The world’s largest health and beauty retailer says AI will make shopping ‘more human, not less’

The CEO of the world’s largest health and beauty retailer is pushing back against using AI to shrink headcount, arguing that the technology should be used to upgrade human work instead of replacing it.

“Is it really that, with AI, we’re going to cut out 30% of our workforce? Or… are we going to increase the quality of our people’s intelligence?” Malina Ngai, Group CEO of AS Watson, said at the Fortune Leaders Forum on Sept. 8.

Companies, particularly in the tech sector, have laid off tens of thousands of employees this year as they pivot towards AI. Oracle, for example, cut 21,000 jobs, or roughly 13% of its workforce, over the past year. 

Instead, Ngai—who previously led AS Watson’s digital transformation and expansion of its online commerce offerings—argued the retailer is pushing a “human-AI partnership”........

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