Coty Expands AI Ecosystem, Adds Generative Asset Optimization
Coty is accelerating its artificial intelligence journey, expanding on partnerships that will help it to build an AI ecosystem to support "focused applications," according to interim CEO Markus Strobel.
The company has been working with Microsoft and ServiceNow for the effort, now adding OpenAI as its most recent partner. The latest use cases include AI-enabled advanced consumer persona insights and generative-powered digital asset creation.
Consolidating and Automating Efforts
The company was spending far too much time and money on creating assets across too many brands and markets, said Strobel during Coty's latest earnings call.
"A disproportionate amount of our spending gets tied up in asset creation, and not enough flows into working media and consumer engagement, which can lead to insufficient awareness, trial and purchase," Strobel added.
As such, projects often lose the resources needed for scalability past the pilot phase because funding is allocated across several new product launches. By using generative AI, the company has been able to reduce spending while also generating more content on a compressed timeline.
"While still in the early stages of implementation, through AI, we've reduced the post-production asset cost for selected fragrance, cosmetics and skin care brands by 70% to 90%," said Strobel.
The company is also preparing for agentic commerce, using generative engine optimization to influence how its brands are represented and recommended across AI engines — "an increasingly critical gateway for consumer discovery," according to Strobel.
Coty's Restructure
This is part of Coty's larger corporate growth initiative, which focuses on automation, standardization and increased control over global processes. The strategy delivered approximately $20 million in cost savings for the first quarter of 2025.
Coty plans to have AI at the core, embedding it within multiple functions, including robotics process automation and testing, vendor invoices, and procurement, as well as content creation and iteration within marketing.
But most importantly, said Strobel, AI isn't just about the tools, but more so the people.
"Through targeted training, hands-on workshops and leadership engagement, we are building an organization where AI becomes part of our employees' day-to-day, strengthening execution today and creating a future-ready Coty," he said.
This article was originally published on P2PI-sibling publication Consumer Goods Technology.
