French multinational Danone launched its Industry 5.0 Academy in Poland to train 20,000 operational staff in artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies by 2026. The initiative is part of Danone’s global “Renew Danone” strategy, aiming to boost sustainability, productivity, and workforce readiness across its global manufacturing sites.
French food and beverage multinational Danone has launched a pioneering Industry 5.0 Academy at its Nutricia factory in Poland, marking a significant step in the company’s commitment to transforming its global manufacturing operations. This initiative is a key component of Danone’s broader “Renew Danone” strategy, which focuses on enhancing sustainability, productivity, and workforce capabilities through the adoption of digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI).
Danone’s new academy aims to upskill 20,000 operational employees across its global network of production sites by 2026. Recognized as one of the World Economic Forum’s global “digital lighthouse” facilities, the Nutricia site will offer hybrid training in advanced automation, AI writing tools, data-enabled decision-making, predictive maintenance, digital twins, and generative AI agents.
The academy is just the beginning. Our ambition is to set new industry standards for human-machine collaboration, enhancing our service to customers worldwide.”
Vikram Agarwal, Chief Operations Officer of Danone
As part of the transformation, Danone also plans to develop a network of 10 pioneering factories across various locations, intended to test disruptive smart manufacturing models. These factories will serve as test beds for scaling innovations across the company’s broader operations.
The academy complements Danone’s earlier collaboration with Microsoft, which supports the integration of AI tools and infrastructure throughout the company’s value chain. This partnership strengthens Danone’s long-term digital transformation efforts, ensuring employees are prepared for the evolving nature of work in the AI era.
With the Industry 5.0 Academy, Danone positions itself at the forefront of global manufacturing innovation, driving a more connected, efficient, and human-centric production ecosystem.
