---
id: "org-mccormick"
type: "entity"
entityType: "organization"
canonicalName: "McCormick & Company"
aliases: ["McCormick"]
source_timestamps: ["§ 1. Focused differentiation: Sharpen your edge."]
tags: ["food-and-beverage", "r-and-d"]
related: ["concept-focused-differentiation", "org-ibm"]
canonical_url: "mccormickcorporation.com"
source_url: "https://hbr.org/2026/01/match-your-ai-strategy-to-your-organizations-reality"
source_title: "Match Your AI Strategy to Your Organization's Reality"
sources: ["spine"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-spine"
originDay: 1
articleStem: "hbr-sig-55-match-ai-strategy-to-reality"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/01/match-your-ai-strategy-to-your-organizations-reality"
sourceTitle: "Match Your AI Strategy to Your Organization’s Reality"
---
# McCormick & Company

**Role: exemplar of [[concept-focused-differentiation]].** In 2019, McCormick partnered with [[org-ibm]] to build **SAGE**, an AI system trained on decades of sensory data, recipes, and consumer insights. By applying AI to the narrow choke point of flavor development, McCormick **doubled the net sales contribution from new products between 2022 and 2024** — a precise, high-ROI use case in a mature industry.