The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) and Microsoft Corp. have teamed up once again to launch an AI Innovation Lab.

Leveraging the generative AI capabilities of Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service, the collaboration aims to develop innovative solutions that enhance consumer connections and accelerate speed to market with localized relevance for ELC’s prestigious beauty brands.

“At ELC, technology is always in support of our enduring strengths of high-quality products and high-touch consumer experiences,” said Jane Lauder, EVP, enterprise marketing, and chief data officer, The Estée Lauder Companies. 

“With Microsoft’s generative AI tools and extensive expertise, we are able to leverage ELC’s tremendous data to create more personalized consumer experiences and faster insights to action resulting in increased speed to market and stronger local relevancy. We look forward to continuing our close and collaborative partnership with Microsoft.”

One of the key areas of focus for the partnership is to enable faster response and execution to social trends and consumer demands. To achieve this, ELC and Microsoft have already developed an internal-facing generative AI chatbot designed to enhance global marketing effectiveness. This tool utilizes advanced conversational AI technology to streamline interactions and leverage ELC’s database of product and claim data, empowering brands to launch locally relevant campaigns faster.

Additionally, the collaboration aims to facilitate rapid and more effective product innovation by deploying generative AI tools in research and development processes. By leveraging these tools, ELC aims to empower its scientists and product development specialists to respond swiftly to emerging product and ingredient trends.

“Generative AI represents a significant opportunity for the beauty industry — creating more engaging customer experiences, getting products into the hands of consumers faster, developing new products more efficiently and sustainably, and much more,” added Shelley Bransten, corporate vice president, Global Industry Solutions, Microsoft. 

“We’re proud to collaborate with The Estée Lauder Companies to provide not only a platform for AI innovation, but also deep partnership to bring these new innovations to life.”

ELC and Microsoft first teamed up in 2017 on the development of the Voice-Enabled Makeup Assistant, a mobile app launched in early 2023 to assist visually impaired users in applying makeup.