Building a digital-first paints company from day one

Birla Opus Paints entered a highly competitive market with a distinctive advantage – it did not have to retrofit digital into a legacy technology environment. Instead, digital was embedded into the business from the very beginning. For Surbhi Gupta, Head – Digital, Birla Opus Paints, the opportunity was to build an integrated technology foundation, ensure the right data was captured from day one, and create digital journeys spanning consumers, dealers, contractors, sales and operations. Three years into the journey, that foundation is increasingly becoming the launchpad for analytics, AI, conversational interfaces and agentic capabilities designed to improve productivity, customer engagement and business outcomes.

When Birla Opus Paints went live as a business in the year 2024, it entered the paints market with an advantage that few established players could replicate easily – the opportunity to build its technology and digital ecosystem from the ground up.

For Surbhi Gupta, Head – Digital, Birla Opus Paints, being a greenfield organisation meant that digital transformation was not a subsequent exercise to modernise legacy systems. It was part of the company’s design from the outset.

“Building a digital-first paints company is very exciting, but the journey is far from over. Starting from the ground up gave us the opportunity to learn from what works, understand the pitfalls, and build the right technology architecture from day one,” says Gupta.

Unlike organisations that have accumulated multiple technology ecosystems over the years, often resulting in siloed systems that need to be integrated later, Birla Opus Paints could create a more integrated foundation from the beginning. This included thinking about the data it would need to capture across consumers, contractors, dealers and other stakeholders, and how that data could ultimately be brought together to generate insights.

“The biggest advantage of building greenfield was that we could create a much more integrated foundation. We understood upfront how important data would be and what data points we needed to capture across consumers, contractors, dealers and our other systems,” Gupta explains.

Embedding digital transformation into business strategy from the outset
The company’s digital journey began even before its first business transaction. Gupta and her team identified the technology capabilities that would be fundamental to running the business and ensured that these systems were in place from the start.

This included a dealer management system that enabled dealers to book orders, digital platforms for contractors and their loyalty programmes, a consumer-facing brand website, digital visualisers, applications for the sales force, and systems to capture interactions with dealers, influencers and consumers.

Behind these customer- and partner-facing systems, the company also established its enterprise technology backbone, including SAP RISE ERP, product lifecycle management and factory automation systems.

“The first and foremost milestone was setting up the systems. We wanted the basic digital capabilities to be in place even before we launched as a business. These were foundational non-negotiables for us,” adds Gupta.

The thinking was not simply about digitising individual processes. It was about connecting the various participants in the paints ecosystem and understanding how consumers move from online discovery to offline purchase.

“In the paints industry, a consumer may search for information online, make a decision around colour and then eventually purchase the paint offline. Understanding these interactions was critical to the way we designed our digital ecosystem,” she says.

From technology foundations to data-led decision-making
Once the foundational systems were established and the business began operating, the focus gradually shifted from implementation to optimisation.

The first year was largely spent stabilising and fine-tuning the systems. As more business data accumulated, the next priority was to create a stronger data foundation that could help business teams make better operational decisions.

The journey, Gupta explains, can broadly be viewed in three stages – establishing the technology foundation, extracting value from that foundation through data and analytics, and now using AI and agents to unlock greater productivity and scale.

“The journey has been about setting up the foundation first, then extracting value from that foundation through reports and analytics, and now scaling up to derive exponential value through AI and agents,” asserts Gupta.

This evolution also reflects the rapid pace at which technology itself has changed. Some technology decisions that seemed appropriate three years ago are already being reassessed as AI, GenAI and agentic capabilities have matured.

“Technology has turned on its head in the last two or three years. Some decisions that made sense three years ago now need to be realigned. We are now looking at how we can incorporate more AI and create an environment where agents and humans can work together,” she adds.

Digital as an enabler of speed and scale
For Gupta, the real proof of the digital-first strategy is not simply the number of applications or systems implemented. It is the speed and scale at which the business has been able to operate.

A technology-enabled sales force, for instance, can access information about dealers, record market interactions and track productivity. Similarly, dealer onboarding, which could traditionally take significant time, can now be completed in minutes through digital systems.

“We would not have achieved some of our internal targets without the technology ecosystem we created. The speed and scale at which we have moved from the project phase into operations has largely been enabled by the way we set up our systems,” points out Gupta.

She cites dealer onboarding as a simple but powerful example. Without a digital system, onboarding could take days; with the right technology in place, it can happen within minutes.

“That is where the digital-first setup has really helped us – the speed at which we can do business, the scale we can achieve and the seamlessness with which we can operate,” she says.

This technology-first approach has also had strong organisational backing. According to Gupta, digital was a priority for the leadership from the beginning, which made it possible to build the required technology foundation without treating it as an afterthought.

Building digital solutions through cross-functional alignment
Building technology is only one part of digital transformation. Ensuring that the solutions actually work for the business requires close collaboration across functions.

Gupta describes cross-functional alignment as one of the most important aspects of her role. A digital solution may originate in one function but have implications for several others. Consequently, the teams work together to define the problem, develop the solution and assess the expected outcome.

“A large part of my job is influencing and creating cross-functional alignment. Every department has a stake in the solutions we implement, so it is important that we build those solutions together,” she states.

The company’s startup-like operating model provides additional flexibility. Teams are encouraged to experiment, develop ideas and move quickly from concept to outcome. The philosophy is straightforward – test, learn and scale what works.

“We try something, and if it works, we scale it. If it doesn’t, we change the way we are approaching it. The idea is to pivot fast,” points out Gupta.

This approach has also helped the organisation respond to unexpected levels of adoption. An application developed for influencers, for instance, achieved significantly higher adoption than initially projected.

“You can never estimate exactly how people will use a platform. Usage can go exponentially up or down. The important thing is to be ready to scale when something works and move away quickly when it doesn’t,” she asserts.

Ultimately, the measure of success remains business value. “If a digital solution is not creating value, we try to move away from it as quickly as possible and look for an alternative that can deliver the desired business outcome.

Business value creation is the ultimate yardstick,” Gupta says.

Putting the consumer at the centre of the digital journey
While technology provides the foundation, the ultimate objective is to make the consumer journey simpler and more engaging.

The company identified early that colour is one of the most important decisions consumers make when painting their homes. This led to the development of digital visualiser tools that allow consumers to understand how different colours could look inside or outside their homes.

“At the start, we recognised that when consumers decide to paint their home, one of the first questions they ask is – what colour should I choose? Our visualisers help them make that choice with greater confidence,” highlights Gupta.

The consumer journey, however, does not end with colour selection. The paints ecosystem involves dealers and contractors, who play an important role in influencing the final purchase decision. Birla Opus Paints has therefore built digital capabilities for contractors and sought to make them an extension of the brand’s consumer engagement ecosystem.

“Contractors can become our brand ambassadors in front of consumers. We have therefore created solutions for our contractors that enable them to play a stronger role in the overall customer journey,” Gupta explains.

Using AI and agentic capabilities to transform customer engagement
The next phase of the company’s digital journey is increasingly centred on AI, particularly conversational AI and agentic capabilities.

The objective is to move beyond simply generating leads and instead understand consumer intent throughout the journey, from the initial interaction to consideration and, ultimately, conversion.

The company has developed bot journeys that engage with consumers after they express interest in its offerings. It is now working towards a more comprehensive agentic platform in which multiple agents can interact with consumers through channels such as voice, WhatsApp and SMS.

“We are trying to build a full agentic platform where different agents can work on consumer intent. We want to be medium-agnostic and engage with consumers at every step of their journey,” opines Gupta.

The intent is for these interconnected agents to understand where the consumer is in the journey and provide relevant assistance accordingly.

The approach is particularly visible in the company’s PaintCraft service, where digital capabilities have been used to automate and streamline the home-painting experience. From expressing interest and scheduling a home survey to generating a quote and coordinating payments and execution through dealers and contractors, the objective is to make the process faster and more transparent.

“We are trying to understand potential pain points in the consumer journey and solve them by integrating the online and offline experience. The consumer should know what to expect next and have transparency throughout the journey,” Gupta says.

The company has also introduced an EMI option for home painting, addressing another potential barrier for consumers by allowing them to pay for the service in installments.

Measuring AI investments through business outcomes
For the organisation, AI does not change the fundamental principle of evaluating technology investments. Every digital initiative must have a benefits case and measurable outcomes.

The distinction, however, lies between foundational investments and the solutions built on top of them.
“When we implement any digital solution, we put a benefits case against it. We define the cost and the expected outcome, and the outcome has to be measurable,” she says.

At the same time, Gupta points out that foundational technology cannot always be evaluated through immediate ROI. Without the underlying systems, data and technology architecture, it becomes difficult to build higher-value digital and AI use cases.

“Foundations themselves may not give you ROI, but what you implement on top of those foundations will give you ROI. Our initial investments created the foundation; the newer investments we are making are increasingly ROI-driven,” she explains.

Conversational AI, sales productivity and resilient supply chains
Looking ahead, conversational AI is emerging as a significant area of focus for Birla Opus Paints. Voice bots and other AI-enabled interfaces can potentially complement human teams by handling consumer interactions at scale.

“Conversational AI has far-reaching use cases. Creating an alternate channel of agents that can undertake similar interactions will help us achieve scale,” Gupta says.

Another major area is sales-force productivity. AI can help teams understand market intelligence at a more granular level, including the behaviour of dealers, contractors and other trade partners.

The company is also looking at AI’s role in building more resilient supply chains. Given the impact that geopolitical and macroeconomic events can have on global supply chains, technology can help businesses anticipate risks and reduce the impact of external disruptions.

“Supply chains are one area where we need to build greater resilience. AI and technology can help us understand and manage the impact of external conditions and make the organisation more resilient,” she adds.

Internally, the company is exploring AI-powered ‘just-in-time learning’ for employees. The idea is to create digital assistants that can provide employees with relevant information or answers when they need them, rather than relying solely on standardised training programmes.

Gupta also sees a significant opportunity in the evolution of data and analytics.

Traditional analytics often begins with a hypothesis or a question posed by a business user. AI, she believes, can take this further by identifying trends that the organisation may not have explicitly thought to investigate.

“Analytics today is often driven by a hypothesis or a question that an end user has. AI can take us to the next level by pointing out unseen trends – things that we may not have thought about or may not see ourselves,” says Gupta.

This could introduce a greater degree of dynamism into business decision-making, with data and AI not merely validating decisions but actively surfacing opportunities and risks.

From digital transformation to AI transformation
For Gupta, the longer-term evolution of technology is much bigger than simply adding more AI applications to an existing digital environment.

She believes AI will increasingly become embedded in business solutions in the same way that motors are embedded in everyday electrical appliances. Consumers buy the appliance, not the motor; similarly, business users will increasingly focus on the outcome rather than the underlying AI technology powering it.

“AI will become such a foundational element that it will be part of every business solution. The business solution is what will be asked for; my role is to get that motor right, fit it into the solution and deliver the business outcome,” states Gupta.

Birla Opus Paints has already moved some AI use cases into production, and the next challenge is to scale AI more deeply across the organisation.

“We have successfully implemented AI in production and some of our use cases are already running at scale. The next step is to think about how we can incorporate AI more and more across the organisation. This marks a fundamental shift in how enterprises will think about technology,” she adds.

“Tomorrow, I think the world will not talk about digital transformation; it will talk about AI transformation. Digital transformation was about rethinking how you do business digitally. AI transformation will be about rethinking the right mix of agents and humans required to achieve the business outcome,” concludes Gupta.