For Sabina Janstrom, the journey to becoming the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Lactalis Australia was nothing short of transformative. With a rich career history in the mining industry, a sector vastly different from fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), she embarked on a career change that would not only shape her leadership philosophy but also revolutionize the way technology serves business operations at Lactalis.

“I love learning new things,” Sabina explains. “When I joined Lactalis two years ago, it was a big shift from mining to FMCG, but I was excited. I believe that understanding the business is fundamental to being an effective CIO. How can we support the business without truly knowing what they do? That’s been the cornerstone of my approach to leadership—being as hands-on as possible, staying close to both the IT and non-IT teams, and truly understanding the business needs.”

In her new role, Sabina quickly discovered that the dairy production industry, posed unique challenges. However, she also saw a tremendous opportunity to bridge the gap between traditional practices and digital transformation. By embracing technology, Sabina aims to streamline operations, enhance employee experiences, and deliver greater value to customers, both internal and external. This approach not only drives innovation but also positions the company for long-term success in an increasingly digital world.

The key to successful digital transformation is understanding the business problem, not just the technology.

Digital Transformation at Lactalis Australia: A Vision for 2025 and Beyond

When Sabina speaks of the company’s vision for digital transformation, it’s clear that this is not just about adopting technology for the sake of it; it’s about a vision that aligns closely with the broader goals of the Lactalis Groupe.

At Lactalis Australia, our commitment to innovation and excellence is unwavering. Our IT program is designed to spur and accelerate future thinking, adaptation, and creativity. By empowering our people and leveraging internal expertise, we are exploring new ideas and bringing to market cutting-edge products, processes, and digital technologies. The digital transformation at Lactalis Australia is not just a tech initiative; we aim to provide data to support better decision-making and automate processes to improve efficiency. For example, one of the most ambitious elements of their digital strategy is the transition to real-time data sources and on-the-fly analysis. With plans to build artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities for predictive analytics.    

Customer-Centric Innovations: Enhancing Engagement Through Technology

Sabina’s leadership is also evident in the digital tools introduced to engage with customers directly. Lactalis Australia’s e-commerce platform, launched in the last two years, has had an immediate and positive impact.

“Lactalis saw a need to better connect with our customers, particularly small and medium businesses. The e-commerce platform links directly to our enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, offering customers real-time access to their pricing, promotions, and incentives. It’s been very well received, and we’re planning to enhance it further with features like delivery tracking and claims processing,” Sabina says, with visible enthusiasm.

But customer-centricity doesn’t stop there. Sabina is also focused on improving the employee experience (EX), leveraging Microsoft 365, Teams calling, and GPT-powered tools to make work more efficient and enjoyable. “The goal is to eliminate friction,” she says. “If technology is seamless, it allows employees to focus on their jobs rather than battling with their systems. This enhances productivity and satisfaction. Soon, employees will have access to a GenAI chatbot that helps them find corporate information without the frustrating search through multiple documents.”

For Sabina, creating technology that enables employees to do their jobs with minimal thought about the tools is the key to improving both job satisfaction and productivity. It’s about providing the right tools in the right way to make work easier, and by doing so, creating a more fulfilled and efficient workforce.

If you can create technology that enables a person to do their job without thinking about it, you have improved both their productivity and job satisfaction.

Balancing Innovation with Practicality: Maintaining Legacy Systems While Embracing the Future

Of course, leading digital transformation is not without its practical challenges. Sabina acknowledges that managing the balance between maintaining legacy systems and introducing cutting-edge technologies is a delicate one.

“It’s crucial not to let your systems fall behind. Without ongoing refresh programs and regular upgrades, it’s difficult to catch up. At the same time, we’ve been investing in tools that improve automation and streamline processes. We use technologies like SAP BTP, UiPath, and Nintex, which allow us to address immediate needs while preparing for long-term digital success,” she explains.

Sabina also emphasizes the importance of infrastructure. “We are undergoing a major overhaul of our IT infrastructure that will set us up for a future-proof environment. But while we prepare for the future, we continue to innovate and optimize our current systems.”

The Role of Emerging Technologies: Leveraging AI, IoT, and Blockchain for Business Solutions

Emerging technologies such as AI, the Internet of Things (IoT), and blockchain are key components of Sabina’s digital roadmap. However, she takes a pragmatic approach to these technologies, focusing on the problems they can solve rather than chasing trends for the sake of it.

“Emerging technologies offer opportunities to solve expensive or time-consuming problems, but they’re just tools,” Sabina asserts. “AI, for instance, could enable us to predict demand or optimize our supply chain, but it’s important to first identify the business problem. In many cases, existing systems might serve the purpose better than new technology—where newer technologies are required, we implement them thoughtfully.”

Her perspective on AI and other emerging technologies is rooted in the understanding that these innovations should enhance the business, not dictate it. In the FMCG industry, this can be especially important where practical solutions often outweigh the allure of the newest tech.

Innovation isn’t just about new technologies; it’s about finding better ways to do things with the resources you have.

Sustainability and Compliance: Technology as an Enabler

As the world grapples with environmental concerns, Sabina recognizes the importance of integrating sustainability into Lactalis Australia’s operations. Technology plays a key role here, particularly in managing data and ensuring regulatory compliance.

“We’re developing a new data platform that will help us consolidate unstructured data, such as utility bills or logistics manifests, and make it accessible for analysis. This will not only improve compliance but also drive sustainability efforts by providing deeper insights into energy use, waste, and other critical areas,” Sabina explains.

For her, sustainability isn’t a buzzword but a strategic pillar of their digital transformation. By making the most of their existing data and using technology to gain actionable insights, Lactalis Australia can better understand its impact and work toward a more sustainable future.

Cultivating a Culture of Innovation and Collaboration

Sabina’s leadership style encourages a culture of innovation within her IT team, and she goes beyond traditional methods to inspire creativity. Lactalis Australia’s annual IT awards, which recognize technical excellence, collaboration, and project achievements, have helped foster this environment. She also ensures that training and professional development are central to her team’s growth.

“The dairy industry is dynamic and fast, so we have to be creative. We are motivated to move at pace and to find better ways of doing things, whether it’s reducing network carrier costs, and eliminating duplicate applications,” Sabina says. “It’s about using what we have more effectively.”

Through her leadership, Sabina has ensured that innovation is driven not by necessity alone but also by a sense of purpose—solving business problems in smarter, more efficient ways.

Adapting and Leading Through Change: Sabina’s Advice to Aspiring CIOs

Sabina’s advice to aspiring CIOs and IT leaders is both practical and insightful. “You need the support of your entire department and business leaders. Digital transformation is a team effort. If you don’t have buy-in, even the smallest challenges can derail your progress,” she says.

Her second piece of advice focuses on clarity and execution: “Know your ‘why.’ If your projects have clear outcomes and benefits, they will have broad support, even when they cause short-term pain. Make sure you’re doing the right work, and execute it well. Good project management is key.”

For Sabina Janstrom, being a successful CIO is not about technological prowess alone; it’s about vision, leadership, and creating value through digital transformation. Under her guidance, Sabina is seeking to blend innovation, practicality, and collaboration to achieve greater success and deliver value to her customers – internal and external. By embracing all the opportunities that digital technology brings, we can foster a culture of continuous improvement, and this comes from firstly taking the time to understand the business, collaborate with people across the business and find ways technology can support us to solve problems. Working at Lactalis feels like the start of an incredible journey, allowing me to develop new skills and broaden my horizons. Being part of a truly global IT team has enabled us to share valuable insights across countries and that investment has significantly benefited our initiatives here in Australia, driving innovation and excellence.

Digital transformation is a team effort—get the support and buy-in from all departments to ensure success.