Proof

Topics: Enterprise, B2B, E-commerce, AI & Machine Learning, Digital Marketing, Consumer Goods, Cloud Infrastructure

Proof is Southern Glazer Wine & Spirits flagship B2B e-commerce and ordering platform: the digital front door for tens of thousands of beverage-alcohol retailers, bars, restaurants, and hotels across the U.S. As CDO, I led the architecture modernization and product transformation of Proof, re-platforming it from a collection of project-built systems onto a sustainable, cloud-native foundation of user-centric products and shared enterprise services. The work turned Proof from a retailer companion into a unified planning, insight, and action platform that connects suppliers, the Southern Glazer sales force, and merchant customers, bringing consumer-grade digital commerce to one of the most fragmented and heavily regulated categories in retail, where each U.S. market behaves almost like its own country.

Challenge

Southern Glazer Wine & Spirits serves tens of thousands of beverage-alcohol retailers, bars, restaurants, and hotels across the U.S., in one of the most fragmented and heavily regulated categories in retail. Proof launched in 2019 as the company B2B ordering platform, but had grown as a collection of project-built systems rather than a sustainable, reusable core. The opportunity was to modernize the architecture and reframe Proof as a single connected ecosystem, bringing consumer-grade digital commerce to a category where every state behaves almost like its own country.

Impact

Led the Proof Architecture and Modernization program, introducing Enterprise Common Services (ECS) and a shared integration layer so product teams could build against a sustainable, reusable, cloud-native foundation rather than one-off project stacks. Reframed Proof as a single connected ecosystem spanning visit execution (SET 2.0), Proof Sales with embedded analytics, omni-channel service, the Proof360 supplier portal, custom proposals, insight-driven marketing, the SGProof self-service portal, enterprise-wide collaboration, back-office integrations, and predictive analytics. Drove hands-free commerce pilots that auto-create orders and notify retailers and reps to keep high-performing items in stock, with state-by-state regulatory nuance, and built AI that surfaces next-product recommendations for sales reps and merchants while augmenting rather than replacing the sales force. Publicly reported results (Consumer Goods Technology, Jan 2025; Retail TouchPoints, May 2025): Proof drove approximately $4B in 2024 revenue and $12.5B cumulatively since its 2019 launch, lists more than 10,000 brands, serves 44 U.S. states plus D.C. and Canada, and now sees approximately 70% of sales touched digitally. Note: Proof launched in 2019, before the Jun 2023 start of this tenure. The contribution captured here is the architecture modernization, AI and hands-free evolution, and product transformation from 2023 onward, not the original platform build.