For the past 18 months, Brian Franz has overseen all data, technology, and analytics at Estee Lauder, the first-ever C-suite leader to fill that role at the beauty giant. As of Tuesday, his role promises to be even more transformative.
This week, the M.A.C and Clinique purveyor, which ranks No. 315 on the Fortune 500, announced Franz has been appointed to the newly expanded role of chief technology and transformation officer, where he will continue to oversee the global IT team, further integrate partnerships with Shopify and Accenture, promote more internal and external use of artificial intelligence, and be tasked with leading enterprise-wide initiatives focused on supporting revenue growth and improving productivity.
“We have amazing brands and really great history, insights, and data for 80-plus years now,” says Franz, who previously served as CIO at financial-services firm State Street, liquor maker Diageo, and food behemoth PepsiCo. “But, we had to really position ourselves for where we need to be in the future.”
What that has meant for Franz is ensuring that all 14,000 of Estee Lauder’s employees have broad access to AI productivity tools including Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT, while also investing in more narrow AI use cases to speed up formulations and improve efficiencies at the company’s manufacturing facilities. AI is also changing how millions of consumers shop for beauty brands on chatbots like Gemini and Claude, further complicating and accelerating a discovery process that’s already been upended by TikTok, Instagram, and other social media platforms.
