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Graham Sommer
Head of Customer Operations
Unilever
Speaker Bio
Graham Sommer is the Global Head of Customer Operations at Unilever, a role he has held since November 2024 after a 28-year career with the company. He is part of Unilever’s Supply Chain Executive Board and is based at the London headquarters.
A mechanical engineer by training, Graham joined Unilever in 1996 in South Africa and began his international career in Germany, holding roles in operations, maintenance, and product customisation. In 2009, he became mergers and acquisitions director, leading the integration of the Sara Lee and Alberto Culver businesses.
He has since held senior supply-chain leadership roles in the Nordics, Switzerland, and Middle Europe, including vice-president positions for Beauty & Wellbeing and Personal Care and for supply chain and operations. Most recently, he led supply chain operations across North Africa, the Middle East, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
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A mechanical engineer by training, Graham joined Unilever in 1996 in South Africa and began his international career in Germany, holding roles in operations, maintenance, and product customisation. In 2009, he became mergers and acquisitions director, leading the integration of the Sara Lee and Alberto Culver businesses.
He has since held senior supply-chain leadership roles in the Nordics, Switzerland, and Middle Europe, including vice-president positions for Beauty & Wellbeing and Personal Care and for supply chain and operations. Most recently, he led supply chain operations across North Africa, the Middle East, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
Session
Tuesday, 19 May, 2026 03:15 PM - 03:45 PM CEST
Executive Story: Unilever — Future-Fit Talent in the Age of AI
Graham Sommer,
Head of Customer Operations, Unilever
Over the past three years, Unilever Customer Operations has built an end-to-end, automated, digital operating system. A new product group model that now connects customers, planning, logistics, order to cash and master data through unified processes and platforms. Reducing 150+ processes to 10 products, consolidating 300 systems into 20 ecosystems, and delivering over €2bn in value.
With this foundation, Customer Operations is advancing toward autonomous operations, where human–agent teams focus on higher value decisions. To build these capabilities, the team launched DigiOps, a gamified learning programme developing AI and analytics skills. Over 500 employees took part in year one, 1100 in year 2 with scale up now underway across the rest of operations. ... Show More Show Less
With this foundation, Customer Operations is advancing toward autonomous operations, where human–agent teams focus on higher value decisions. To build these capabilities, the team launched DigiOps, a gamified learning programme developing AI and analytics skills. Over 500 employees took part in year one, 1100 in year 2 with scale up now underway across the rest of operations. ... Show More Show Less