Director, Insights & Analytics specialist · Category Management + RGM + Shopper Insights · Boise ID · LinkedIn · Name spelling: Browne (with an e)
📌 Summary
Randy Browne — signed-on as BevGenie advisor. Ex-Molson Coors National Category Strategy & Insights Director (left Dec 2025, now running randybrowne consulting). 24-year BevAlc category-management veteran across Molson Coors, Brown-Forman, Campari, C. Mondavi. First formal advisor call today — 1:00 PM ET, ~60 min. Conversation #3 overall (Shyam + Gauri spoke with him Feb-March 2026 to recruit; he agreed to come on board then).
▶︎ Next action (what Shyam does today)
1:00 PM ET today: 60-min voice-of-customer session. Focus on 2-3 specific decisions Randy ran inside Molson Coors — pricing, assortment, promo, JBP prep — go deep on how each actually got done. Don't try to cover all 10 questions; pick 4-5.
Within 24 hrs: send Randy a 1-page recap of what you heard + one concrete ask for Friday's call (e.g., "we'd love to show you a sketch of how we'd approach automating part of the Albertsons JBP prep — does this match what you saw?"). Friday session pre-booked.
📍 Lifecycle stage — signed-on, first formal session today
Stage 1 · Cold start
✓ Feb-Mar 2026 · LinkedIn outreach from Shyam
Stage 2 · Getting-to-know
✓ Initial call with Shyam + Gauri (he agreed to come on as advisor from this call)
Series of sessions (Friday + ongoing) — go deeper, ask for warm intros around month 1, demo product mapping by month 2
Stage 6 · Post-advisory
TBD — depending on engagement quality, could extend or convert to deeper role
🏷️ What kind of advisor is Randy?
Primary: product intelligence + market voice. His 24 years inside supplier category-management makes him the rare advisor who can speak to how customer-side decisions actually get made. That's the inside-the-customer view we need to sharpen BevGenie.
Secondary: customer-signing path. His Albertsons + Ahold Delhaize relationships + his peer network at Pernod, Bacardi, Brown-Forman, Campari, Constellation are warm-intro gold once trust is established. Not today's ask; flag for meeting 2-3.
NOT: direct investor connector. Shyam confirmed in his earlier call today: "They're not connected to the investor network as much. They're not going to be valuable there." Don't ask him for investor intros. He helps the investor narrative indirectly via his name on our advisor list, but that's it.
🎯 What Randy unlocks across our four priorities
How his profile maps to the four strategic priorities: creating buzz, signing customers, raising investment, and product intelligence. Today's call is primarily about #4. The others come later.
① Creating buzz · MODERATE
He just co-presented the Helios AI webinar (Mar 2026), publishes thought leadership, guest-lectures at Boise State MBA. Possible future co-write or speaking-circuit-access plays. Future ask, not today.
② Signing customers · HIGH
Direct relationships with Albertsons + Ahold Delhaize buyer-side. Peer network at Pernod, Bacardi, Brown-Forman, Campari, Constellation. Warm-intro pool — ask in meeting 2 or 3, not today.
③ Raising investment · LOW direct, MODERATE indirect
No direct investor-network value (Shyam confirmed). Indirect: his "former senior Molson Coors exec, 24-yr BevAlc veteran" credential on our advisor list raises BevGenie's credibility with industry-savvy VCs. Don't ask him for intros.
④ Product intelligence · VERY HIGH ← TODAY'S FOCUS
24 yrs inside supplier-side category management. He knows how decisions actually got made, what tools failed, what jobs his team did over and over. This is what today's call is about.
📇 Verified profile snapshot
Full name
Randy Browne (note: Browne with an e — verify spelling in any written outreach)
Current status
Self-employed · randybrowne consulting (relaunched Jan 2026) · LinkedIn lists Advisory Board Member, Lateish Drinks · already signed on as BevGenie advisor
Most recent FT role
National Category Strategy & Insights Director, Molson Coors · Mar 2020 – Dec 2025 (5 yrs 10 mos) · $535M business, $2.7B category, 4,300 stores, led team of 5 · Albertsons + Ahold Delhaize accounts · Won 2023 Albertsons Total Alcohol Supplier of the Year (1 of 36 suppliers). Independent reporting describes his team's approach as "category-centric across the 14 Albertsons Divisions" — broader than the 7-division merch-optimization scope his LinkedIn detail describes.
Core competency
Category management · pricing strategy · assortment + promotion analytics · shopper insights · revenue growth management · joint business planning with retailers · building insights teams
Career arc
ARS Group (1997-2004) → IRI Category Management (2006-07) → Brown-Forman analyst/insights (2007-2012) → OtterBox (2012-13) → Atkins (2013-14) → Campari (2014-16) → randybrowne consulting (2016-20) → C. Mondavi (2017-19) → Molson Coors (2020-25) → consulting relaunch (Jan 2026)
Education
MBA, University of Denver · BBA, Adrian College, Michigan · also Guest Lecturer for the Professional MBA Program at Boise State, plus guest-speaking at University of Denver and Sonoma State MBA programs
Geography
Boise, Idaho · Remote-default · most calls will be Zoom
Public-voice signal · March 2026
Co-presented Helios AI Webinar "Brewing Uncertainty: What's Next for Beer's Key Ingredients" with Francisco Martin-Rayo (Helios AI CEO, supply/climate intelligence for beer ingredients). He's already publicly engaging with AI-tools-for-beer-industry topics — no conflict, but high signal he's thinking in our adjacent space.
Other speaking
Wine Industry Technology Symposium (Oct 2019, Napa) · Digital Food & Beverage Conference (Jul 2019, Austin) · Qual360 North America (Mar 2019, DC) · Craft Beverage Distribution Conference (Dec 2018, Louisville) · Sonoma State Wine Business Institute analytics workshops
His consulting positioning (verbatim from site)
"Turning Analytics & Insights Into Commercial Growth" · "Macro Trends + Consumer & Shopper Insights + RGM = Smarter Decisions, Faster Growth" · helps clients "move from reactive reporting to proactive, insights-led decision-making, strengthening retailer partnerships, unlocking new growth opportunities, and improving portfolio performance."This is BevGenie's value proposition in his own words — Shyam should mirror this language back during the call.
Consulting service categories
6 categories per his site: (1) Insights & Strategy · (2) Data Strategy & Analytics Infrastructure · (3) Revenue Growth Management (pricing, promotion ROI, SKU assortment, trade spend) · (4) Brand Planning & Positioning · (5) Future Thinking (trend forecasting, scenario planning) · (6) Industry Expertise across Alcoholic Beverages, CPG, F&B, Grocery, Liquor & Convenience. 5 of 6 directly overlap with BevGenie's offering — that's the conversation map.
Stated consulting focus (LinkedIn)
"Alcohol & CPG, AI companies targeting CPG" — verbatim. He is actively recruiting himself for the exact kind of company BevGenie is.
🎯 What we want to surface from Randy's experience
Five areas where 24 years of supplier-side category-management experience gives him unusually rich answers — and why each matters for BevGenie.
① How category-management decisions actually got made
Pricing architecture, assortment shifts, promotional investment, scenario modeling at Molson Coors ($535M business, 4,300 stores) — and the parallel versions at Brown-Forman, Campari, C. Mondavi. We want the step-by-step, who-did-what version.
Why this matters: there's a PowerPoint version of how decisions get made and a reality version. The reality version is what BevGenie is automating. Randy is the rare voice who can describe the reality.
② Who was involved at each step + how the team was organized
Inside his 5-person insights team at Molson Coors plus the cross-functional partners (Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance, RGM). Who flagged the need, who pulled data, who interpreted, who made the call, who could veto.
Why this matters: we need to know who in a supplier commercial team triggers, executes, and approves these decisions — that's where BevGenie has to fit in.
③ What triggered work to start
Pricing reviews, retailer JBPs, quarterly business reviews, new-product launches, competitive responses, seasonal planning. Did each one start on a calendar, after an event, or because something shifted in the market?
Why this matters: when decisions start (calendar vs reactive vs proactive) tells us where supplier teams are organized vs where they're flying blind.
④ What inputs each decision needed — and where it broke
What data each decision consumed — Nielsen, IRI, internal sales, distributor data. What templates or playbooks the team reached for. What was happening around them (buyer relationship, competitor moves, internal politics) that shaped the work. Where decisions fell apart because something was missing.
Why this matters: the places where Randy says "we couldn't get X" or "we didn't have Y in time" are the exact gaps BevGenie should close.
⑤ How new tools / capabilities got evaluated and adopted (or killed)
Secured $450K at C. Mondavi, managed $800K at Campari, evaluated tools inside Molson Coors. Who evaluated, who built the case, who killed deals, what convinced procurement / leadership.
Why this matters: this is exactly the gauntlet BevGenie will have to run when we go to sell. Free playbook from the buyer's side.
⑥ Beer vs spirits vs wine — what's the same, what's different
Molson Coors (beer), Campari + Brown-Forman (spirits), C. Mondavi (wine), Atkins + OtterBox (non-alcohol CPG). Where was the playbook identical across categories? Where did it diverge?
Why this matters: tells us whether BevGenie's product is one platform across BevAlc or needs to be category-specific. Big roadmap implication.
⑦ His read on AI tools in beverage (Helios case)
His March 2026 Helios AI webinar makes this concrete: he co-presented with an AI-for-beer-supply-chain company (Helios — supply/climate intelligence for barley, hops, wheat). Adjacent to us, not competitive. What clicked for him, what didn't.
Why this matters: direct calibration on what AI-for-beverage companies have to do to earn his public endorsement — and what he sees other AI companies doing well or badly.
❓ Questions — grouped by the 4 priorities (today's call = priority ④ Product Intelligence)
Questions are organized by the strategic priority they unlock. Today's call is about ④ Product Intelligence — pick 4-5 from that block and go deep. The other blocks (① Buzz, ② Customers, ③ Investors) are future-session asks; don't raise them today.
④ PRODUCT INTELLIGENCE — today's focus
Sharpen BevGenie based on Randy's inside-the-customer experience. Pick 4-5 of the 10 below and go deep. Don't try to cover all of them in one call.
Sub-area A · How decisions actually got made
"Walk me through one specific decision you made over and over at Molson Coors — say a quarterly pricing review for a key SKU at Albertsons. Who was involved at each step? Who flagged 'we need to look at this'? Who pulled the numbers and ran the analysis? Who actually made the call? And what did the output look like — a slide deck, a memo, a submission?"
Why this matters: the gap between the org-chart version of how decisions get made and the reality version is where BevGenie finds what to build. Randy describing the real version is question one.
"For one specific decision — say prepping an Albertsons category review — what information did you actually need? What existing templates or playbooks did you reach for? And what was happening around you at the time — buyer relationship, what other suppliers were doing — that shaped your approach? Was there ever a time the work fell apart because one of those was missing?"
Why this matters: the places where Randy says "we couldn't get X" or "we didn't have Y in time" are exactly the gaps BevGenie should close. The "fell apart" stories are the most useful answers.
"Inside your 5-person team at Molson Coors — how did you divide the work? By category, by retailer, by type of decision, by skill set? Why that split? Where did handoffs between people break down most often?"
Why this matters: how an insights team is organized + where handoffs break is exactly where BevGenie can replace coordination work.
"For the decisions you ran — which ones needed an answer right away vs which ones ran on a regular schedule, monthly or quarterly? Were there decisions where you wanted real-time information but had to wait for the next refresh?"
Why this matters: the "wanted real-time but had to wait" cases are the highest-value workflows for BevGenie to attack first.
Sub-area B · What started the work
"What started category-management work in your day? Was it a calendar — quarterly JBP, monthly review? An event — competitor price change, distributor switch, new product launch? Or a shift in conditions — declining share, a new entrant in the category? How did you know when to act vs when to wait?"
Why this matters: when work actually starts (scheduled, reactive, or sensed early) tells us where supplier teams have visibility and where they're flying blind.
Sub-area C · How new tools / capabilities got adopted (the buying job)
"When Molson Coors brought in a new tool — Stackline, Numerator, internal BI, anything — walk me through how that decision actually got made. Who raised the need? Who built the business case? Who reviewed it? Who could kill it? What convinced the decision-maker? How long from 'we have a problem' to 'we own the tool'?"
Why this matters: this is the same gauntlet BevGenie will run when we sell. Free playbook from the buyer's side, plus tells us how to position when our turn comes.
Sub-area D · Cross-category pattern (beer vs spirits vs wine)
"You've worked beer, spirits, wine. Take one decision — say pricing strategy. Where was the workflow basically the same across the three categories? Where was it actually different? What changed when you moved between them?"
Why this matters: tells us whether BevGenie is one product across all BevAlc or needs different versions per category. Big roadmap call.
Sub-area E · What actually moves the scorecard
"You won the 2023 Albertsons Total Alcohol Supplier of the Year. What specifically did Molson Coors do meaningfully better that year? Which parts of the work moved the needle? How much was tooling vs people vs process?"
Why this matters: real-world cause-attribution. What actually moves the supplier-side scorecard — that's what BevGenie should help with.
"If you had to name one thing your team did over and over that you'd most want automated — repetitive, predictable inputs, but no tool ever did it well — what was it?"
Why this matters: best single roadmap-shaping question. His answer is what BevGenie should prioritize building next.
Sub-area F · His outside read on AI-for-beverage companies
"Your Helios AI webinar in March — what about that company's value proposition clicked for you? Was it the data, the workflow they automated, how they pitched it? What's the bar an AI-for-CPG company has to clear before you'll publicly co-present?"
Why this matters: direct read on what an AI-for-beverage company has to do to earn his trust. Specific, named, recent comparable.
② SIGNING CUSTOMERS — FUTURE ASK · don't raise today
Save for meeting 2 or 3, once trust is established and we've demoed something he respects. Asking too early reads as transactional.
Future Q1: "Of your former peers at Pernod Ricard, Bacardi, Brown-Forman, Campari, Constellation — who do you think would be genuinely curious about what we're building? Not asking for an intro today; just want to know who's open to the conversation."
Future Q2: "When you think about your relationships at Albertsons or Ahold Delhaize — once we have something more demo-ready, would you be open to making an introduction?"
Future Q3: "From your consulting practice — are there clients you'd see overlap with what we're doing where a co-engagement might make sense?"
① CREATING BUZZ — FUTURE ASK · don't raise today
Save for meeting 3+ when there's something tangible to co-promote. His Helios webinar precedent + LinkedIn thought-leadership cadence makes him a strong co-promotion partner once we have a story worth telling.
Future Q1: "Would you ever consider co-writing a piece — your perspective on what supplier commercial teams need, our take on what's now possible with agentic AI?"
Future Q2: "Any conferences or events coming up where it'd make sense to show up together — you on the industry panel, us showing what we've built?"
Future Q3: "Your Boise State MBA program — any interest in us guest-lecturing alongside you sometime?"
③ RAISING INVESTMENT — housekeeping ask only · indirect value
Shyam confirmed Randy isn't connected to the investor network. Don't ask him for investor intros. His indirect value is his name on our advisor list = credibility signal for industry-savvy VCs. Single housekeeping ask:
Standard ask (do this in meeting 2, after rapport is set): "We'd love to formally list you as Strategic Advisor on the BevGenie investor materials — standard FAST advisor agreement format. OK if we get that paperwork over to you next week?"
🎙️ Suggested opener (60-90 sec)
Use this verbatim if it lands naturally — leverages his own positioning language, stays in industry frame
"Randy — first, thanks for jumping in as advisor. Want to make these sessions valuable both ways, so let me set the frame quickly. We're not going to pitch you today — we want to learn from your experience. Your consulting positioning — 'turning analytics and insights into commercial growth,' 'moving from reactive reporting to proactive insights-led decision-making' — that's exactly the problem we're building BevGenie to solve, for supplier commercial teams. You've spent 24 years inside the function we're building for, across Molson Coors, Brown-Forman, Campari, Mondavi. So today, the most useful thing for us is to hear in your own words how decisions actually got made, who did what, what tools you used, what worked and what didn't. Sound good?"
👂 What to capture in your notes during the call
Eight things worth grabbing verbatim when he says them. Each one tells us something concrete about what BevGenie should build, how to position it, or who to talk to next.
Workflows he describes step-by-stepIf he walks through a specific decision in detail — "first we'd X, then Y, then we'd send Z to the buyer" — capture verbatim. That sequence is what BevGenie is automating.
Triggers beyond the calendarWhen he says "we'd start work when share dropped" or "when the buyer flagged X" or "when a competitor moved" — those are the reactive signals supplier teams don't have a system for. High-value to capture.
Who did what at each stepFor each workflow, note who flagged the need, who pulled the data, who made the call, who could veto. Especially: where the same person had to wear three hats (signals understaffed function we could help).
Where decisions brokeWhen he says a decision "failed" or "took too long" — capture exactly what was missing. Was it data they couldn't get? A playbook they didn't have? Context they didn't see? Those are the gaps BevGenie should close.
Real-time vs scheduleWhich decisions needed an answer immediately vs which ran on a monthly/quarterly schedule. The "I wanted real-time but had to wait" cases are gold — that's BevGenie's wedge.
Named vendors he tried + outcomesSpecific tool names: Nielsen, IRI/Circana, Stackline, Numerator, 84.51, dunnhumby, Profitero, TABS Analytics. Which delivered vs which disappointed, and why. Direct competitive intel.
Same vs different across categoriesBeer (Molson Coors) vs spirits (Campari, Brown-Forman) vs wine (Mondavi) — was the workflow the same or fundamentally different? Tells us whether BevGenie is one product across BevAlc or needs category-specific versions.
Names of ex-colleagues he speaks well ofAnyone he mentions positively at Albertsons / Ahold Delhaize / Molson Coors / Brown-Forman / Campari = potential warm intro down the road. Note the names today; don't ask for the intro today (save for meeting 2 or 3).
🛠️ After the call — what to do with what you heard
Right after the call: for each workflow he described, write a quick summary — what the decision was, who did what, what worked, what broke. Cross-check against what BevGenie has built or planned: which workflows are new to us, which confirm what we're doing, which suggest something we should change.
Within 24 hours, send Randy a 1-page recap. What you heard him say, plus one concrete ask for next call. Example: "You walked us through the Albertsons JBP prep — really useful. For next time, we'd love to show you a sketch of how we'd approach automating part of that, and get your read."
Friday's session: show him 1-2 demos of BevGenie agents that match workflows he described today. "When you said X, here's what we built — does this look right?" Turns the relationship from extractive into iterative.
Within a week — talk it over with Srini. If his answers surfaced triggers, decision patterns, or org structures we haven't already built for, that's worth a quick internal discussion to decide what to adjust.
Within 30 days, ask Randy for 1-2 warm intros — ex-Molson-Coors / Brown-Forman / Campari peers, or retailer-side contacts at Albertsons / Ahold Delhaize.
Use his language in the investor deck. His consulting positioning — "turning analytics & insights into commercial growth," "moving from reactive reporting to proactive insights-led decision-making," "AI companies targeting CPG" — is the framing for investors who don't already speak BevAlc. Lift it verbatim.
Don't try to extract everything today. Series of sessions. Best result: go deep on 2-3 workflows today, then ask Randy in meeting 2 to compare across orgs (beer → spirits → wine), and in meeting 3 to talk through retailer-side dynamics. Each session = a sharper picture of where BevGenie should focus.