and FP&A at Nomad Foods, where he leads strategic initiatives and financial planning across the organisation. Since joining in 2022, he has spearheaded the transformation of the function to be more strategic and commercially focused, while expanding his role to include commercial finance operations and overheads management. He also serves as an Advisory Board Director at BestPlace Inc., bringing valuable expertise in geoanalytics and location-based business intelligence.
How has your organisation approached extracting value from data while working with legacy systems?
Our approach has been fundamentally integrated, combining external data from agencies like Nielsen and Euromonitor with our internal legacy system data. About two years ago, we undertook a comprehensive strategic review that perfectly illustrates this approach. We analysed industry dynamics across multiple levels - country, segment, and product type - examining historical data spanning 15-20 years alongside future forecasts.
This integration yielded remarkable insights. In one case, we identified a significant growth opportunity in our primary market, which led us to reshape our strategy to accelerate growth. More importantly, we discovered several markets approximately ten years behind in terms of market development, presenting clear opportunities for launching or relaunching specific segments. When we consolidated all this data into a single analytical framework, the strategic direction became crystal clear. The results have been remarkable - in one market where the segment had been relatively stable, we began seeing double-digit growth simply by introducing the right innovations and implementing targeted consumer activations.
It's worth noting that while working with legacy systems can be time-consuming when transforming data into insights, we've found ways to improve efficiency through careful prioritisation. We focus our efforts on areas where we believe the biggest opportunities lie, which allows us to channel our analysts' time effectively and generate actionable insights that drive business growth.
How do you translate data insights into measurable results?
We developed what I call our OGSM dashboard - Objectives, Goals, Strategies, and Measures. While fundamentally straightforward, it's proven incredibly effective. It's essentially a single page containing carefully curated KPIs, about a few dozen critical metrics, strategically grouped to provide comprehensive visibility into our performance tracking.
This consolidated view led to some surprising revelations. Despite being market leaders, we discovered areas where we weren't actually setting the industry benchmark. This sparked a significant strategic shift, particularly in areas crucial for our competitive positioning. Twelve months after identifying these KPIs, we've made substantial progress, and if we maintain our current trajectory, we're on track to become the industry benchmark within the next year.
I'm using the Toyota management system mentality here - a system developed in the 1950s and 1960s that remains remarkably relevant today. The fundamental principle is that no system can help if there isn't a clear and well-established process. By focusing on making processes lean and efficient, removing inefficiencies wherever possible, and analysing the needs of consumers and customers, we've achieved much better data integration naturally.
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Despite being market leaders, we discovered areas where we weren't actually setting the industry benchmark. This sparked a significant strategic shift in areas crucial for our competitive positioning.
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Modern geoanalytical tools have transformed how we understand our market - I've consistently seen sales uplift between 5-7%, often reaching 20-25%, while significantly reducing waste through improved mapping and rotation.
How do you see location-based data enhancing business value?
From my experience serving on the Advisory Board of a geoanalytics startup, I've witnessed the tremendous potential of location-based data. Modern geoanalytical tools can now update point-of-sale universes without physical visits, analyse footfall patterns, and evaluate critical infrastructure activity through a combination of open-source and proprietary data.
The real power lies in classification capabilities - categorising points of sale based on multiple factors like size, value creation potential, and optimal portfolio mix aligned with local demographics. I've consistently seen sales uplift between 5-7%, often reaching 20-25%. Beyond sales growth, it enables more efficient deployment of sales representatives and improves product rotation through better relevance. Importantly, from a sustainability perspective, this improved mapping and rotation significantly reduces waste.
I believe location-based data is the new oil that will fuel competition in an entirely new way. Those companies that utilise it most effectively will gain a significant competitive edge over their competition. When this data is merged with customer trends, consumer trends, and overall market data, it allows us to spot connections that give us a competitive advantage.
What's your approach to continuous improvement when working with legacy systems?
I firmly believe in the principle that a 2% improvement every week compounds to 100% improvement per year. When I joined two and a half years ago, we had an excellent monthly business overview providing a strong strategic perspective. However, we recognised that this high-level view sometimes lacked the granular detail needed to drive meaningful change.
We adopted a mindset of identifying areas for deep-dive analysis each month, constantly looking for those 2% improvements in efficiency and output. We've transformed our entire legacy database into an accessible instrument that's become our reference point. Today, our CEO or CFO can access this self-service tool to view historical trends, budgets, and forecasts, all updated automatically.
This transformation has been particularly relevant at Nomad Foods, given our growth through both organic means and M&A. A few years ago, it was common to acquire new businesses with their own systems and ways of working. Through our continuous improvement approach, we've managed to rationalise these systems while still extracting maximum value from legacy data. By applying this 2% mindset monthly, we've transformed previously difficult-to-read data into a tool that drives daily business decisions and delivers measurable performance improvements.
Most importantly, we're moving more and more towards data-based decisions because the more data we have with proper quality and analysis, the better we get at understanding what's happening in our business and making informed decisions. This approach has become central to our major business transformation, which will allow us to step up our capabilities in data analytics, revenue growth management, and other critical areas.
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By applying a 2% improvement mindset monthly, we've transformed previously difficult-to-read data into a tool that drives daily business decisions.
about
Nomad Foods
Nomad Foods is Europe's leading frozen food company, known for its portfolio of iconic brands and commitment to sustainable growth. The company operates through a sophisticated management structure that integrates commercial finance operations, strategic planning, and value chain management. With a focus on data-driven decision making and operational excellence, Nomad Foods continues to lead innovation in the frozen food sector while maintaining strong environmental and social commitments.
We are the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping.
Esri UK is the exclusive provider of Esri solutions in the UK. We take a geographic approach to problem-solving, brought to life by modern GIS technology. We are committed to using science and technology to build a sustainable world.
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