Why KAMs Deserve Intuitive Tools: How Ava Helps Them Plan Smart and Fast

I’ve spent my whole career in the CPG and FMCG world, with the last nine years laser-focused on Trade Promotion Management (TPM). My journey has taken me from starting as a data nerd at Nielsen, to leading trade marketing at Arla, and then six years at UpClear where I worked across sales, implementation and consulting for BluePlanner.

Now at Aforza, I’m excited to continue this 5-part series where I share the experiences, lessons and best practices I’ve learned along the way: alongside practical examples of how Ava, Aforza’s Vertical AI, helps companies solve these challenges in the real world.

In part one, I explored the 7 Deadly Sins of TPM and how Ava helps companies avoid them. In part two, I looked at how teams can move From Chaos to Clarity: How Ava Transforms the Planning Process.

Here in part three, I focus on the role of the Key Account Manager: why their job has become tougher than ever, and why intuitive tools like Ava are essential to help them plan smarter and faster.

This is the third article in my 5-part series on Trade Promotion Management, where I’m sharing lived experiences, best practices, and how Ava, Aforza’s Vertical AI, transforms the way consumer goods companies work.

In part one, I explored the 7 Deadly Sins of TPM and how to avoid them. In part two, I looked at how companies can move From Chaos to Clarity: How Ava Transforms the Planning Process.

Now, in part three, I turn to the role of the Key Account Manager (KAM): and why they urgently need intuitive tools that help them plan smarter, faster, and with more impact.

The Changing Role of the KAM

Let’s be honest: the job of a Key Account Manager has changed dramatically. Not that long ago, building an annual plan could be as simple as copying last year’s promotions and tweaking a few numbers. Today, that approach would be unthinkable.

With the explosion of high-quality, granular data, KAMs are now expected to plan at regional or even store level. They’re juggling buyer studies, segmentation analyses, shifting consumer behaviour and increasingly complex retailer demands: all while trying to hit ambitious revenue and margin targets.

At times, being a KAM feels less like being a salesperson and more like being part data scientist.

What’s Missing? A Full-Time Assistant

The real problem isn’t a lack of data. It’s that KAMs are being buried under too much of it, without the right support to make sense of it all. What’s missing is the ability to embrace AI to simplify the workload and bring the focus back to what really matters: the customer.

This isn’t a vision of the distant future. This is exactly what Ava delivers today.

The AI Gap in 2025

Here’s the irony: despite the clear benefits, in 2025 AI still feels foreign to many consumer goods companies. Legacy systems dominate, spreadsheets still carry too much weight and planning remains painfully manual.

If time is money, why are we wasting so much of it on methods that deliver measurably worse results? And are there really still “AI doubters” out there when the evidence is this clear?

The teams that continue to delay adoption aren’t saving money. They’re losing competitive advantage every single day.

Introducing Ava: The KAM Executive Assistant & Coach

This is where Ava, Aforza’s Vertical AI, steps in. Think of Ava as your Executive Assistant and Commercial Coach rolled into one. She comes with a career’s worth of TPM wisdom built in: always available, always reliable and always objective.

With Ava, you can:

She’s the mentor every KAM wishes they had. The reliable data analyst who never sleeps. And quite possibly, the most effective employee on the team.

From Reactive to Proactive

The real shift Ava enables is moving from a reactive to a proactive way of working.

Without Ava, KAMs spend hours firefighting: chasing down numbers, fixing spreadsheets, and manually checking compliance. With Ava, those tasks are automated, surfacing insights before issues become problems. That frees KAMs to do what they do best: build stronger relationships with retailers and focus on growth opportunities.

And because Ava is the unbiased voice of reason, every recommendation is grounded in facts, not gut feel or politics. That gives KAMs confidence to defend their plans with clarity, and gives leadership confidence that the business is heading in the right direction.

Ready to Meet Ava?

The future of Trade Promotion Management doesn’t belong to companies stuck in spreadsheets and legacy tools. It belongs to teams that embrace speed, accuracy and intelligence at scale. With Ava, KAMs finally have a coach who makes planning easier, smarter, and more impactful. The question isn’t whether you can afford to adopt AI. It’s whether you can afford not to.

Ava changes the game for Key Account Managers. Instead of drowning in data, spreadsheets, and manual tasks, KAMs get the clarity and support they need to focus on growth. Ava strips away the noise and delivers what’s always been missing: objective, transparent, fact-based guidance that a KAM can trust.

Think of Ava as your personal coach. She doesn’t just process data: she explains the “why” behind the “what,” surfacing recommendations that are practical, timely, and grounded in evidence. From building smarter plans to matching deductions or streamlining compliance, Ava becomes the reliable partner every KAM wishes they had.

That’s why I believe Ava is the most intuitive tool for today’s KAMs. She helps shift the role from reactive firefighting to proactive growth leadership. With Ava, you’re not just managing promotions, you’re building trust with your customers, strengthening partnerships, and creating confidence in every decision.