Henkel expands on Adobe partnership as GenAI disrupts economy and society “at lightspeed”

22 May 2024 --- As the personal care and beauty sector seeks to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI), Tilak Thiagarajan, corporate director of Digital Commerce CPG at Henkel, talks to Personal Care Insights about the company's expanded partnership with Adobe to help streamline and enhance operations. 

Henkel operates with a diversified portfolio, holding leading positions in industrial and consumer businesses through brands such as Loctite, Persil and Schwarzkopf. Tilak Thiagarajan says Adobe Firefly and Adobe Experience Cloud solutions will be used in its digital business platform RAQN to help produce personalized content safe for commercial use while adhering to brand standards. 

How will this expanded partnership with Adobe impact your beauty division, specifically hair care?
Thiagarajan: Henkel’s content supply chain will be advanced to deliver personalization at scale across the global brand portfolio. Through the use of generative AI, our brands will have the possibility to accelerate content production, streamline repetitive tasks and advance marketing workflows. Ultimately, the consumers will benefit from personalized experiences and product recommendations, for example, based on a consumer’s hair color, style or length.

Could you share your thoughts about AI in the beauty sector and why it is important to solidify an AI strategy?
Thiagarajan: One of the megatrends we are facing, is the content personalization that meets the needs of digital marketing and omnichannel campaigns and product launches. This is where AI can be a significant help to create relevant content.

Thiagarajan says generative AI is disrupting the economy and society in a similar magnitude to the internet — but at lightspeed.Digitalization is a decisive element of our strategic framework for purposeful growth to create added value for customers and consumers and increase the efficiency of our processes. In close collaboration with Henkel’s business units, our dedicated digital unit Henkel dx drives digital transformation within the company and leverages technologies to advance digital innovation and open up new opportunities.

AI has been an integral part and cornerstone of our company’s digitalization journey for a few years already. And now, generative AI is disrupting the economy and society in a similar magnitude to the internet — but at lightspeed. That’s why, based on our broad experience with AI, we are also conducting pilot projects on GenAI.

Where will the tech be deployed? Who is your target consumer?
Thiagarajan: We are currently finalizing the first phase of the pilot with one of our Schwarzkopf Professional brands. We are planning to run this pilot phase to generate learnings and are continuously testing and adapting our approach to scaling GenAI at Henkel.

Taking climate action
While Henkel makes collaborative moves in the AI space, it also sees value in partnering with suppliers on climate action.

The “Climate Connect” program will try to advance decarbonization along the value chain through the collection of emissions data, jointly defined actions for reduction and continuous upskilling.

The German company is working with “Manufacture 2030,” a partner in the field of carbon reduction, to address its raw material and packaging suppliers as well as contract manufacturers and suppliers of traded goods worldwide. That’s where Henkel says, more than 90 percent of its Scope 3 upstream emissions occur.While Henkel makes collaborative moves in the AI space, it says it also sees value in partnering with suppliers on climate action.

The program will record key figures on energy, water consumption and waste volumes. Henkel says it will be rolled out and adapted gradually to an increasing number of suppliers in the different Scope 3 categories in the future.

With the help of the data generated as well as corresponding training, Henkel and “Manufacture 2030” will give participating suppliers individual support in assessing their baseline and setting measures for climate action. Henkel sees the new supplier engagement program helping to:

● Record and reduce Scope 3 emissions from suppliers worldwide.

● Support partners through transparent data collection, training and targeted actions for decarbonization.

● Assist Henkel’s ambition of a net-zero pathway.

Companies in this sector are assessing their Scope 3 emissions due to the new European Union sustainability reporting rules as part of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.

By Anita Sharma