Doug Saunders serves as Chief Information Officer at Arctic Glacier Premium Ice, a company with more than 100 years of history serving over 70,000 customers across North America. With a background spanning logistics, distribution, and transformational IT leadership, Doug has focused on aligning innovation with business value creation. Under his leadership, Arctic Glacier has deployed advanced AI and IoT solutions that not only streamline operations but also contribute directly to EBITDA growth. Backed by private equity support from Carlyle, Doug has embraced change and driven modernization across customer service, route optimization, and data integration. His approach balances top-line growth with cost efficiency, showing how IT can become a strategic driver rather than just a support function.

• How agentic AI reduced Arctic Glacier’s call center staff from 55 to 10 while boosting EBIT

• Why branded conversational bots improve both efficiency and customer experience

• How IoT sensors in 50,000 merchandisers deliver real-time demand signals

• The role of weather, sell-through, and day-of-week data in route planning

• Why Carlyle’s technology services team was a key partner in execution

• How integration partners allowed the IT team to scale lean operations

• Doug’s advice on not waiting for perfect data before deploying AI

Doug highlights how agentic AI and IoT are transforming Arctic Glacier’s operations. He describes automating high-volume customer interactions with a branded conversational bot that answers order status and billing questions, routes common tasks, and integrates with existing systems. The program reduced call center headcount from roughly 55 to about 10 and contributed millions to EBIT by improving customer experience and lowering service costs.

Doug then details field innovation. Arctic Glacier installed IoT Lidar sensors in 50,000 merchandisers to measure fill levels and temperature, generating near real-time demand signals. Combined with weather, day-of-week, and sell-through patterns, those signals drive order creation and route planning. In a California pilot, the team reduced approximately 40 percent of stops, focusing drivers where deliveries were most profitable and time sensitive.

He explains the platform approach behind the scenes. As a Salesforce shop for CRM, the customer-facing agent runs on Agentforce, while other order and integration tasks use additional partners where appropriate. Doug credits Carlyle’s technology services team with opening doors to vendor engineering teams, portfolio peer examples, and favorable pricing that accelerated execution. He also highlights delivery support from an integration partner that allowed the internal IT team to stay lean while scaling data science and automation work.

The conversation closes with practical guidance. Do not wait for perfect data. Expect tuning cycles, just as you would train a new human agent. Align IT to the business strategy, know who IT reports to, and avoid burying technology under functions that limit transformation.