Brian Franz takes on Chief Technology and Transformation Officer role at The Estée Lauder Companies
Brian Franz has been appointed Chief Technology & Transformation Officer at The Estée Lauder Companies, expanding his responsibilities to lead ongoing, enterprise wide transformation while continuing to oversee technology, data and analytics globally. Franz joined the company last year, taking on the role of Chief Technology, Data and Analytics Officer.
In a LinkedIn post, he said: "This reflects something we know to be true inside the company: transformation is not a project to be planned and completed. At The Estée Lauder Companies, transformation is a constant - embedded in how we work, make decisions, and serve our consumers."
"It also brings to life our beauty commitments of transformation and agility: reimagining how we operate, adapting with speed, and creating a simpler, more connected company that can respond to consumers and seize new opportunities."
He added: "Over the past 18 months, we have focused on building the technology driven foundations to make that ambition real - from advancing our global commerce foundation with Shopify to simplifying shared services through our partnership with Accenture. In this expanded role, I’ll continue working with teams across the company to accelerate AI enabled processes, build critical technology capabilities, and advance new ways of working."
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
AI will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out our 2025 winners here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
