Coca-Cola has revealed a sweeping overhaul of its operational leadership, including the creation of a new chief digital officer role, as the soft drinks giant moves to accelerate technology adoption and sharpen execution across fast-growing emerging markets.

The changes, which take effect on March 31, coincide with the planned transition of chief operating officer Henrique Braun into the chief executive role, succeeding James Quincey, who will remain executive chairman.

At the centre of the restructuring is the appointment of Sedef Salingan Sahin as Coca-Cola’s first chief digital officer, a newly created enterprise role intended to unify digital, data and operational excellence across the business. Sahin, currently president of the company’s Eurasia and Middle East operating unit, will report directly to Braun.

The creation of the appointment underscores Coca-Cola’s growing emphasis on digitalisation as it faces slowing growth in mature markets, rising input costs and increasingly fragmented consumer demand, while competing with both global rivals and agile local beverage brands.

“Understanding consumers even more deeply” and moving faster across markets is critical to future growth, Braun said in a statement, adding that the new structure is designed to enable quicker decision-making and smarter execution.

Sahin will assume responsibility for digital strategy currently overseen by chief financial officer John Murphy, consolidating oversight of digital, data and related capabilities under a single executive for the first time.

Over the coming months, she will assess how digital teams are organised across the group, with a mandate to simplify processes and improve speed and precision.

For Coca-Cola’s bottlers, ingredient suppliers and technology partners, the shift signals tighter integration between marketing, commercial execution and data-driven decision-making – an area where the company has increasingly leaned on AI-enabled demand forecasting, personalised marketing and automated route-to-market systems.

The leadership changes also reflect Coca-Cola’s strategic focus on emerging and developing markets, where volume growth is expected to outpace that of North America and Western Europe.

Two new market groupings will be created under Braun’s leadership. Sanket Ray, president of the India and Southwest Asia operating unit, will take oversight of large emerging markets including India, Greater China, Japan and South Korea.

Claudia Lorenzo, currently chief of staff to Quincey, will lead a second grouping spanning Eurasia, the Middle East, ASEAN, the South Pacific and Africa.

Coca-Cola said the new structure is designed to better manage volatility across diverse markets facing inflationary pressures, regulatory change and shifting consumption patterns.

Separately, chief marketing officer Manolo Arroyo will expand his remit to include customer and commercial leadership, reflecting closer alignment between brand strategy and in-market execution. Murphy will remain president and CFO, overseeing finance, global strategy and corporate development.

The changes come as Coca-Cola continues to invest in digital tools to support its broader beverage portfolio, which now spans soft drinks, waters, sports drinks, coffee, tea, juices and plant-based beverages.

The company has increasingly highlighted digitalisation as a lever to improve innovation speed, supply chain resilience and retail execution across its global bottling system.