Remaining nimble in a constantly changing world doesn't have to be daunting. Instead, COOs and CTOs can seize this opportunity to pivot and lean into operational solutions that leverage new technologies like AI and automation and unify disparate organizational structures and regulatory systems. Moreover, by utilizing customer experience and insights to drive decision-making, companies can proactively manage disruption. In this session, we'll meet two leaders who are successfully navigating this transformation.
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00:00All right, so I think by now we are all really familiar
00:04with what a COO does.
00:06If you're not one, you know about one.
00:07But I want to ask how many of you
00:10either are a chief transformation officer
00:13or have one at your company?
00:14Show of hands.
00:16All right, we're about 50-50.
00:17Okay, well lucky for us, we have one here on stage
00:19and she used to formerly be a COO.
00:22So Raquel, can you tell us what are the differences
00:24between a chief transformation officer and a COO?
00:27Yes, happy to be here.
00:29Thank you for having me.
00:31It is a transition or a transformation, I should say.
00:36With the COO position, the work that you're doing
00:39with products, with the CTO, we look to bring
00:43that same level of commercial innovation,
00:46collaboration, consumer insights, but with our programs.
00:51So bringing value, creating value creation,
00:54ensuring that you're getting top ROI,
00:56doing the Pareto analysis, doing the work
01:00that's important for our employees,
01:02keeping us as a destination organization,
01:05but also making investments in the next generation
01:08of innovations.
01:10So the transformation, we have the entire corporate
01:12portfolio of innovations from digital to tech
01:18to the infrastructure to ERP systems, you name it,
01:22and it's driving in this space.
01:24And it certainly helps because we drove
01:26an important transformation in the supply chain
01:30during COVID that kind of set the stage
01:31to then move into creating the transformation strategy
01:35and roadmap for the company.
01:36Excellent, I want to come back to supply chain,
01:38but Sarah, I first want to come to you
01:40as someone who is truly just slacking backstage.
01:42I am very personally invested in what you're doing
01:44over there.
01:45So what does true transformation look like
01:47for you at Slack?
01:48And can you give me one specific example
01:51of how you've disrupted company operations
01:53in your very short time so far as COO?
01:56Yeah, it's a short time.
01:57I started in December, but it has been rapid fire.
02:01And I think as COOs who get work done,
02:03I have to start with work itself.
02:06Work today is broken, and we are leveraging
02:09Gen AI to fix it.
02:11And if you think about it, 41% of our teams
02:15are spending time doing really low value tasks.
02:18Even today, I was searching for a slide
02:20for the exact version that I wanted.
02:22And this kind of mix of data being in different apps,
02:27silos between teams, you're actually losing
02:30really valuable enterprise information.
02:32So what we are tackling is how do you point
02:37Gen AI at that really powerful enterprise data
02:40that you have across your organization?
02:43And we're doing it in our own team
02:46and also with several of our clients.
02:49We've launched over 100 AI-powered agents.
02:52Think of it like a chief of staff
02:54for the activities that are critical to your business.
02:57Sales, marketing service, commerce.
02:59And we're pointing that AI at the structured
03:01and unstructured data, the apps,
03:03and then it's actually taking action
03:05to build capacity across your teams.
03:08So sales agents, marketing agents,
03:10and we're using it ourselves.
03:11So we've launched 100 AI-powered tools and apps,
03:14including agents, over the last year.
03:18It's already delivered 50,000 hours in savings
03:21for our sales and IT services teams,
03:23which is where we started.
03:24And then several of our most innovative customers
03:28are already on the journey with us, too.
03:30Rivian, producing electric vehicles.
03:32They've actually put their assembly line robots
03:37into Slack's AI-powered operating system.
03:40So the robots talk to the engineers
03:42and tell them when the supply chain is down.
03:4672% improvement in their productivity
03:49in just this first phase.
03:50So really powerful.
03:53Work has broken.
03:54We're working with Gen AI to try and fix it.
03:56That's a great example.
03:57And what about at L'Oreal, Raquel?
03:59What type of tech are you using that's new and innovative?
04:02Yeah, so we're a beauty tech company.
04:05And so we're the number one beauty company in the world.
04:08And part of that is really embracing ongoing transformation.
04:13It's a way of life.
04:14And so it's fueling our digital innovation,
04:18the work that we do to be connected to consumers
04:20and create a love mark with consumers.
04:23A known fact, or a little known fact,
04:25our average product life cycle is less than two years.
04:28So you need to operate with a lot of speed.
04:31So you think about the different innovations,
04:33you don't necessarily need that lipstick,
04:37but you want it, right?
04:38Yes.
04:39And so, or from a skincare perspective.
04:42So the pace and speed of change is super important.
04:46And then I'm happy to share,
04:48hopefully many of you may have seen,
04:49we were the keynote this year at CES.
04:53Really, again, the combination of beauty
04:55and tech coming together,
04:57where we launched three new innovations.
05:00One being with the L'Oreal Professional,
05:03it's a Air Light Pro.
05:05And so it's the next generation hair drying system,
05:09but it uses one third less energy.
05:12And it also leaves your hair much more enriched,
05:15it's not stripping.
05:16And that also brings to life both technology,
05:19but also our commitment to sustainability.
05:22So in everything that we're doing,
05:23we're measuring scope two and three,
05:26really appreciating the impact
05:27of how consumers use our products
05:30and the impact that that's having on the environment.
05:33We also launched a digital makeup applicator
05:38for consumers who have movement disorders.
05:42And so the ability to still take pride in how you look,
05:46but if you don't have steady motion,
05:49that can be very difficult.
05:51So you should check it out, it's amazing.
05:53It's with Lancome, it's called Hapta.
05:56Again, so it's a stabilizer and anyone can apply makeup.
06:02So those are two examples.
06:04We also have a ColorSonic, which is in-home hair color,
06:09it's personalized, it does all the mixing
06:12in an applicator and it applies it directly to the roots.
06:15Excellent, people in the audience
06:16understand the importance of application.
06:18And I think us on stage for sure.
06:19The roots, right?
06:21But again, you can experiment.
06:23So the opportunity for personalization,
06:25tech, consumer, digital, right?
06:28And I think that's the power
06:30when you're solving for multiple elements
06:32and you're having that connection
06:34to the consumer leveraging tech,
06:36but also for our employees, right?
06:38And the work that we're doing on programs
06:41and bringing to life employee centric innovations
06:45to make time for what matters most.
06:47So that's our tagline, making time for what matters most.
06:50And in that is eliminating low value added tasks for sure.
06:54Now, before I turn it over to the audience for questions,
06:56I wanna come back to what you said about supply chain.
06:58Can you talk to me about how you innovated supply chains,
07:01either using this new tech or post pandemic?
07:04Yes, so COVID was a very special time for supply chains.
07:10Many people around the world
07:12got in touch with the term supply chain.
07:14So we disrupted the supply chain.
07:17It was because of the supply chain innovations
07:19focusing on e-comm.
07:20We achieved our 10 year ambition
07:22in e-commerce in three months.
07:24And we were able to grow 2X the market
07:27during this incredibly disruptive period.
07:30Certainly the one that I've experienced
07:32in my 32 year career, I've never seen anything like it.
07:35So I always say from a supply chain perspective,
07:38we have to be 18 to 24 months ahead of the hopes
07:42and dreams of our commercial friends, right?
07:44Because we're moving systems, people, solutions, steel.
07:48And so we were able to do that,
07:50particularly with building some infrastructure,
07:52very important infrastructure to support e-commerce,
07:56but also speed at scale, right?
07:58So being able to not only focus on our big brands
08:03that have big velocity and large velocities,
08:05but also the brands that were delighting consumers
08:08as they began to experiment and have personalized products.
08:13So there's a speed and a difference
08:14in your manufacturing strategy
08:16for that type of production and that velocity
08:19versus large scale like shampoos
08:21that we're all using day in, day out.
08:23Absolutely, and I think we have time
08:24for one audience question.
08:25If anyone has one, raise your hand,
08:27we'll run it over to you.
08:28But if not, I have one for Sarah going once.
08:31All right, Sarah, quickly can you tell us
08:33where do you see the biggest growth opportunity at Slack?
08:37So I have to acknowledge that Slack's been delighting users
08:41for the last 10 years.
08:43My team's remit is about building the next 10 year chapter
08:47and actually nodding to Raquel's comment
08:50around disruption and getting ready for that change.
08:52There's a really common misconception
08:55that COOs are just focusing on optimizing what is.
08:59And we really pride ourselves in setting the tone
09:04for the organization for what's coming next.
09:06So analyzing from data science to launching new products,
09:11from incubating new ideas,
09:13and then also getting the team set up
09:15so that whatever happens next,
09:17we're ready to pivot really quickly.
09:19So my team's been involved in all of the levers
09:22of the growth strategy at Slack.
09:25I think the most exciting things coming next
09:28are the product innovations and how fast they're coming.
09:32We've talked about agents already,
09:34that personal assistant for work.
09:36We've also launched Slack AI, which is embedded summaries,
09:42summarizing your enterprise information through search.
09:45If I just give an example,
09:46in Q1, I delivered the Slack growth strategy.
09:48In Q2, I delivered a baby.
09:52So I tapped into this exact summary.
09:56Functionality to recap what has happened in my company
09:59while I was out.
10:00And this is pretty critical.
10:01Could be just PTO.
10:03But we are using the innovation to empower our teams
10:08to create that capacity for our organization,
10:11but also to be ready to pivot really quickly
10:14when something net new comes
10:15that we haven't seen yet on the horizon.
10:18I think this moment is super exciting for COOs and CTOs
10:22as we position supply chains and operations
10:25to become vectors of growth.
10:27We've always been about creating value creation,
10:30driving savings and productivity,
10:32but we're now front-facing with the consumer
10:35and providing a lot of those delight factors.
10:38And so making that transition,
10:40we're adding that to our toolbox.
10:43So it's productivity because that is a given always,
10:46year over year.
10:47But how do you leverage the capabilities
10:50of the supply chain or the operation
10:53to drive growth for the company?
10:54Absolutely.
10:55That's the game changer.
10:55100%.
10:56Well, thank you so much, Raquel.
10:57Thank you so much, Sarah.
10:58Thank you for leaving maternity leave to join us.
10:59We appreciate you both for being here.
11:01Awesome.