Fueling the Shift from a Knowing Culture to a Learning Culture

Paul Gallagher is the chief supply chain officer at General Mills. He is responsible for all facets of supply chain strategy & execution, including sourcing, planning, manufacturing &engineering, logistics &customer operations, and health, safety &environment. Paul joined General Mills in 2019 as VP of North America Supply Chain, where he was accountable for operations in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S., with 30+ sites and 10,000 employees. His responsibilities for North America – and his focus on transforming the network to drive competitive advantage for the business – continue in his role as Chief Supply Chain Officer. Paul is also the executive sponsor for General Mills’ Disability Network.

Prior to joining General Mills in 2019, Paul worked for Diageo for 26 years in a number of senior leadership roles, building an end-to-end global supply chain and procurement experience. Originally from Ireland, Paul started his profession brewing Guinness and grew his experience to taking on global supply chain roles across Europe, Africa, Latin America, North America, and Asia Pacific. Paul is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin in Ireland, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering. He has a passion for sports, especially soccer, and spends his spare time restoring classic cars. He lives in Minnesota with his wife and has four children.

As the Chief Supply Chain Officer at General Mills, could you provide an overview of your role and responsibilities within the company?

I am proud to lead all facets of the General Mills global supply chain team from strategy to operational excellence to execution, including sourcing, planning, manufacturing &engineering, logistics &customer operations, external supply chain, and health, safety &environment.

My team of over 15,000 employees is making food the world loves, day in and day out. As the supply chain world continues to evolve, we are focused on transforming our network to drive competitive advantage. I’m also honored to be the executive sponsor for General Mills’ Disability Network.

What are some of the key challenges you face in leveraging technology effectively?

The pace of change in technology continues to increase, and our challenge is to create a digital-ready workforce that can leverage the technology.

While General Mills isn’t unique in our focus on digital transformation, we have already completed a major undertaking to make our data more accessible and accurate, which is a differentiator among our CPG (Consumer PackagedGoods) peers. We are now harnessing the power of that data through analytics and developing capabilities to help us make better and faster decisions.

“The ability to pivot from a knowing culture to a learning culture – where you are falling in love with the problem, not the solution – is where I see the future of Supply Chain going and where the capability will continue to be built.”

On the sustainability front, we are partnering with technology leaders in the agriculture sector to better understand the impacts of regenerative agriculture in our key supply sheds where we source ingredients. These learnings will inform how we can continue to scale the adoption of regenerative agriculture farming principles and support farmers in their efforts to protect and restore precious natural resources.

With the rapid pace of technological advancements, how do you stay informed about emerging technologies and assess their potential impact?

Digitization of our supply chain will change how we work and is a key differentiator for General Mills. We have dedicated teams who work with partners and across peers to learn what other supply chains are doing, and we are continually benchmarking to understand where we are leading and where we still have opportunities.

Recently, we stood up an innovation team that is focused on experimenting with new technologies and assessing their application to our supply chain and business needs. As part of that work, we are forming partnerships with vendors and start-ups to help identify new innovations and drive leadership in emerging areas.

What advice would you give to young professionals who are interested in pursuing a career in technology, and what qualities do you think are essential for success in this field?

Whether it’s a career in technology or another area within the supply chain, I would offer this advice.

The ability to pivot from a knowing culture to a learning culture – where you are falling in love with the problem, not the solution – is where I see the future of supply chain going and where the capability will continue to be built.

Secondly, being able to problem-solve is a critical quality and skill to have to be successful in the technology field and one that’s transferable to every role you are in.