Rockets, Fuel, and Budweiser – Where It All Started

How an aerospace engineer and nuclear severe accidents specialist became the King of Beers?

I joined the world’s largest brewer on September 21, 2015. This series is about reflecting on my first 5 years with AB InBev.

“Writing is a mechanism to try to deliver value to others” – Stephen King

Chapter 1: Where It All Started

Friends call me “Beastmode” or “The Beast”. For some it’s because of my physical abilities and hard-working character. For others it’s because of my professional ambition and risk-taking aptitude. I like to think friends call me that way because of the grit I demonstrate in challenging circumstances. In a group, I’m quick at acknowledging I’m not the most talented. I’m therefore proactive at combining both passion and perseverance to developing myself, overcoming challenges, and impacting people around me.

Passion for learning brought me to pursue a 2-year full time MBA at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in 2013. That decision was also motivated by a desire to accelerate and reorient my career, enhance my exposure to global business and cultural practices, and signal an ambition to grow as a top executive.

The Promise

And there we were. Durham, North Carolina, May 22, 2015, few days after graduation. I was watching ESPN 30 for 30 docuseries on Detroit Pistons’ Bad Boys but my mind kept wandering. I was bothered by a promise to my wife 22 months earlier, before I moved to the USA, leaving her and our 3-year old son in Belgium: “I’ll explore any career opportunity that brings me back to Belgium at the end of the MBA program.”

I was troubled by this call for applications I received few weeks earlier via Fuqua’s career platform. The title was “AB InBev, Multinational FMCG Company looking for a Global Procurement Senior Analyst”. The call got my attention. Having lived in Belgium for 13 years, I knew AB InBev as one of the biggest employers in the country. AB InBev was also the brewer of my favorite beer brand: Leffe Blonde. Yet I didn’t even open the job description at first.

I was puzzled. Why should I even consider it since I have plans with a Technology company? FMCG? Neither the industry nor the brewing company was part of my potential post-MBA targets. And how come a Belgian beer company is looking for MBAs in the USA anyway? I thought it was a bluff. However, I was still not committed to Big Blue and I had given my word to my wife.  

Turned off Netflix and opened the job description... Well, I don’t know anything about FMCG. What’s procurement? Beer industry? Ok for the drinking part but that’s it. I forced myself to be open-minded, reading carefully every word of the job description. Eventually, the only word I could relate to was “analyst”. As an aerospace engineer by trade and a former nuclear severe accidents specialist I was comfortable with data and decision models. Besides, one of my MBA degree concentrations was on Decision Sciences.  

At 3:35 p.m. Eastern time, I posted my resume along with a random, “fill-in-the-gap”, cover letter through the school recruiting platform. I pressed submit and went to the gym. I felt some relief to have fulfilled my “moral duties” to my wife. Still, I was somewhat intrigued. 

19 hours. That’s the time it took AB InBev’s Global Procurement Capabilities Director to get back me. Remember, I sent my application at 9:35 p.m. Belgium time on Friday. At 4:25 p.m. Belgium time on Saturday, Mark’s response was clear and concise: “Hello Cedric, Thank you for your submission. Why does AB InBev attract you? Why do you believe you are suited for the organization? Why does Procurement appeal to you? Best regards, Mark”. 

No Way! They answered. Within 24 hours. On a weekend. Because my cover letter was weak I was certain that something in my application had spiked their interest. But what? I’m just a MBA graduate with a technical background. They brew beer. What the heck?

The Application 

Now I was in trouble. First, I must answer to Mark’s questions. Second, I must reply within 24 hours, this being a personal commitment while interacting with recruiters. Even though I did not take AB InBev seriously at first, I was representing the Duke MBA’s brand. That was enough to get me going. 

Culture. That’s the main aspect of AB InBev that struck me when I conducted my 24-hour research about the company. Here is a copy of the email I returned to Mark the next day at 3:47 a.m. Eastern time. The “cover letter trifecta” – culture, skills, and motivation. 375 words. I knew this was a slam dunk: 

Dear Mark,

Thanks for your prompt feedback.

My interest in AB InBev is driven by three factors:

• Leadership – World’s largest brewer with ~20% market share and increasing revenue; extensive brand portfolio which increases recognition among consumers; diversified and balanced exposure across multiple geographies.
• Challenge – Long history of successful acquisitions since the company’s inception; expansion in fast-growing and attractive markets such as Mexico and Asia; addressing negative health attributes associated with beer while reinforcing the business bottom line.
• Innovation – Continuous product, packaging, and promotions innovation combined with the integration of social and digital media to engage consumers and generate higher revenue and larger market share.

I believe I am a great fit for AB InBev for three reasons:

• Culture – AB InBev values Collaboration, Ownership, and Impact which is consistent with my leadership values and the reason I joined Duke MBA to prepare my career transition. Work Hard, Do Well, and Give Back is also very important to me and something I managed to deliver in every country I’ve lived in.
• Skills – My international background has made me very effective in navigating complex matrix organizations, managing cross-functional interactions, and understanding people’s priorities and challenges. Thanks to my technical training, I am good at problem-solving and extremely quality and detail-oriented, which I am sure is a value added for a customer-oriented business surrounded by regulations, counterfeiting, and health concerns. Finally, I am comfortable with finance and data analytics, the latter being a critical skill in this digital era.
• Motivation – AB InBev is a diverse, demanding, and fast-paced environment that will enable me to consolidate my business education and maintain continuous improvement. I believe AB InBev, along with the Global Procurement Analyst position, is the right place to maximize impact and growth opportunities while stepping out of my comfort zone. 

Procurement is a complex and exciting people, process, and strategy-oriented function. Becoming a subject matter expert is consistent with the short term goal I discussed in the previous bullet. Specifically I am appealed by the following:

• Managing team dynamics and supplier relationship.
• Improving procurement process to save time and money while reducing risk and maintaining quality.
• Growing from category leader interactions and C-level exposure. 

I am highly adaptable and I learn fast. I am confident my excellence in execution and work ethics will drive value for AB InBev.

The Culture

I was invited for an interview. The whole process took 6 rounds of interviews and 10 weeks. I went through several interview formats: one-on-one, panel, in-person, video, and phone. I met with 11 people at different levels within the organization: manager, director, VP, and C-Level. Spoiler Alert: our MBA recruiting process today is 2 times faster. We’ve come a long way! 

That lengthy recruiting process gave me the opportunity to understand the culture and to challenge its authenticity. Are they really living by that “Dream People Culture” everyone seems to be proud of? Do they have evidences to support claims such as “Always dream big. We hire people better than us. People grow at the pace of their talent. Never satisfied. We stretch people so they can develop faster and reach their full potential. We don’t take shortcuts. We promote frugality and informality”?  

The more people I met, the better I felt. However, the expectation of technical questions on procurement made me anxious. To my surprise, there was none. Not a single one. Outsiders without industry experience like me are risky choices that could crash and burn. If leadership potential, past achievements, and career ambition are predictors for success, adaptability and cultural fit are essential for survival and development. That’s probably what my interviewers wanted to figure out more than anything else. 

New York City. The hotel I checked in, prior to my final round of interviews, cleared any doubt I had about AB InBev being a frugal company. Words and actions were congruent. The following day, I met with 4 global procurement VPs and we discussed for about 90 minutes. Then I spent 45 minutes with Tony Milikin. I never felt those 5 people interviewed me. I interviewed them. My last question to Tony was “what do you expect me to accomplish during the first 3 to 6 months?” “That’s none of my business” he said, “I trust my team. We thrive to hiring the right people, put them in the right place, and get out of their way. My direct reports will make sure you are busy enough to have fun from day 1.” That was a candid and unexpected answer. I was convinced I found the right place to pursue my post-MBA career objective: be fast-tracked as a general manager with a global company.

The Decision

I decided to join AB InBev for 3 reasons: 

1. Stepping out of my comfort zone: for the first time of my life, I’d be evolving in a non-engineering, non tech-oriented environment. That will push me to develop new skills faster. Combining a growing set of skills with high intensity efforts will increase my velocity and help capitalize on my MBA (investment) faster. Eric Thomas, a.k.a. the Hip Hop preacher, said it best: “when you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful”.
2. Joining a high-pace rotational program within the global procurement team: in fact, an internal strategic consulting job with the opportunity to work across all procurement disciplines and across geographies. That was an effective way to learn the business, develop a global network, and build credibility.
3. Doing business in Africa: I never had the opportunity to. I moved from Cameroon to Belgium as a young adult. Given the company ambition and history of growth through acquisitions, my intuition was that Africa would be AB InBev’s next big move. I trusted my guts. Knocking on wood. 

The compensation package was average. I negotiated but I wasn’t then the negotiator I am now. What I found attractive was that a significant part of the compensation was linked to both individual results and company results. Performance got rewarded and was not a banned word. We call it meritocracy. Besides, top performers are rewarded with accelerated career growth, promotions, and wealth creation. Rewards are proportionate to the challenge. Because I believe in myself, my value, and my ability to deliver it, I prefer to get compensated based on the results I produce. Considering this, my mission was simple: get in there, work hard, learn fast, add value, disrupt, and get rewarded. Repeat.

I was in Seattle, Washington, when I accepted the offer to join AB InBev and start on September 21, 2015 in Belgium. Coincidentally, accepting the offer meant I’d reunite with my wife and son stayed in Belgium while I pursued my MBA. I had spent 22 months recruiting for an industry, for a company, or for a position instead of recruiting for an environment consistent with my goals. Funny enough, when I focused on the right thing – the culture – it also brought me back to the right place. Family. This is what we do at AB InBev, we bring people together. 

I packed my bags not knowing the adventure would take a weird turn.