The Coca-Cola Company has created a new chief digital officer role, appointing Sedef Salingan Sahin to lead digital, data and operational excellence ahead of a COO transition. Sahin will integrate the company’s digital network, while Manuel Arroyo expands his responsibilities as executive vice president, chief marketing and customer commercial officer.
The Coca-Cola Company has announced a significant leadership move that underscores its commitment to digital transformation and operational excellence. In a landmark decision, the beverage giant has created the role of chief digital officer, appointing Sedef Salingan Sahin to the position. Sahin, who currently serves as president of Coca-Cola’s business in Eurasia and the Middle East, will now take on the responsibility of leading the company’s digital, data and operational excellence functions. This appointment comes at a pivotal moment, as Coca-Cola prepares for a transition in its chief operating officer role and seeks to strengthen its execution across global markets.
The creation of the chief digital officer role reflects Coca-Cola’s recognition of the growing importance of digital integration in consumer engagement, supply chain management, and overall business operations. Sahin’s mandate will be to integrate the company’s digital network and connect work across related functions, ensuring that Coca-Cola’s vast global enterprise operates with greater precision and speed. “The chief digital officer position is a pivotal new role for our future,” said Braun, a senior company leader. “Over the next several months she will assess how to organise the teams responsible for digital across the enterprise to help strengthen execution, simplify how we work and enable us to deliver for consumers with greater precision and speed.”
Sahin’s appointment is not only a recognition of her leadership within Coca-Cola but also a strategic bet on her ability to drive transformation at scale. Having overseen operations in Eurasia and the Middle East, she brings a wealth of experience in navigating diverse markets, managing complex portfolios, and aligning business strategies with consumer needs. Her new role will require her to harness these skills to unify Coca-Cola’s digital initiatives, streamline processes, and embed data-driven decision-making into the company’s core operations.
The move signals Coca-Cola’s broader ambition to evolve beyond its traditional strengths in brand building and distribution. In recent years, the company has faced mounting pressure to adapt to shifting consumer preferences, digital disruption, and the need for operational agility. By elevating digital leadership to the C-suite, Coca-Cola is acknowledging that technology and data are no longer peripheral but central to its future growth. Sahin’s role will be critical in ensuring that Coca-Cola can deliver personalized consumer experiences, optimize its supply chain, and respond to market dynamics with speed and efficiency.
At the same time, Coca-Cola has announced another key leadership adjustment. Manuel “Manolo” Arroyo, an executive vice president and the company’s chief marketing officer, has been handed expanded responsibilities. Arroyo will now serve as executive vice president, chief marketing and customer commercial officer. This dual role positions him at the intersection of marketing and customer engagement, reinforcing Coca-Cola’s focus on strengthening its commercial strategies while continuing to build its iconic brands.
Arroyo’s expanded remit reflects the company’s recognition that marketing and customer commercial functions must be closely aligned in today’s competitive landscape. As chief marketing officer, Arroyo has overseen Coca-Cola’s global brand strategies, campaigns, and consumer engagement initiatives. His new responsibilities will extend to customer commercial operations, ensuring that Coca-Cola’s marketing vision is seamlessly connected to its customer-facing strategies. This alignment is expected to drive stronger partnerships with retailers, distributors, and other stakeholders, ultimately enhancing Coca-Cola’s ability to deliver value across its ecosystem.
Together, these leadership changes highlight Coca-Cola’s evolving priorities. The appointment of Sahin as chief digital officer and the expanded role for Arroyo demonstrate a dual focus: embedding digital excellence into the company’s operations while reinforcing the synergy between marketing and customer engagement. For a company that operates in more than 200 countries and serves billions of consumers, these shifts are designed to ensure agility, precision, and relevance in a rapidly changing world.
The timing of these changes is particularly significant. As Coca-Cola prepares for a COO transition, the company is clearly positioning itself to strengthen its leadership bench and ensure continuity in its strategic direction. By creating a new role dedicated to digital transformation, Coca-Cola is signaling that operational excellence and consumer-centricity will be driven by technology and data. Meanwhile, by expanding Arroyo’s responsibilities, the company is reinforcing the importance of integrating marketing with commercial execution.
Industry observers note that Coca-Cola’s moves reflect broader trends across the consumer goods sector, where digital transformation and customer engagement are increasingly intertwined. Companies are recognizing that digital capabilities are not just about efficiency but about creating new ways to connect with consumers, anticipate their needs, and deliver value. Coca-Cola’s decision to elevate digital leadership to the C-suite is therefore both timely and necessary.
For Sahin, the challenge will be to translate Coca-Cola’s digital ambitions into tangible outcomes. This will involve assessing existing digital teams, identifying opportunities for integration, and building a cohesive strategy that aligns with the company’s global vision. Her success will depend on her ability to foster collaboration across functions, leverage data insights, and drive innovation at scale. For Arroyo, the expanded role will require balancing the creative demands of marketing with the operational imperatives of customer commercial engagement. His ability to align brand strategies with customer needs will be critical in ensuring Coca-Cola’s continued relevance and growth.
As Coca-Cola embarks on this new chapter, the leadership changes underscore a company in transition—one that is embracing digital transformation, reinforcing its marketing-commercial alignment, and preparing for future operational shifts. With Sahin and Arroyo taking on expanded responsibilities, Coca-Cola is positioning itself to navigate the complexities of a dynamic global marketplace while staying true to its mission of refreshing the world and making a difference.
In the months ahead, all eyes will be on how these leadership moves translate into action. For Coca-Cola, the creation of the chief digital officer role and the expanded remit for its marketing leadership are not just organizational changes—they are strategic signals of a company determined to evolve, adapt, and lead in the digital age.
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