Dive Brief:
- The Estée Lauder Companies appointed Brian Franz to its leadership team as chief technology, data and analytics officer Monday. Franz will lead the cosmetic giant’s global IT organization, taking the reins from CIO Michael Smith, who departed earlier this month, the company said in an email Tuesday.
- “Brian’s deep expertise and fresh perspectives will be pivotal in executing the biggest technology and operational transformation in our company’s history,” the company’s President and CEO Stéphane de La Faverie said in the announcement. Franz, who served as global CIO at financial firm State Street for the last five years, will join the company’s executive team and report to de La Faverie.
- Franz’s purview extends across enterprise data and IT transformation, platform integration, digital experiences and AI adoption, the company said. “By bringing these critical areas together under one leader, we are simplifying our structure, removing operational silos and creating stronger alignment across our data and technology strategies” de La Faverie added in his first external executive leadership appointment announcement since rising to CEO in October.
Dive Insight:
Estée Lauder's tech leadership restructuring comes amid a flurry of industry activity around AI adoption and data modernization.
L’Oréal, another dominant player in consumer cosmetics, teamed up with IBM to build an AI model trained to analyze existing product formulas and suggest more environmentally friendly alternatives in January. Ulta Beauty also has AI capabilities in its sights as the company pursues enterprisewide systems modernization, CEO and President Kecia Steelman said earlier this month.
Estée Lauder jumped on generative AI early, launching a voice-assisted customer app via Azure AI in 2023 and signing up for ChatGPT Enterprise shortly after OpenAI introduced the service that year. Earlier this month, the company began work on a generative AI chatbot assistant as part of a broader innovation partnership with Microsoft.
Franz’s appointment dovetails with a broad strategic realignment de La Faverie rolled out in February called Beauty Reimagined. While the initiative prioritized customer-facing innovation, the company is leaning on technology — and its new IT chief — to drive the transformation.
“Brian’s experience in modernizing infrastructure, building resilient and sustainable platforms, and advancing AI-driven capabilities will be critical as we accelerate our evolution into a more agile and consumer-focused organization,” de La Faverie said in the Tuesday announcement.
