When Jane Lauder’s grandmother Estée Lauder began her eponymous beauty company, it was based on the one-on-one personal experience of knowing the customer or the client. Take the Clinique card catalogue, for example, where sales associates would not only jot down product recommendations or purchases, but would also note personal details about children or pets as a way of connecting to the shopper.
Fast forward to 2024, where data and artificial intelligence connections can make those connections even more personal, according to Lauder, who began her career in the ’90s as a Clinique sales associate and is now executive vice president, enterprise marketing and chief data officer of the Estée Lauder Cos.
“Sometimes we think about data being impersonal and taking away from that personal experience, but what I actually found is that beauty is personal and personal is really driven by data,” she said at the fourth annual WWD x FN x Beauty Inc 50 Women in Power conference, held at the 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. “I share with my team that the technology of the past was that vertically integrated tech companies had the advantage. Now, AI is driven by vast amounts of data so the more proprietary data you have, the bigger the advantage you’re going to have.”
She mainly thinks about using AI to support Lauder’s products and consumer experience, and then making those two things better.
Using innovation as an example, she said that in the past, innovation was always about trial and error and mixing, but now, AI can help get to that trial and error and testing faster. Another example is creating personal recommendations for consumers based on what people purchased in the past.
“Each of these things creates a better consumer experience, a better product, just better beauty all around,” Lauder said.
She also said she believes AI and technology help optimize the in-store experience, enabling shoppers to do a lot of their homework ahead of time in terms of reading reviews etc., but then it’s the experience that happens in store that is “magical.”
“They crave that human interaction as well,” she said. “There is still that magic that happens with a personal connection and beauty is personal so when people come in they might say, ‘I want that,’ so that’s when the conversation starts.”
As for AI-generated hosts of livestreaming shopping in China, the company was initially wary but that has changed.
“First we were all like, ‘That’s going to be terrible; no one’s going to want to watch that,’ and then we did consumer research and consumers were like as long as I’m getting the information I want they’re OK with it,” she said. “I thought that was really interesting because so much of consumer behavior is changing and we have to be ready for that disruption.”
Despite all the advancements AI can help a company make, many people are nervous that it could take away jobs. Lauder is not one of them.
“The way we think about it is AI is really going help make you life easier and better and your work more fulfilling,” she said. “As an example, we’re starting to use AI more with Photoshop. So much of the time these amazing creative people are doing Photoshop and cutting and pasting and filling in backgrounds versus being really creative, and now we’re going to have Adobe autogenerate fill and empower people having so much fun doing things that they love. As we think about that in the future, it’s not about taking away jobs, it’s making jobs more fulfilling and taking away the work that is not fulfilling.”
Lauder said that effective leaders often push employees to expand beyond their comfort zones.
“I’ve been there for a very long time and I think all of our journeys are shaped by the experiences that we’ve had and I’ve had some amazing experiences, some really challenging experiences and I’d say some of the things I’ve learned is it’s never about the job, it’s about the boss….It’s about who’s going to shape you, who’s going to mentor,” she said.
“The ones who are the best are the ones who push you out of your comfort zone. It’s great when they say you’re fabulous, you’re doing a good job. That’s nice, but what really makes a difference is when someone says ‘Look, you could do this better, or you’re up for the challenge.’”
She also highlighted the importance of women being able to see themselves in leadership roles.
“What’s so important is that the biggest barrier for women leaders is not being able to see themselves in positions of leadership, and that’s whats so important in making sure we have this network of women,” she said. “It’s about supporting women on their journey.”
As for herself, she learned “never take no for an answer” from her grandmother, she said. “How do you find that way to yes? Maybe that yes is not today, that yes could be tomorrow, or the next day. For me, persistence is not just about going for it, but finding the solution.”
The biggest lesson from her grandmother, though, is you can be everything you want to be. “You can have a family, you can be great at your job and you can wear a suit and a hat and high heels and be an incredible, powerful woman.”
