Rodrigo Santos Fernández is CEO of Cervecería Allende, where he leads operational turnaround and business transformation initiatives focused on profitability, commercial growth, organizational performance, and execution discipline within Mexico’s competitive consumer and retail sectors. Over the course of a career spanning more than twenty-five years, he has led large-scale operational transformation, strategic planning, retail modernization, and process improvement initiatives across consumer goods, retail, industrial automation, and entrepreneurship ecosystems in Mexico and Latin America.
Prior to joining Cervecería Allende, Santos Fernández held senior leadership roles within Grupo Modelo and AB InBev, where he oversaw large-scale retail and commercial operations involving thousands of stores, major regional business units, and extensive operational teams. His work included leadership responsibility for strategic planning, operational optimization, retail growth, supply-chain coordination, and enterprise performance management across highly competitive consumer markets.
Among his most recognized initiatives was the development and implementation of the Súper Ya! modernization program, a public-private retail transformation effort launched in collaboration with Mexico’s Ministry of Economy to help modernize and strengthen thousands of independent neighborhood retailers across the country. The initiative combined training, operational consulting, financing support, point-of-sale technology, distribution optimization, and business modernization frameworks designed to improve competitiveness among small retailers operating against large chain competitors.
Across both corporate and entrepreneurial environments, Santos Fernández has focused on building operational systems that improve execution quality, organizational adaptability, and long-term competitiveness. His recent work increasingly explores how artificial intelligence, operational discipline, and systems-based leadership can help businesses strengthen decision-making and performance in rapidly changing market environments.
In this interview, Santos Fernández discusses the operational realities of retail transformation, the challenges facing independent businesses in modern consumer markets, and the leadership principles required to build organizations capable of adapting to technological and competitive disruption.
ELLEN WARREN: Large multinational retailers often operate with advantages in capital, logistics, technology, and purchasing power that independent neighborhood businesses simply do not have. Early in your career, what made you interested in the challenge of helping smaller retailers compete more effectively in those environments?
RODRIGO SANTOS FERNANDEZ: I first became aware of these challenges while serving as Strategic Planning Director at Grupo Modelo. Large retail chains were increasingly demanding as customers. They pushed for lower prices, extended payment terms, mandatory promotional participation, and additional fees for product placement and visibility.
At the same time, national and multinational chains were expanding rapidly while independent neighborhood retailers were steadily losing ground. An internal study revealed that for every new convenience store opening, approximately 10 to 15 neighborhood stores closed. As leader of the Strategic Planning function, my team and I were asked to find ways to reverse that trend, which was affecting both the retail ecosystem and Grupo Modelo’s long-term commercial performance.
After evaluating a variety of potential solutions, we developed the Súper Ya! initiative. What began as an effort to address a specific market challenge ultimately evolved into a national modernization program supported by Grupo Modelo, other consumer goods companies, and public-sector partners through Mexico’s Ministry of Economy.
EW: In many parts of Mexico and Latin America, independent neighborhood retailers still play a central economic and social role despite increasing pressure from large chains and changing consumer expectations. What operational challenges do these businesses most commonly face as retail markets become more digitized and data-driven?
RSF: Small retailers typically start their business by opening the garage door and selling. They have no training or preparation in how retail works, so their knowledge grows over time through their own experience. They rarely make decisions based on data, have limited standardized processes (if at all), and manage inventory based on feeling. I found that many small retail business owners do not fully understand how a point-of-sale (POS) terminal works and consider it as bureaucracy and a waste of time. The best operators use envelopes to save the money for each vendor, but the grand majority simply take money from the cash register. The main gap and challenge is about gathering the right information and the intelligent use of it to control their business.
EW: You helped lead the development of the Súper Ya! modernization initiative, a nationally recognized program designed to support thousands of independent neighborhood retailers across Mexico. What operational or competitive problems were these businesses facing that convinced you a large-scale modernization effort was necessary?
RSF: I saw that small retailers across the country had the will and intention to modernize, but did not know how or where to begin. Many stores lacked basic elements that influence customer experience and operational performance, including proper lighting, effective product assortment, clear pricing, promotional visibility, and modern POS capabilities. Without the business expertise and/or training to overcome these challenges, they had no access to resources or a path to improvement. I developed a standardized and consistent five-pillar program that could help hundreds or thousands of stores. When I presented this to Bruno Ferrari, Mexico’s Minister of Economy at the time, he recognized the initiative, at large scale, was a game-changer that could de-concentrate the retail business, strengthen small retailers and generate thousands of new jobs.
EW: Súper Ya! ultimately combined training, financing support, distribution coordination, POS technology, and operational consulting into a single integrated model. Why was it important to build a broader business support system rather than treating retail modernization as simply a technology initiative?
RSF: Technology was definitely an important challenge, but there were several challenges to overcome. First was helping small retailers to understand and believe that creating a good store facade with good illumination invites shoppers to stay longer in the store. I also worked to help them increase product variety so that they could offer product solutions for their shoppers’ needs, and have appropriate inventory and stock volumes across different seasons. Above all, the program provided training to assist business owners in execution.
I designed Súper Ya! around a five-pillar framework called TRIPS to help independent retailers take a systematic approach to their business operations. TRIPS stands for Training and Capability Building, Retail Operations Optimization, Intelligent Sourcing, Physical Environment and Customer Experience, and Systems Integration. Each pillar of TRIPS helps the other, and when implemented in total the TRIPS approach drives an improved shopper experience.
EW: Large retail chains often assume that scale alone creates long-term competitive advantage. Based on your experience modernizing independent retail networks, what strengths do smaller businesses still possess that large organizations frequently struggle to replicate?
RSF: Smaller retailers can better understand their customer needs. They know their neighborhood and the people living there by name. They know that Juan comes every afternoon after work to buy milk on his way home, or that Lupita comes for eggs and fresh fruit on Tuesdays. They know the local trends, the next town festival, and other factors that might influence shopper behavior. Because large retail chains need to be cost-efficient, they must standardize everything across the country. They have plenty of initiatives like logistic optimization to deliver everyday low prices— but they cannot afford to take a local approach.
EW: Throughout your career, you have worked extensively in operational environments where execution quality has a direct impact on profitability, efficiency, and long-term competitiveness. What management and leadership habits have you found most important for maintaining execution discipline inside large and operationally complex organizations?
RSF: Decision-making must be based on hard data. Business owners and entrepreneurs know they have to make decisions on the spot. I have found that having a daily routine to understand profitability through useful business reports is essential to long-term sustainability. The routine starts with a full-team meeting before opening the store. The objective is to review previous day store results and define today’s targets. This meeting is not only about sales—it should also cover purchasing spend limit, what category of inventory should be counted today, what products to check expirations dates, who is responsible for cold-storage replenishment, shelf restocking, and product presentation, and any other critical topics that may come up. Carrying out this daily meeting requires only 15 minutes to review results and targets, and is key to kickstarting a new execution discipline. I also recommend ending the meeting with a short cheer phrase, similar to Walmart’s famous “¡Squiggly!”
EW: Many organizations invest heavily in technology initiatives but still struggle to improve operational performance in practice. Why do transformation efforts so often fail to translate into meaningful execution improvement after implementation?
RSF: Strategy is very important, but execution is critical. To perform a business transformation successfully you need to do it holistically. Technology must be seen as part of a whole: it needs routine to execute, feedback, adjust accordingly and execute again. That is why the second pillar in TRIPS—Retail Operations Optimization—focuses on execution. To do it effectively is much more difficult. I tried to invest in technology only since it is simpler and faster—you can even implement remotely—but we found that business owners would start with lots of energy, then lose motivation when the POS was showing numbers different from reality, inventory started having differences, vendor changed pricing and the system did not follow, innovations came with new barcode and the system did not have them. After a couple months, and in some cases even weeks, the POS was a white box taking space from the checkout. Technology is not the solution by itself. It is a tool that supports better execution, but sustainable improvement requires discipline, accountability, and consistent follow-through.
EW: In your published work and industry commentary, you have argued that artificial intelligence has the potential to expand competitive access for smaller businesses and help narrow some of the operational advantages traditionally held by much larger enterprises. Where do you believe organizations are still misunderstanding the relationship between AI adoption and operational competitiveness?
RSF: Large companies have teams of specialists dedicated to analyzing data and producing reports that help leaders make better business decisions. Historically, those capabilities were too expensive for most small businesses, but AI is making them accessible at a fraction of the cost. Today, a small retailer can use AI tools to assist with purchasing decisions, inventory management, category performance analysis, pricing, and even the creation of daily operational reports and dashboards for management review.
For many independent retailers, this represents a significant opportunity. Capabilities that once required dedicated analysts and substantial technology budgets are now available through affordable AI tools. The challenge is helping business owners understand how to use these tools effectively and introducing them gradually, one application at a time.
EW: You currently lead operational turnaround initiatives at Cervecería Allende during a period of significant transformation and growth. When organizations are facing operational instability or performance challenges, what leadership approaches become most important for rebuilding alignment and restoring execution discipline?
RSF: I believe leadership is about communication. In Cervecería Allende we started by having one source of information across the entire company, so everyone has the same number: sales, inventories, production plans are all available for everyone. Once everyone is working from the same information, the next step is to have a common objective, a shared dream. Ours is to be the best Mexican craft beer. This shared dream guides every business decision. For example, our brewmaster will not approve a beer if it is too hoppy, or our sales team will not sell to a customer that has not paid. AI helps on having information available at the right moment for the team, and facilitates communication. We are using Claude as our AI tool, and it has been adopted rapidly by all levels of our organization. Our brewmaster is using it to find opportunities on our current recipes to improve quality and consistency, the sales team uses it as an assistant to follow up on customer sales and portfolio opportunities, and the management team to accelerate analysis and reporting. After several months of adoption, it is difficult to think how we would work without this communication and AI usage.
EW: As retail and consumer businesses continue adapting to AI-enabled operations, shifting customer behavior, and increasingly competitive markets, what capabilities will organizations need most in order to remain operationally resilient and competitive over the next decade?
RSF: In my opinion, the most important capability will be organizational adaptability. AI platforms will continue to evolve rapidly, and companies will need to evaluate new tools, adopt useful capabilities, and adjust their workflows much more quickly than they have in the past. At Cervecería Allende, we have already worked through several generations of AI tools as new capabilities emerged. The specific platform matters less than creating a culture where teams are willing to learn, experiment, and incorporate better ways of working as technology changes. Organizations that can adapt quickly while maintaining strong operational discipline will be in the best position to remain competitive over the next decade.
