What Not Your Mother’s Haircare is Prioritizing in 2026
In a recent CGT webinar Eric Falkenmayer, Senior Manager of Demand Planning at Not Your Mother's Hair Care, shared how critical trends in AI are playing out inside a fast-growing CPG brand, and where he sees the biggest opportunities ahead.
CGT's latest supply chain report paints a clear picture: consumer goods manufacturers are moving from reactive to proactive stand regarding AI, and AI-powered demand forecasting is at the center of that shift. With 53% of companies planning major AI and machine learning upgrades in 2026, the question is no longer whether to adopt, it's how to apply these tools quickly where they'll drive the most value.
From Reactive to Proactive
When asked about the single most critical priority for supply chain leaders heading into 2026, Eric was direct: it's the shift from reacting to disruptions to making data-driven decisions ahead of them. That means connecting internal data like shipments, POS, CRM and inventory positioning with external signals and using purpose built AI to plan at a speed and scale.
The "Holy Grail" of Demand Forecasting
For Eric, the highest-value application of AI isn't strictly incremental accuracy gains on the base business. It's forecasting for innovation: new SKU launches, new customer expansions, and new channels where historical comps are limited. He called it "the holy grail of demand forecasting" and pointed to a recent pilot with Omnifold where forecasts based on their purpose built AI tracked significantly closer to actual shipments than the team's original projections using the same underlying data.
Purpose-Built Over General-Purpose
A recurring theme was the importance of choosing AI tools designed for the specific problem at hand. Eric drew a sharp distinction: a large language model like ChatGPT is built for conversation, and autonomous driving AI is built to navigate roads safely: you wouldn't swap them. Supply chain forecasting demands the same purpose built approach. Alignment between a tool's design and the problem it solves was a key factor in Not Your Mother's decision to partner with Omnifold.
Watch the Full Conversation
To hear Eric's full perspective including a detailed walkthrough of Demert's IBP process and a discussion on AI adoption gaps and sustainability visit and subscribe to the Omnifold YouTube channel.