The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) has expanded its strategic partnership with Microsoft to strengthen its cloud and data infrastructure and support the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) across the business.
The partnership is a critical part ELC’s One Operating Ecosystem. The network brings together shared platforms, connected data and external partners to support execution across its brands, regions, channels and functions. It also supports the beauty group’s Beauty Reimagined strategy.
A key element of the partnership sees ELC’s Unified Data Platform using Microsoft technology. The platform connects data across the group, reduces duplication and gives teams more consistent access to insights.
The partnership will support three areas: new capabilities and growth; decision intelligence; and productivity and automation.
ELC’s Unified Consumer Data Platform supports growth by helping ELC improve its understanding of consumer needs and preferences. The technlogy will help the company create and deliver personalised experiences across the journey from discovery to purchase by connecting consumer and product data.
To advance decision intelligence, the company is embedding AI in workflows and building a shared enterprise foundation that strengthens connectivity across functions. According to the company, this will support more coordinated decisions among marketing, commercial, value chain, and research and innovation teams.
ELC is equipping employees with secure AI tools, including Microsoft Copilot across 14,000 employees. This will automate repetitive, manual work so teams can become more agile and focus on strategy, innovation and higher-value decision-making.
“As we continue to execute on Beauty Reimagined, we are building the future of consumer-centricity – in our products, experiences, commerce and more,” said ELC Chief Technology and Transformation Officer Brian Franz.
“Our partnership with Microsoft, in addition to the other strategic partners in our One Operating Ecosystem, is powering our teams with the capabilities to ultimately deliver more relevant, personalised experiences that meet consumers’ evolving needs.
He added: “These enhanced capabilities will help us drive sustainable growth, improve productivity and support margin expansion, creating capacity to reinvest into our enterprise to serve our consumers.”
“The future of the beauty industry will be shaped by organisations like the Estée Lauder Companies that connect data, people and AI responsibly,” said Microsoft Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer Deb Cupp.
“Our expanded collaboration will help turn insights into action at scale – from empowering employees to modernising product development and delivering more meaningful consumer experiences.” ✈
