Based on a survey of over 850 senior executives and interviews with more than 20 C-suite leaders globally, the study reveals that 71% of executives agree structural disruption makes rapid transformation essential, yet most organisations remain unprepared.

The report highlights how artificial intelligence, platforms and retailer ecosystems are reshaping demand creation and capture, exposing a gap between organisations redesigning decision-making and those operating in silos. Nearly half (47%) of surveyed executives believe influencing digital and algorithmic product recommendations will be essential for remaining competitive over the next five years.

"As artificial intelligence and digital ecosystems increasingly shape how consumers discover and evaluate products, competitive advantage is no longer driven solely by efficiency, but by organisations' ability to make coherent, integrated and data-driven commercial decisions," said Georgiana Iancu, Partner, Retail & Consumer Products Sector Leader at EY Romania. "The challenge is not exclusively technological, but lies in how companies align their sales, marketing and e-commerce functions."

Over 77% of surveyed organisations say partnerships with retailers, platforms and digital channels are now core to their commercial strategy. However, while 47% say influencing algorithmic recommendations will be critical within five years, only 21% believe they can deliver this today. Only 11% of organisations say sales, marketing and e-commerce operate as a unified growth engine.

Governance complexity and unclear decision rights are the leading barriers to transformation (35%), followed by leadership alignment (31%). Despite AI's expanding capabilities, 61% of respondents say their organisations prioritise human judgement over fully automated AI decision making. The report warns that few companies have redesigned how sales and marketing decisions connect end-to-end, creating a decision gap where strategies reflect the future but operating models remain outdated.