Unilever HCNA

Unilever HCNA: Building Culture for the AI Era

The Challenge

Unilever's Home Care North America (HCNA) business—home to purpose-driven brands like Seventh Generation and The Laundress—sought to deploy AI to ground marketing in real-time shopper insights and operational efficiency. But the team was navigating post-2020 workplace fatigue, demands to do more with less, and deep uncertainty about what AI meant for human roles and the brand's authentic voice.

Fundamental questions emerged: Would efficiency erode purpose? Would automation replace the human judgment that defined the brand's integrity? Could a legacy purpose brand pursue technological transformation without sacrificing its soul?

Leadership needed a cultural operating system that would translate AI adoption into clear commitments and ways of working that made efficiency serve impact rather than replace it.

The Transformation

We First facilitated a cultural strategy engagement that brought HCNA's leadership and teams into structured dialogue. Through interviews and workshops, we surfaced the real tensions: Purpose vs. Efficiency, Human Creativity vs. Automation, Stability vs. Change, and Individual Contribution vs. Collective Impact.

We First co-created a Business and Culture Framework with clear principles:

AI as Amplifier, Not Replacement: Technology would elevate human creativity and judgment—never replace it. AI would handle repetitive tasks, freeing the team for brand strategy and creative storytelling.

Efficiency in Service of Impact: Speed would accelerate the brand's environmental mission. Success would be measured by whether AI helped reach more households and deliver sustainability outcomes faster.

Learning as Leadership: Leadership committed to experimentation, upskilling, and creating space for teams to engage AI confidently.

Transparency and Co-Creation: Teams would shape how AI was deployed, and roles evolved—building ownership and reducing anxiety.

We First produced a Cultural Framework Report that synthesized insights, documented decision thresholds, and provided a leadership narrative for the organization.

The Impact

Unilever HCNA now has a cultural operating system that:

• Turns AI adoption into culture-building by establishing shared language that reduces fear and positions technology as an enabler
• Codifies what must remain human with clarity on which work AI automates and which stays with people
• Anchors efficiency in purpose so technology serves the brand's transformative mission
• Creates resilience through co-creation by building psychological safety during transformation
• Positions culture as a competitive advantage, enabling the team to move fast without breaking trust or sacrificing purpose

The result is a team capable of pursuing both efficiency and impact simultaneously. HCNA is proving that legacy purpose brands can harness AI to accelerate the work that matters most.

This isn't just change management. It's cultural architecture for an organization determined to lead in both performance and purpose.

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