Boston Beer Company collaborates with Syniti, part of Capgemini (Syniti) and leverages advanced AI technologies to transform data management processes and technology. By automating the extraction of unstructured data and integrating it into their existing systems, Boston Beer enhanced the efficiency, accuracy, and governance of their ingredient data.
Boston Beer Company, a leading brewer in the United States, has partnered with Syniti for many years, enhancing its data governance and management strategies and roadmap.
Initially brought on as a strategic consultant, Syniti advised Boston Beer on improving governance processes and technology. This collaboration eventually expanded into a comprehensive implementation of master data management (MDM) focusing on key data objects such as material master, customer master and vendor master.
The Challenge
Boston Beer Company identified an opportunity to modernize and improve their approach to ingredients data management Boston Beer receives ingredient specifications from vendors in various formats, primarily as PDFs and DOCX. These documents contain valuable, business-critical information in the form of unstructured data points – like allergens and kosher certification, as well as relative density and storage conditions.
Manually extracting and organizing this data could take months using conventional methods and carried several challenges including
• Vast volume of data collected over many years
• Limitations of manual processing and traditional AI solutions
• Need for business-ready data to ensure integration with existing MDM and SAP systems
• Skepticism surrounding the quality of data captured
Ryen Gunning, Enterprise Data Director, Boston Beer Company, said: “Syniti not only addressed our immediate needs but also helped us think about the art of the possible in order to integrate responsible AI into our data management practices.”
The Solution
Syniti implemented an advanced Generative AI solution designed to handle unstructured data with high accuracy and configurability.
Utilizing Generative AI, Syniti’s solution automatically reads the unstructured files, extracts the necessary data, and generates output files that could be loaded into a centralized database.
The solution seamlessly integrated with Boston Beer Company’s existing Master Data Management (MDM) toolset and SAP systems, enhancing data management processes.
Key features of Syniti’s Generative AI solution include:
• Intelligent decision-making for data standardization
• Optimizes data quality for seamless interaction withSyniti’s existing MDM toolset and SAP systems
• Scalable, flexible, and handles large volumes of unstructured data with speed
• Extract specific data points from unstructured sources and readies them for structured data at extremely high accuracy
Implementation Process
Following a highly successful pilot test, the first wave consisted of processing the entire set of specification files—around 5,000in total—covering approximately 400 ingredients. Syniti’s solution was able to process these files rapidly and accurately, significantly reducing the time and effort required compared to manual processing. Tasks that typically took months using conventional methods were completed in mere days with exceptional accuracy using Syniti’s Generative AI solution.
Tori Pesek, Senior Manager Master Data, Boston Beer Company, said: “Syniti has truly transformed our approach to data management. Historically, our approach would have been to assign people to review the documentation and ask them to record the specifications in an offline file. The accuracy and consistency of the extracted data were remarkable, and the seamless integration with our existing systems significantly improved our efficiency. We now focus on leveraging the information we have instead of struggling to capture it.”
Results
By delivering exceptional accuracy, efficiency, and seamless integration with existing systems, Syniti’s Generative AI solution transformed a lengthy and costly project into a streamlined process completed within days. Integrated within Boston Beer’s master data management and governance workflow, Syniti’s Generative AI solution transforms unstructured data into structured data that is now able to be reviewed, approved or refined before being input into the target system, adding another layer of accuracy and consistency.
• Rapid Data Processing: 5,000 documents processed in days as opposed to months, dramatically reducing overall project timeline
• Swift configuration and execution in partnership with Syniti’s professional services
The seamless integration with Syniti’s existing platform and processes improved the scalability, efficiency and reliability of Boston Beer’s data management processes.
Benefits
Syniti’s user-friendly interface allowed Boston Beer to easily and dynamically configure the fields they wanted to extract from the PDFs on the fly. The solution’s flexibility also accommodated additional requirements such as storage conditions and shelf life as they arose during the project.
“Syniti’s innovations in Generative AI transformed what would have been a cumbersome, months-long project into a streamlined process completed in just days,” said Gunning. “Syniti automated a lot of the heavy lifting. The team spent less time wrangling data and more time validating and improving data quality…from ‘doers’ to ‘reviewers.’ Building a trustworthy data foundation is critical to our Enterprise Data strategy and we are excited about our partnership with Syniti, driving future innovation through technology in our data management roadmap.”
Compared to traditional data extraction methods, Syniti’s Generative AI solution delivered significant advantages for Boston Beer:
• High Accuracy and Consistency: Intelligent data standardization and quality self-checks ensure that accurate, consistent high-quality data is being extracted.
• Substantial Cost Savings: The solution proved to be a cost-effective alternative to traditional manual processing or AI/ML tools, which can be a significant strain on resources and time.
• Reduced project timeline: What typically would be a six-month project, Syniti was able to complete the task in a week.
We asked Syniti’s CEO Kevin Campbell further questions to find out more about the project.
How does Syniti’s Generative AI solution set a new benchmark for handling unstructured data in the beverage industry?
Unstructured data is the messy garage of enterprise data—it’s full of valuable stuff, but it’s buried under years of clutter, inconsistent formats, and manual headaches that will drive data scientists crazy. What we did with The Boston Beer Company (Boston Beer) sets a whole new standard.
Our Generative AI (GenAI) didn’t just scan PDFs and spit out text—it intelligently extracted critical business data like allergen info, kosher certifications, shelf-life, and transformed it into structured, business-ready insights. So, no more ‘hope it’s accurate’ spreadsheets, or spending days cleaning data manually.
In an industry like beverages, where ingredients, compliance and vendor specs are constantly changing, our technology gives you clean, trusted data – fast and at scale. We’re automating the hard parts and folding it right into your Master Data Management (MDM) and SAP systems.
It’s surgical, it’s scalable and it’s setting the pace in the industry. We’ve proven that unstructured data doesn’t have to be a black hole anymore. Syniti, part of Capgemini, has set a new bar, and we’re just getting started.
What key lessons from the Boston Beer implementation can benefit other companies looking to modernize their data management?
I’d say the biggest takeaway is to stop waiting for perfect conditions to get started. Boston Beer didn’t come to us with perfect, uniform files. They had 5,000 vendor docs in every format imaginable – Word docs, PDFs, some dating back years – and needed business-critical info out of them fast.
The old-school playbook of manual entry, traditional AI with lots of babysitting wasn’t going to cut it, and if they waited for a data clean-up miracle before acting, they’d probably still be sorting files. So, it’s a good thing they came to us when they did.
Another lesson is you don’t need an army. With the right technology and the right partner, you can shift your people from data doers to data reviewers. No more burning your smartest people on copying and pasting, our GenAI solution lets their team focus on validating and driving quality.
Lastly, invest in something that plugs into your actual systems. Our GenAI didn’t sit on an island. It fed directly into Boston Beer’s MDM and SAP setup, which meant no rip and replace, no added complexity—just better outcomes, faster. That’s what modern data management should look like.
How is Syniti planning to evolve its Generative AI capabilities to support future client needs?
We’re not chasing flashy demos. We’re building AI that makes your data cleaner, faster and smarter where it actually counts—in real business processes. And our roadmap is focused on that mission.
We’re advancing governance first intelligence. Our new GenAI doesn’t just fix data blindly—it understands your policies, flags issues with full context, and explains exactly why it matters to your business. So, your stewards stay in control, and nothing slips through the cracks.
We’re also enabling process aware acceleration. This lets our AI map how your teams actually use data in platforms—like SAP, Salesforce, and Oracle, so GenAI can recommend the fastest, safest path to cleanse, enrich, or migrate data—without disrupting logistics, finance, or compliance downstream. So, you get better results, faster and without the usual chaos.
And we’re scaling with modular, plug-in growth. New connectors for unstructured source, enrichment packs, and validation agents drop directly into the Syniti platform you already run. So, no rip and replace, no mysteries–just progress, compounding fast.
To sum it up, we’re combining deep enterprise data expertise with sharp, targeted GenAI to improve trust, speed, and outcomes across your entire data lifecycle—and we’re doing it today.
