The beauty conglomerate Estee Lauder is no longer its first attempt at generative AI. This week, the firm announced a strengthening of its partnership with technology giant Microsoft. On the agenda: the creation of an artificial intelligence innovation laboratory. The firm will rely on its generative AI services – namely Azure OpenAI – to develop AI solutions for Estée Lauder's 20 beauty brands.
To say the least, this virtual program should lead to greater speed in bringing the beauty giant's various products to market. The two companies have already created an AI-based chatbot for internal use for Estée Lauder's marketing teams. The tool uses conversational AI to navigate and leverage the firm's proprietary product and claims database to help brands launch locally relevant campaigns faster.
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An investment in AI since 2017
The AI Innovation Lab represents the logical continuation of Estée Lauder's artificial intelligence strategy. For the record, the firm began its partnership with Microsoft in 2017. It notably used Azure AI as a platform for its voice-controlled makeup assistant. An application that combines both augmented reality and artificial intelligence.
The solution uses voice instruction technologies to assist the user in makeup application. Users receive audio feedback and guidance on whether their lipstick, eyeshadow, or foundation is applied evenly. Using AI, the solution identifies makeup applied to a user's face and evaluates the uniformity and limitations of application and coverage across all areas of the face. The tool is even able to audibly describe places where touch-ups may be needed.
The mobile application launched in early 2023 to help visually impaired users apply makeup is now available on iOS and Android in the United States, United Kingdom and Ireland. The cosmetics giant plans to expand its development to other markets and other languages in the coming months. And this inclusive beauty solution is just one of the many examples of what Estée Lauder is developing today.
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Another major partner in cloud and AI
The firm with thousands of cosmetics is not married to a single cloud provider, quite the contrary. On its other arm is Google. Estée Lauder develops AI applications on Google Cloud's AI platform, Vertex AI, to streamline operations and simplify workflows for sales teams to reduce operating costs. It also relies on BigQuery and Looker to consolidate its data.
At the same time, the firm uses PaLM 2, Google's large language model (LLM), to better understand consumer sentiment on brand channels such as social networks, call centers, etc. Objective: better understand consumer intentions and personalize their experiences in the 40 countries where the group is present.
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