Albertsons Companies Cuts Search Time by 30% by Turning Insights Into Action

Executive summary

Albertsons Companies built a centralized Knowledge Hub to make trusted research easier to find across the organization. But as adoption grew, a new challenge emerged: teams could access insights, but they still struggled to synthesize and apply them quickly enough to influence decisions.

By partnering with Stravito to launch an AI-powered Knowledge Hub Assistant, Albertsons helped teams move from search to strategy. In less than a year, users generated more than 3,900 prompts, reduced search time by 30%, and saved hours each week by turning trusted research into evidence-backed decisions faster.

About Albertsons Companies

Albertsons Companies is one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States, operating well-known banners across grocery, pharmacy, and retail. With insights teams supporting a large and distributed organization, making research accessible — and usable — at scale is critical.

Albertsons began working with Stravito in 2021 to improve how insights were shared across the business. What started as a knowledge management initiative evolved into a broader transformation focused on helping teams use insights more effectively in everyday decision-making.

The challenge: access alone wasn’t enough

Before launching its Knowledge Hub, Albertsons faced a familiar set of challenges. Teams spent too much time searching through SharePoint folders and disconnected systems. Research was often duplicated because stakeholders didn’t know what already existed. Valuable insights remained difficult to activate across the business.

The company addressed those issues by creating a centralized Knowledge Hub powered by Stravito. The platform brought together internal research alongside trusted external sources, including syndicated insights from Circana, NIQ, and Numerator, as well as thought leadership from Mintel, Hartman, and Kantar.

The result was a trusted, shared source of truth that teams across the organization could rely on.

Adoption quickly followed. Uploads increased 92% year over year.

But even with stronger access to research, another bottleneck emerged.

People could find information. They just didn’t always have time to use it.

Reading multiple reports before a meeting wasn’t realistic. Comparing findings across sources still required significant effort and expertise. The challenge had shifted from access to synthesis.

As Ashley Starke from Albertsons explained during IIEX North America:

“The bottleneck had shifted—from access to synthesis.”

The solution: An AI assistant grounded in trusted insights

In August 2024, Albertsons expanded its Knowledge Hub by launching an AI-powered Assistant in partnership with Stravito.

The goal wasn’t to introduce another standalone AI tool. Instead, Albertsons wanted to help teams quickly synthesize trusted research and bring evidence into decision-making moments faster.

Unlike general-purpose AI tools, the Assistant only draws from Albertsons’ curated research ecosystem. Every answer is traceable back to trusted content, helping users feel confident in both the information and the recommendations they receive.

The Assistant was built on a strong foundation:

• • More than 131,000 thought leadership pieces
  • Over 1,200 reports
  • More than 675,000 news articles connected in one system

Users can ask questions in natural language and receive synthesized, evidence-backed responses ready to apply in presentations, planning sessions, or stakeholder discussions. Albertsons also invested in ongoing enablement to help teams learn how to ask better questions and get more value from the platform.

The shift was significant: from simply searching for research to actively using insights in the flow of work.

The results: faster decisions and greater confidence

Today, teams across Albertsons use the Assistant in practical, high-value ways that directly support decision-making.

The most common use cases include:

• • 41% summarize research
  • 23% validate hypotheses
  • 20% compare findings across sources
  • 15% draft communications

These aren’t experimental workflows. They reflect the everyday pressure insights teams face to move quickly while maintaining confidence in the evidence behind their recommendations.

One user shared:

“It’s made it possible to summarize research from many sources—faster and easier.”

Another added:

“The Hub creates a more informed organization that makes better decisions, faster.”

Adoption has continued to grow. In under a year:

• • 277 users engaged with the Assistant
  • Teams generated more than 3,900 prompts

The business impact has been equally strong:

• • Search time decreased by 30%
  • 55% of users save more than two hours each week
  • 97% say insights are easy to find
  • 82% trust the content
  • 90% would recommend the platform
  • 85% report a positive impact overall

For Albertsons, the value goes beyond efficiency. Teams are bringing stronger evidence into conversations, aligning around shared understanding, and putting the consumer at the center of decisions more consistently.

The future: scaling AI responsibly

Albertsons views AI as an amplifier — not a replacement for insights expertise.

The company’s experience reinforced several important lessons:

1. Start with trusted content

2. Treat adoption as an ongoing effort

3. Focus on real decision-making moments

By combining a strong knowledge foundation with thoughtful enablement, Albertsons created an environment where teams don’t just use AI — they trust it.

Now, the focus is on embedding insights even more deeply into everyday work and continuing to help teams move from information to action faster.

This story is based on a joint presentation delivered by Stravito and Albertsons Companies at IIeX North America 2026.