Dive Brief:
- Colgate-Palmolive is scaling AI deployments in several key areas to drive top-line growth and employee productivity, CEO Noel Wallace said during a conference Wednesday.
- Within advertising, the company has embedded AI for promotion optimization, replacing labor-intensive spreadsheets, Wallace said. “We're using AI and machine learning to literally put billions of scenarios into our network to decide on how to optimize gross to net spending.”
- Wallace said the company is using AI in its revenue growth management practices to avoid unnecessary costs and save employees time. AI is also helping shape retail media strategy by scoring the quality of each piece of content to improve efficiency and efficacy.
Dive Insight:
Colgate-Palmolive has stressed the importance of a clear strategy and is now turning talk into action.
“There are so many different spaces companies can decide to focus on,” Wallace said. “We've been very choiceful in the areas that we think are going to drive sustained top-line growth for us and improve profitability at the bottom line.”
The focus on business impact and scale, rather than AI hype, has been echoed this year by leaders from other large organizations. A measured approach to the technology has emerged as enthusiasm for generative AI wanes among senior executives.
Jumping into AI projects without the right foundation is spurring buyer’s remorse for some IT leaders and emphasizing the need for connecting AI investments to use cases and realistic expectations.
But enterprises still have lofty goals for the technology. CIOs are turning to generative AI to generate revenue, increase productivity, ease workflow challenges and improve customer experience. To hit their aim, enterprises must put in some upfront investment to become AI-ready.
“It's all the work that we've done, bringing in the right talent and upskilling the organization in the last few years that's prepared us to respond as new technologies like gen AI emerge,” Diana Schildhouse, Colgate-Palmolive chief analytics and insights officer, said in February during a conference. “Driving a transformation of this type is not just about tech; it's about people.”
Schildhouse said her team partnered with the company’s HR learning team to create a bespoke data literacy and analytics academy, which had 14,000 employee participants, including Wallace. By the end of the year, the household product maker also plans to train every non-plant worker on basic AI principles, prompting, guardrails and ethical use.
