Unilever Appoints Reema Jain as CIO to Lead Technology Modernization

Leadership Change

The consumer goods company confirmed through a Friday communication that Reema Jain will assume the position of CIO. She will work under Sam Kini, who holds the title of chief digital and technology officer and previously served as CIO before stepping into that broader role in January.

Jain arrived at Unilever in May 2025 in the capacity of global vice president for digital technology, where she also led the company's worldwide capability center based in India. The executive previously worked at the multinational corporation from 2016 through 2021, during which time she held multiple senior positions including director of IT.

In her new capacity, Jain will be responsible for "core technology foundations, including enterprise architecture and digital infrastructure," according to the company's statement.

Strategic Context

Jain's elevation occurs within months of CEO Fernando Fernandez assuming leadership last spring. Fernandez has continued executing a comprehensive organizational overhaul that his predecessor Hein Schumacher initiated in 2024.

The transformation initiative included a leadership assessment that Fernandez indicated would result in a workforce reduction of 25 percent. The company has already divested its ice cream operations, eliminated 7,500 positions through the restructuring effort, and recently appointed a new chief sustainability officer.

Like its competitors, Unilever's expansion strategy depends significantly on modernizing enterprise systems and incorporating artificial intelligence capabilities.

"We are making our organization fit for the AI age, transforming every link in the value chain, particularly around the consumer," Fernandez stated during the company's Q4 2025 earnings presentation. "That means deploying AI to supercharge demand generation, scaling and hyper targeting marketing content … and working with retailers on agentic shopping models."

The company recently announced a partnership with Google spanning five years to transition its data infrastructure and cloud operations to Google Cloud. This collaboration will facilitate the consolidation of business applications and data systems onto the platform while expediting machine learning deployment, particularly for marketing automation powered by agentic AI.

"This is a powerful moment to accelerate how AI and technology will shape and power our business," Jain remarked in a LinkedIn announcement regarding her appointment. "I am a true believer that technology can be a powerful force for transformation, for people, for teams, for the way we work and create impact at scale."