Backed by Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service, the project’s generative AI capabilities will support more than 20 prestige beauty brands. Image credit: Estée Lauder Cos.
U.S. beauty group Estée Lauder Companies is expanding its strategic partnership with technology giant Microsoft Corp.
The pair have announced the creation of an AI Innovation Lab, offering enhanced marketing and product development capabilities. Backed by Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service, the project’s generative AI tools will support the more than 20 prestige beauty brands across the Estée Lauder Cos. portfolio.
“At ELC, technology is always in support of our enduring strengths of high-quality products and high-touch consumer experiences,” said Jane Lauder, EVP of enterprise marketing and chief data officer at The Estée Lauder Companies, in a statement.
“With Microsoft’s generative AI tools and extensive expertise, we are able to leverage ELC’s tremendous data to create more personalized consumer experiences and faster insights to action resulting in increased speed to market and stronger local relevancy,” Ms. Lauder said. “We look forward to continuing our close and collaborative partnership with Microsoft.”
Tech-forward formulation
Estée Lauder Cos. and Microsoft are looking to lead beauty’s technological transformation using artificial intelligence.
Per an announcement released on April 26, two new solutions have emerged from the AI Innovation Lab to date.
The first involves an internal-facing, conversational AI chatbot helping luxury beauty teams at Estée Lauder Cos. “efficiently navigate and further leverage ELC’s proprietary and extensive database of product and claim data, allowing brands to launch locally relevant campaigns more rapidly.”
Estée Lauder Companies and Microsoft are looking to lead beauty’s technological transformation long-term. Image credit: Estée Lauder Cos.
Next, the duo are speeding up research and product development turnaround times with AI Innovation Lab’s assistance, equipping scientists and specialists with information regarding trending products and ingredients at speed.
“Generative AI represents a significant opportunity for the beauty industry — creating more engaging customer experiences, getting products into the hands of consumers faster, developing new products more efficiently and sustainably, and much more,” said Shelley Bransten, corporate vice president of Global Industry Solutions at Microsoft, in a statement.
“We’re proud to collaborate with The Estée Lauder Companies to provide not only a platform for AI innovation, but also deep partnership to bring these new innovations to life.”
Born of a collaboration with the conglomerate that began in 2017, the AI Innovation Lab is far from Microsoft’s first AI-enabled luxury launch (see story).