René Lammers unveiled as Chief Research and Innovation Officer at The Estée Lauder Companies

The Estée Lauder Companies has announced the appointment of René Lammers as Executive Vice President, Chief Research & Innovation Officer, effective 1st October.

Lammers will report directly to Stéphane de La Faverie, President and Chief Executive Officer, and will join the company’s executive team.

“René is an exceptional and innovative leader whose deep scientific expertise, global perspective, and passion for cutting-edge product development will be instrumental as we transform our approach to research and innovation to more fully align with our focus on consumer centricity,” says de La Faverie.

“Creating transformative innovation is integral to our strategic vision of Beauty Reimagined, and with René’s leadership, we are elevating our capabilities to deliver even more breakthrough new products as well as on-trend innovation more quickly across prestige price tiers. With this appointment, I am excited that my executive team is now complete and positioned to lead the company into its next chapter of growth and transformation.”

Lammers will lead the evolution of The Estée Lauder Companies’ global research and innovation capabilities, including product and clinical innovation, scientific affairs, regulatory strategy, and upstream technologies across the company’s brand portfolio.

He will help advance the company’s high touch innovation model, with the aim of bringing forward disruptive technologies and new science-based platforms that elevate performance, quality, safety, and sustainability. He will oversee the company’s Research and Innovation Centres worldwide and place a focus on delivering fast to market, on-trend innovation across in-demand subcategories, benefits and occasions.

He will also advance collaborations with global scientific and academic institutions, and drive external innovation with strategic partners, particularly in critical areas like biotechnology and longevity science.

He joins The Estée Lauder Companies from PepsiCo, where he most recently served as Executive Vice President and Chief Science Officer, overseeing a 3,000-person global R&D organisation. Prior to that, he held senior leadership positions at Unilever, where he developed technologies across personal care, home care, and laundry, and established innovation hubs across Europe and Asia.

2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

Transformation programmes will be a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards. which are now open for entries, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended November's gathering. 

For further information on the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards, please fill in the below form and we will get back to you asap.