Brown-Forman Corporation (BF-B)

Spirits maker, 4,900 employees, 39% U.S., 34% hourly. Read October 20, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending April 30, 2026, filed June 12, 2026. Ranked 57 of the 76 Consumer Defensive companies read so far, by the share within reach now.

The filing states 4,900 employees, 1,900 in the United States and 34% in hourly production roles, in one spirits business, so one beverage pattern carries the workforce.

The figures on this page come from the company's own annual report and from BLS staffing patterns for its industries, never from a roster. They are estimates with a stated method. Nothing here says what the company will do: within reach is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.

What follows from the reading

Share of working time within reach of AI, on the long-run pace at four in five: 15% now, 22% at the end of 2027, 24% at the end of 2028, 24% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 24% desk work, 19% people work and 56% body work. These are the site's industry estimates weighted by the shares below: estimates with a stated method and range, not a forecast of what the company will do. By the same patterns, at the end of 2028 about 76% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 17% becomes checking a model's work and 7% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.

Headcount

4,900 employees as of April 30, 2026 (stated). The filing states approximately 1,900 of 4,900 employees in the United States.

The filing: “We employ approximately 4,900 people (excluding individuals who work on a part-time or temporary basis) on six continents, including approximately 1,900 people in the United States (approximately 7% of whom are represented by a union) and 700 people in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, home of our world headquarters.”

The workforce as industry patterns

What the filing says about the workforce: About 4,900 excluding part-time and temporary workers; 1,900 in the United States, about 7% of them union, and 700 in Louisville where the world headquarters is; 66% salaried, 34% hourly production; operational hubs in India, Mexico and Poland.

Companies read with the same leading pattern

Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Beverage Manufacturing, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.

• The Coca-Cola Company (KO, 65,900 employees)15% now, 24% by 2028
• Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (KDP, 30,600 employees)15% now, 24% by 2028
• Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. (COKE, 17,000 employees)15% now, 24% by 2028
• Molson Coors Beverage Company (TAP, 16,200 employees)15% now, 25% by 2028
• Primo Brands Corporation (PRMB, 12,600 employees)15% now, 24% by 2028
• Constellation Brands, Inc. (STZ, 9,400 employees)15% now, 24% by 2028
• Monster Beverage Corporation (MNST, 6,891 employees)15% now, 24% by 2028

What the filing says about AI

3 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing names generative AI among cyber risks and sources of fictitious media content, and AI regulations in the European Union among the laws it must follow.

• “Consequently, companies may not be able to investigate or effectively respond to negative information or content disseminated in this manner, including fictitious media content (such as content produced by generative AI or bad actors).”
• “Furthermore, our increasingly mobile, hybrid, and global workforce, coupled with new technology like generative artificial intelligence, further increases our exposure to cyber risk.”
• “Such laws and regulations include the California Consumer Protection Act, the California Privacy Rights Act, data protection and AI regulations in the European Union, and other similar regulations that may change or be added to frequently.”

Its annual reports, year by year

Sentences naming AI in each annual report, counted by one rule, beside the median report in the Index that year. Each count links its filing. Every company, by year and sector

• Fiscal 20210median 0
• Fiscal 20220median 0
• Fiscal 20231median 1
• Fiscal 20242median 4
• Fiscal 20253median 10

Headcount by filing year

As reported in each year's annual report, with the filing. A year marked not read had no figure the reading could take from the report's text.

Limits of this reading

• The 700 in Louisville are a count by location where the headquarters is, with production in the city too, so they stay inside the pattern as Cincinnati Financial's headquarters count does.
• Part-time and temporary workers are excluded from the filing's count.

Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0000014693-26-000024, the filing. Read by Claude Fable 5.1 under rubric version 1, by the method. A company can write to info@stratussc.com to have its reading checked against its filing.