Hygiene and health company Essity connects with Accenture and Microsoft for multi-year AI agents push

Essity has selected Accenture and Microsoft to help the hygiene and health company accelerate its use of AI agents.

As part of the multi-year collaboration, the companies will work together at Essity’s AI Centre of Excellence.

Accenture’s cloud, data and AI experts will use Microsoft’s technologies such as Azure, Copilot Studio, Power Platform and collaborate with Microsoft employees for technical guidance and support.

The aim is to create a robust and flexible cloud-based technology platform that will provide next-generation AI capabilities, on which Essity can test and scale solutions across its core business processes and functions.

This first phase of the tie up will focus on enhancing procurement and finance operations, where cross-functional teams will test, observe and continuously improve these areas over a period of time. Longer term, Essity plans to scale AI across the company to reinvent other end-to-end business processes.

“To accelerate value generation for our consumers, customers and our employees, we are collaborating with Accenture and Microsoft to access strong industry, functional, technical and product expertise, crucial for ensuring we have the agility to move as the market does,” says Carl-Magnus Månsson, Essity’s Chief Digital and Information Officer.

“We are creating a robust and flexible foundation and approach for developing and embedding data and AI in our core business processes to create value and deliver growth. The platform will be developed with leading design principles within a responsible AI framework designed to ensure ethical and legally compliant use and aligned to our company core values: We are committed, we care, we collaborate, and we have courage.”

"Essity has taken a bold step forward in realizing its ambition to be a pioneering company in the hygiene and health sector by reinventing key business processes with AI so it can move forward, faster,” says Patrik Malm, Managing Director at Accenture and lead of this initiative with Essity.

“We're bringing together multi-disciplinary expertise across function, industry, and technology to create a cloud-based platform for collaboration and co-creation. Together with Microsoft, our collaboration breaks exciting new ground for how Essity can better serve consumers with generative AI and agentic technology to create value and drive growth.”

Sophia Wikander, CEO Microsoft Sweden, says: “We’re operating in a transformative era of AI, where the ability to test, observe, shape, and scale solutions rapidly is evolving. Through this collaboration with Essity and Accenture, we’re bringing Microsoft’s agentic AI technologies and technical expertise to empower Essity to reimagine its core operations and unlock new levels of agility and value.”

RTIH AI in Retail Awards

RTIH proudly presents the first edition of its AI in Retail Awards, sponsored by 3D Cloud and EdTech Innovation Hub.

This is now open for entries. Deadline for submissions is Friday, 5th December. It’s free to enter and you can do so across multiple categories.

Check out categories and entry forms here.

As we witness a digital transformation revolution across all channels, AI tools are reshaping the omnichannel game, from personalising customer experiences to optimising inventory, uncovering insights into consumer behaviour, and enhancing the human element of retailers' businesses.

With 2025 set to be the year when AI and especially gen AI shake off the ‘heavily hyped’ tag and become embedded in retail business processes, our newly launched awards celebrate global technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world and the resulting benefits for retailers, shoppers and employees.

Our 2025 winners will be those companies who not only recognise the potential of AI, but also make it usable in everyday work - resulting in more efficiency and innovation in all areas.

Winners will be announced at an evening event at The Barbican in Central London on Thursday, 29th January. This will kick off with a drinks reception in the stunning Conservatory, followed by a three course meal, and awards ceremony in the Garden Room.