The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) and Microsoft Corp. on Friday announced the creation of an AI Innovation Lab as an expansion of their global strategic relationship. Leveraging cutting-edge generative AI capabilities in Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service, the companies will work together to develop solutions that further empower ELC’s more than 20 prestige beauty brands as they create closer consumer connections and increase speed to market with local relevancy. The AI Innovation Lab further positions both companies as leaders at the forefront of reimagining the beauty industry with generative AI.
This expanded global strategic relationship will further support and build impactful generative AI use cases across several areas of ELC’s business, including:
- Faster response and execution to social trends and consumer demands: ELC and Microsoft have successfully created an internal-facing generative AI chatbot to enhance marketing effectiveness globally. The tool utilizes advanced conversational AI technology to 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.
- Enabling fast and more effective product innovation: ELC and Microsoft are applying generative AI tools in research and development for quicker product development, allowing scientists and product development specialists to respond to emerging product and ingredient trends more rapidly.
“At ELC, technology is always in support of our enduring strengths of high-quality products and high-touch consumer experiences,” said Jane Lauder, EVP, Enterprise Marketing, and chief data officer, The Estée Lauder Companies. “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. We look forward to continuing our close and collaborative partnership with Microsoft.”
“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, Global Industry Solutions, Microsoft. “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.”
The AI Innovation Lab represents a deepening of the strategic relationship between ELC and Microsoft, which began in 2017. As part of this long-term relationship, ELC tapped Azure AI as the platform for its Voice-Enabled Makeup Assistant, a first-of-its-kind mobile app launched in early 2023 to help visually impaired users more easily and confidently apply makeup. The app is available on iOS and Android in the United States, United Kingdom and Ireland, and it will be rolled out to additional markets and languages in the coming months.
