This year, Milan hosted Danone‘s annual compliance conference, an event held in a different country each year and bringing together the Global Compliance Team and compliance teams from the various Country Business Units in Europe, the United States, Latin America, Africa, and Australia.
Four days of intense work provided an opportunity to explore the developments, priorities, and challenges facing the function in the coming years. It was clear that the Group’s compliance program is not the result of isolated initiatives, but rather a continuous journey, built on solid foundations and constantly expanded to new areas of impact. Over the past two years in particular, close collaboration between global and local teams has fostered significant evolution, making the function increasingly integrated into the corporate context.
At the heart of the discussions was the topic of business proximity, identified as a key pillar of the Compliance Leadership Blueprint. This is not an abstract concept, but an approach that redefines the way compliance interacts with the organization: intimate knowledge of business priorities, initiatives and processes, participation in committees and boards, and presence at decision-making moments with ex ante input, capable of guiding decisions in a proactive and constructive manner. This proximity translates into concrete practices, such as “feet on the street” sessions with operational functions, periodic meetings, and sharing sessions that foster a common language and shared understanding of risks and how to mitigate them. The objective is twofold: to offer timely and pragmatic solutions, while avoiding burdening processes or slowing innovation.
Being close to the business also means translating rules and ethical principles into operational tools to support decision-making. The risk-based approach allows resources to be focused on the most exposed areas, while training evolves into a set of integrated initiatives that complement traditional courses with targeted workshops, informational briefs, and reminders in daily workflows. A further boost to business proximity comes from digitalization: the introduction of technological platforms and tools allows for real-time risk monitoring and management, transforming data into useful insights and improving the function’s responsiveness. From this perspective, the relationship between business and compliance was described as that of a pilot and co-pilot, two distinct yet complementary roles working side by side to follow the same path.
«True proximity to the business is measured by the Compliance function’s ability to transform ethical principles and complex rules into operational tools, integrated into decision-making processes. The risk-based approach, advanced training, and digitalization are not just methodologies: they are strategic levers that strengthen corporate resilience and enable proactive governance. In this scenario, Compliance manager is not an external observer, but a co-pilot: it drives alongside the business, with a shared vision and complementary responsibilities»
Giovanna Rosato, Head of Legal & Compliance Italy & Greece
The conference also offered an opportunity to reflect on the topic of artificial intelligence, addressing its ambivalent implications, both opportunities and challenges. Attention focused on the integration of AI into compliance programs: from the management of recurring activities to data digitization, from its inclusion in the Governance Risk e Compliance (“GRC”) models to the traceability of decisions.
The common thread that united the various discussions was the analysis of change as an integral part of compliance’s DNA. Looking to the past allowed for a reinterpretation of the values and motivations underlying organizational choices, while looking to the future allowed for a clearer identification of evolutionary trajectories. From this perspective, the integration of diverse factors—from the use of technology to the construction of professional networks, without neglecting the essential value of human relationships—is confirmed as a key element in driving transformation.