Digital Link unveils AI-powered conversational product packaging

Digital Link has introduced an AI-powered product assistant that embeds conversational intelligence into a QR code, enabling packaging to communicate more than regulatory compliance and other static information. Packaging can now converse with users and answer their questions via a simple scan.

Digital Link co-founder and CEO Paula Rivero revealed the technology in a live demonstration at Labelexpo Europe 2025.

'For the first time, a product can respond when you ask it a question,' Rivero said. 'This is not a gimmick. This is packaging becoming a voice, an ambassador that speaks for the brand and listens to the consumer.'

Packaging has been a silent messenger for decades, limited to what could be printed on a label. The unveiling at The Pulse stage at Fira Gran Via Barcelona marks a shift from passive to interactive, from one-way to two-way.

In one demo, Rivero scanned a face cream pack and asked Cleo, the Digital Link assistant, if it was safe to use for a pregnant woman. Cleo replied with tailored suggestions and recommendations. In another, a gin bottle was asked about cocktails, resulting in a series of recipes and instructions.

The launch comes at a time when consumers demand instant clarity and regulators worldwide push for radical transparency. By merging GS1 Digital Link standards with conversational AI, Digital Link positions packaging at the intersection of compliance and innovation. It offers transparency, capable of providing consumers with trustworthy, real-time answers about ingredients, allergens, safety or sustainability. It enables agentification, driving products to become active digital agents, capable of dialogue and context-aware guidance. It also advances efficiency, enabling brands to lower support costs by automating Q&A while collecting valuable insight into consumer needs.

Rivero positioned Digital Link as the architect of a new consumer reality by reframing connected packaging from a regulatory burden into a strategic advantage.

'This is the barcode’s successor,' Rivero told the audience. 'From now on, products don’t just sit on shelves. They live, they listen, they respond.'