Voices of Growth with Alberto Levy: Rethinking Growth and Commercial Strategy

In the first episode of Voices of Growth, o9 Executive Council member Francisco Crespo sat down with Alberto Levy, EVP Global Marketing at Grupo Bimbo, for a candid conversation on what it takes to drive sustainable, consumer-led growth at scale in the modern age.

Levy oversees more than 500 marketers across 39 countries. At Grupo Bimbo, the world’s largest bakery, he’s helping to lead a transformation that reimagines the brand’s role in people’s lives, reshapes how teams collaborate, and rethinks how data, insights, and technology are used to plan and grow.

Their conversation spotlighted three core themes shaping modern growth strategy: the urgency of consumer-centricity, the challenge of breaking internal silos, and the need to build integrated, responsive ecosystems that work at enterprise scale.

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Rethinking growth demands reframing the consumer

Across every role he’s held, whether in beverages, spirits, or baked goods, Levy says the fundamentals of growth have shifted. It’s no longer about launching new products and hoping they land. It’s about understanding when, why, and how consumers make choices, and ensuring your brand is the most relevant option at that moment.

“In the past, it was: ‘I have a brand, now let me launch something.’ Today, it’s: ‘There’s an occasion—what’s the best way for me to serve it?’” Levy explained.

Grupo Bimbo’s transformation is rooted in this shift. It involves tweaking marketing strategy and revisiting everything from R&D and recipe development to packaging, pricing, and how demand signals flow across regions. Consumer-centricity, in this context, is less a principle, more a system. It starts with understanding what drives preferences across different geographies, then using that knowledge to shape decisions across the value chain, from product to message to shelf.

Silos don’t scale (and consumers don’t see them)

One of the biggest barriers to building that kind of consumer connection is functional silos.
Levy emphasized how legacy structures can prevent alignment around the customer. When marketing, sales, RGM, innovation, and supply operate with their own agendas, the result is disjointed execution and missed opportunities.

To address this, Bimbo created cross-functional “consumer-centricity” squads; agile teams that bring together all the right voices to solve for the full consumer journey.

“We need to stop thinking ‘I work in bread,’ and start thinking, ‘I work in breakfast,’” Levy said. “When we align around the occasion, we make better decisions—faster.”

These squads use shared data, shared goals, and collaborative processes to break the handoffs that often slow commercial planning. And they’re backed by a shared language: the voice of the consumer, captured through structured research and unstructured data, including Bimbo’s internal “Connection Center.”

Turn tribal knowledge into integrated ecosystems

As Bimbo’s transformation progresses, the question becomes: how do you scale intelligence across teams, brands, and markets?

Levy’s answer is both human and technological. First, he sees the need to shift from tribal knowledge—insights held within individuals or teams—to enterprise knowledge that drives systemic learning. That requires not only data infrastructure, but also cultural buy-in.

“When teams operate with different incentives or definitions of success, it’s hard to move as one,” he said. “Our goal is to get everyone playing the same game.”

Part of that is powered by the Connection Center, which aggregates consumer signals across markets and channels. But the real unlock comes from aligning teams on the questions that matter—and empowering them to act on shared insight.

Levy also pointed to the potential of AI to accelerate this shift. As data quality improves, AI becomes a tool for insight generation, personalized content creation, and scenario modeling. But the foundations have to be right first. “AI only works if your data is harmonized and connected end to end,” he noted.

The ecosystem is the strategy

In a fragmented media and commerce landscape, building a strong internal operation is no longer enough. Brands must orchestrate entire ecosystems—retailers, agencies, influencers, and digital platforms—to deliver connected experiences that win consumer attention.

For Levy, that means redefining how Grupo Bimbo partners externally and how it integrates those partners into its broader planning process. “We used to think, ‘I have my brand, now I brief my agency.’ Today, we think, ‘What does this moment require—and who can help us win it?’”

That shift requires speed, agility, and clarity of purpose. It also requires a mindset that sees complexity not as a problem to eliminate, but as a reality to master.

Finally, plan forward with purpose

As the conversation came to a close, Levy reflected on what it means to lead growth in a time of volatility and change.

From embracing occasion-based innovation, to testing smarter and scaling faster, to balancing long-term brand equity with short-term commercial realities, the challenge is clear—but so is the opportunity.

For Bimbo, the goal isn’t to be the biggest bakery. It’s to be the best. That means the best recipes, the best partnerships, the best insights. And above all, the strongest connection to the consumer.

“Art and science, brand and performance, strategy and speed—it’s not either/or. It’s all of them, together,” Levy said. And that’s what makes the journey ahead not only possible, but powerful and worthwhile. “

Watch the full recording of the conversation here.

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