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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Google wants everyone to know it's moving fast again.</li><li>It showed off new AI features and devices at its "Made by Google" event on Tuesday.</li></ul>When <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-chat-gpt-2023-1">ChatGPT</a> first arrived, much was made of why Google wasn't the company behind it.The search giant, after all, owned the world-beating <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-deepmind">AI lab DeepMind</a>, released the research paper that laid the foundation for the large language model behind OpenAI's chatbot, and was putting its deep pockets to use for AI development. If any company was going to be the first to present generative AI in a neat, consumer-ready package, some thought it should have been Google.The company may have gotten in its own way. It had become a classic case of what business guru Clayton Christensen described in 1997 as <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/takeaways-harvard-business-school-clayton-christensen-the-innovators-dilemma-disruption">"the innovator's dilemma,"</a> in which an incumbent becomes complacent and cedes ground to younger companies with fresher ideas.That said, Google has been determined to remind everyone of its ability to move fast and innovate, with the launch event for its latest <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/google-pixel-9-pro-xl-fold-release-date-price-features-specs">AI-infused Pixel devices</a> being its latest attempt to do just that.During Tuesday's "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-pixel-event-stage-looks-similar-openai-sam-altman-aesthetic-2024-8">Made by Google" event</a>, brought forward from October, the company showcased the latest capabilities of its generative AI system Gemini across a suite of next-generation hardware, including new Pixel smartphones, a smartwatch, and buds.<div type="image" title="Google project manager Sandeep Waraich announces the new Google Pixel Watch 3 during the Made By Google event on August 13, 2024." height="2786" width="4388" msid="112528985" hostid="261" sizebytes="195064"></div><h2 id="ca5090ae-2d1a-4c2b-8cf4-dbe088ba3844">Capturing imaginations</h2>One standout feature included an <a target="_blank" href="https://store.google.com/intl/en_uk/ideas/articles/pixel-add-me/">"Add Me" function</a> that allows users to add themselves to a photo they weren't originally in by taking another picture of themselves in the first photo's location and then letting AI combine the two.Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, said he expects the feature to "capture consumers' imaginations," with the photography and video capabilities shown off on Tuesday among "some of the most compelling AI-powered innovations" so far.Google, of course, remains far off rivals like Apple and Samsung in the hardware space, with Pixel sales a fraction of the revenue generated by iPhone and Galaxy devices.But after former devices boss Rick Osterloh took charge of a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-ceo-sundar-pichai-shook-up-leadership-ai-era-2024-5">newly created division earlier this year</a> combining its Android and hardware teams, the company has a fresh medium through which it can demonstrate the uses and advantages of Gemini.Or put differently, Google has a chance to show that it's doing what critics said it wasn't doing back when the release of ChatGPT triggered a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-management-issues-code-red-over-chatgpt-report-2022-12">code-red warning</a> internally: it's moving fast again.What seems less certain than ever is its future destination.<h2 id="30d779e3-66e2-40bb-af7d-f83e6a7098c7">Which way, Google?</h2><div type="image" title="Google Pixel 9 devices." height="690" width="1024" msid="112528983" hostid="261" sizebytes="21196"></div>While the company is racing to innovate in AI, it is facing several challenges that cast genuine uncertainty over where it'll end up in the future.This month, a US federal judge ruled in a 286-page judgment that the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-violated-antitrust-law-to-keep-search-monopoly-judge-rules-2024-8">company was not only a monopolist but "it has acted as one," </a>handing it a brutal result in an antitrust case brought by the Department of Justice four years ago.One drastic remedy to Google's monopoly being weighed by the DoJ involves breaking up the company, with "the most likely units for divestment" being Android and Chrome, according to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-13/doj-considers-seeking-google-goog-breakup-after-major-antitrust-win">a Bloomberg report published Tuesday</a>.<h2 id="1b7daa63-ac01-41a1-bf86-bbba2b8a888e">Search remedy</h2>Lawmakers failed to split Microsoft into two separate entities following a blockbuster antitrust case in the 1990s that saw the Windows maker also get tagged as a monopolist, so how much success they'd have trying to break up Google is uncertain.But Google will be asked to make remedies in some shape or form that will loosen its grip on the tech sector. Another possible remedy, according to my colleague Alistair Barr, is <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-search-index-monopoly-remedy-doj-antitrust-2024-8">Google making its search index publicly available.</a>Beyond its battle in court, the company has also been having a hard time convincing investors that its fancy AI developments are going to generate returns.After reporting its latest earnings last month, the company struggled to convince investors that returns would be on the horizon as it doubles down on the spending needed to fuel its AI: capital expenditure almost doubled year-on-year in the quarter to $13 billion.Investors haven't been kind in return. In the past month, Google's stock has dropped by almost 12%.So yes, Google is moving fast again. Just don't be so sure about where it's going.

Google is moving fast again — but big problems cloud its path

Indian companies across multiple sectors have reported disappointing results in the second quarter of fiscal year 2025, notes a new JM Financials report. Consequently, their poor performance has triggered stock price corrections for affected companies. The brunt of this weaker than expected earnings was largely borne by consumer centric sectors like FMCG (fast moving consumer goods), retail, and auto, which slacked largely due to dampened urban demand. For instance, India's largest automaker, Maruti Suzuki, reported a 5% YoY decline in its total domestic passenger vehicle wholesales, largely on the back of pent-up inventory. Similarly, Honda reported a staggering 23% YoY dip in its total sales during October 2024. A recent report by Bernstein noted that around 48% of the companies listed on the NSE100 index missed their earnings estimate for Q2FY25, the highest since March 2020. Most companies have mentioned deteriorated domestic demand, urban slowing, macroeconomic risk, and margin pressures as the main reasons behind the dip. "The quarter's earnings have made investors nervous," noted the JM Financials report. The challenging environment stems from multiple factors: softening consumer demand, rising input costs, and companies' limited ability to increase prices. Moreover, this is not limited to just one quarter. Companies have been reporting weak, single-digit earnings growth for the last six consecutive quarters. Data from India Data Hub also suggests that corporate profits of listed companies plunged by as much as 3.4% during the quarter ended September 30, 2024. This is in stark contrast to the year-ago period, where they had shot up by over 40% The oil and gas sector had a difficult quarter, with refiners hit by weak margins and city gas distributors struggling with higher input costs. Financial institutions showed mixed results. While government-owned banks reported strong numbers, microfinance institutions and some private lenders faced massive difficulties with their unsecured loans. Most notable amongst this was the case of IndusInd Bank, which saw its net profits dip by 40% amidst burgeoning provisions, which climbed 87% to Rs 1,820 crore in Q2, as against Rs 974 crore reported in the year-ago period. <h2>Markets head southwards</h2>The selling trend by FPIs has dragged down the major Indian indices, the Nifty 50 and Sensex, both of which have dropped by around 8% since the beginning of this selling spree in October. According to National Securities Depository Ltd. (NSDL) data, FPIs offloaded equities worth a significant Rs 19,994 crore in just the first five trading sessions of November last week. The impact is clearly visible on Indian stock markets. Data suggests that while every sector in October closed the month in red, auto, oil and gas, and consumer durables were the most badly hit, each declining by as much as 10% during the month. Another indicator underlining the inherent weakness of the market was that the month saw only 242 stocks hit their 52-week high, significantly below the usual monthly average of 310.

India Inc. stares at an earnings dearth in Q2, FMCG, auto, and consumer durables falter

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Fast food chains say they're locked in a "value war" to win <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-are-doubling-down-on-loyalty-programs-2024-8">increasingly choosy US customers</a>.</li><li>On earnings calls, brands highlighted ways they're trying to offer more bang for diners' bucks.</li></ul>It's an especially challenging time in the fast food business.As a flurry of summer deals come to an end, quick-serve chains say they're now locked in a "value war" to win increasingly choosy US customers.While almost everything is more expensive now than a few years ago, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/gallery/chart-detail/?chartId=109406">inflation</a> figures show price increases for dining out have outpaced groceries, with the divide widening sharply over the past two years.More recently, some brands have aimed to soften the sticker shock with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-starbucks-costco-fast-food-retail-loyalty-programs-2024-10">temporary discounts to get diners in the door</a>, but rising costs of things like labor and raw ingredients are increasingly squeezing profits."Consumers have become more discerning," Moody's Ratings analyst Michael Zuccaro said in a note Friday. "Value perception is a key driver. This is not just price but also experience related factors such as convenience, speed, consistency, and accuracy."On earnings calls this week, brands such as McDonald's, Starbucks, Wendy's, and others highlighted ways they're trying to offer more bang for their customers' bucks.Chipotle said Tuesday that its ingredient costs have gone up recently due to a recent emphasis on delivering "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chipotle-says-ensuring-consistent-portions-has-hit-profitability-2024-10">consistent and generous portions</a>" in its burritos and bowls after customers complained earlier in the year of feeling short-changed.Between higher ingredient usage and other costs on the one hand, and a more competitive consumer economy, interim CEO Scott Boatwright said Chipotle was well-positioned to win the "value war" in fast-casual dining."The chicken burrito, on average, is still under $10, which we believe is still a 15% to 30% discount compared to our peer group. And so, we'll continue to lean into that as we move forward," he said in the company's call.Boatwright's predecessor Brian Niccol, who's now CEO at Starbucks, made <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/starbucks-ceo-to-lay-out-strategy-to-fix-coffee-chain-2024-10">several critiques of the coffee chain's recent value proposition</a> during the coffee company's Wednesday earnings call, including its "complicated" menu and customization options."What I have found is when you get simplification in place on pricing, people understand, OK, this is what I'm paying, and this is what I'm getting. And right now, I think we're surprising people a little bit on what they're paying through the customization process and we've got to fix that," he said.Even Wingstop CFO Alex Kaleida weighed in."We see consumers prioritizing brands that are going to deliver on quality and value," he said Wednesday. "We think we're right in that sweet spot of those guest expectations."In the world of burgers and fries, McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski expressed concern during the company's earnings call Tuesday that "our value leadership gap has shrunk" as other chains bring competitive offers to the marketplace."In response, we have moved with urgency in partnership with our franchisees to improve our value offerings in most of our major markets," Kempczinski said.McDonald's CFO Ian Borden also told analysts on the call that the company is using its <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-sales-dropped-second-quarter-in-a-row-sharees-down-2024-10">$5 meal deal to grow its loyalty program</a>."Buyers of the $5 meal are visiting us more frequently," he said on the call, saying that those repeat visitors go on to choose other menu items as well. "That's what you start seeing when you start getting consumers back into the restaurants on a more regular basis."Even premium burger brand Shake Shack said on Wednesday that its customers have had enough with price hikes, pushing the company to invest more in value."Despite the pricing we've taken over the last year, we're one of the few brands to actually improve our value equation over the last year," CEO Robert Lynch said during the company's call. "It does feel like all the initiatives that the team has put in place around service and speed, coupled with the great food that we continue to deliver, is driving a stronger value perception, which is allowing us to continue to grow."Wendy's rounded out the trend on Thursday with a detailed discussion of its approach to value."We're thinking about value," CFO Gunther Plosch said Thursday. "We absolutely believe that value in an environment of value-seeking consumers is not about only executing price-pointed promotions and value deals and value bundles — there's more to that."Plosch added that beyond the burger chain's creative promotions, the core menu remains essential to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wendys-stores-closing-140-locations-2024-11">getting customers to come back</a>."We are working really hard on having that value-seeking consumer having an outstanding experience at the restaurant," he told analysts.In other words, prices aren't likely to come down, but CEOs and CFOs will be anxious to see that you were satisfied with your order.

Fast food chains are locked in a 'value war' for US customers

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Fast-food chains and retailers are using loyalty programs to drive sales amid inflation challenges.</li><li>These programs are key for customer retention and giving chains a competitive advantage.</li></ul>Retailers and fast-food chains are leaning into loyalty programs to drive sales. This week, McDonald's reported its Q3 results. Global <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-sales-dropped-second-quarter-in-a-row-sharees-down-2024-10">sales dropped 1.5% in its latest quarter</a>, following a 1% slide in the previous quarter.However, one bright spot in its earnings was that the fast-food chain reported sales to its loyal members reached over $28 billion for the 12 months ending September — and $8 billion during the quarter across 50 loyalty markets. This is up from $6 billion in Q1 and $7 in Q2. The figure includes sales in both company-owned and franchisee restaurants.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-new-rewards-program-offers-free-burgers-and-mcchickens-2021-6">MyMcDonald's Rewards</a> was first introduced in the US in the summer of 2021. By the end of that year, McDonald's said over 21 million shoppers in the US had enrolled in the system. The program has since expanded to other markets.For every dollar spent on an order, you receive points. When accumulated, these can then be used to redeem free menu items.CEO Chris Kempczinski told analysts that the company's aim to reach 250 million active members by the end of 2027 was achievable. As of December 2023, McDonald's had 150 million 90-day active users in its loyalty program."We know as we drive loyalty adoption, we increase the frequency of visit and the spend from these customers over time," Kempczinski said.<h2 id="88661e47-ef97-4b4a-ae95-3bf701414a31">It's not just McDonald's</h2>McDonald's is not the only chain reaping the rewards from loyal consumers.Starbucks said in its most recent report earlier this week that its own rewards program had reached 33.8 million 90-day active members, a 4% year-on-year increase. Former boss Laxman Narasimhan said in February that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/starbucks-offer-fewer-deals-under-new-ceo-2024-10">60% of the company's sales</a> were from the nearly 34 million Starbucks Rewards members.Another popular example is Costco, which has become a master at building a superfan base.The warehouse club chain said its executive-tier members, who get 2% rewards on purchases, are <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-are-doubling-down-on-loyalty-programs-2024-8">responsible for about 73% of worldwide sales</a>.For West Paschal, cofounder of Alpine IQ, a Colorado-based customer loyalty platform that works with retail businesses, people are hesitant to spend on non-essential goods, so it is particularly important for businesses to use rewards programs to draw them in."It's especially necessary right now," he told Business Insider, "persuading consumers with loyalty deals can be a way to get them back in the store."<div type="image" title="A Starbucks barista works at an espresso machine" height="3456" width="5184" msid="114852909" hostid="261" sizebytes="514486"></div>As prices have soared due to inflation and shoppers have tightened their belts, fast-food chains have been competing against each other to tempt them back with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fast-food-price-rises-tipping-point-value-deals-combos-mcdonalds-2024-8">the best value meals</a>. McDonald's, KFC, and Burger King all rolled out $5 combo deals, for example."Loyalty programs are among the most effective ways businesses can cultivate customer engagement and repeat business," Kevin Shahnazari, cofounder of FinlyWealth, a personalized credit card recommendation service, said.Restaurants and stores that offer points-earning apps can drive consumers to opt to buy there over shopping at competitors and they would likely continue making their purchases somewhere where they can win rewards, he said.<h2 id="64ce7ac0-7b75-4926-88de-aa38ad203f8c">The power lies in the perks</h2>However, a good loyalty program should be about more than just the points.Financial incentives are still important, but there's a growing appreciation for rewards programs that align with the customer's values and include personalized experiences, Zsuzsa Kecsmar, chief strategy officer of Antavo Enterprise Loyalty Cloud, an AI-powered customer loyalty platform, said.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chappell-roan-against-hm-doesnt-bode-well-for-brand-2024-9">H&amp;M</a> is one of the retailers that offers exclusive event invites to its members, while <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nike-ceo-elliott-hill-takes-over-faces-challenges-2024-10">Nike</a> provides a customization service for its app users.For Zarina Stanford, CMO at software development firm Bazaarvoice, today's customer wants to feel recognized, and programs that achieve this can create a powerful cycle of prolonged engagement."In a marketplace where choices are endless, a strong loyalty program doesn't just retain customers, it also builds a relationship that feels personal and valuable," she said.It also provides companies with valuable data to understand customers better and tailor marketing.For the future of rewards systems, Kecsmar said <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/how-your-business-can-leverage-data-to-increase-customer-loyalty">technology will likely play a crucial role</a> in further adapting to the personalized needs of customers."This might include leveraging AI and advanced analytics to create more intuitive and responsive loyalty ecosystems that adapt to individual customer preferences and behaviors," she added.

Why fast-food chains and big brands love loyalty programs

<ul class="summary-list"><li>AI companies have been adjusting their election offerings and guidelines ahead of Election Day.</li><li>Perplexity launched an Election Information Hub with information on candidates, voting logistics, and results.</li></ul><a target="_blank" rel="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kamala-harris-donald-trump-swing-states-sun-belt-polls-2024-11">Election week</a> has finally arrived. This time around, it will serve as an important test for the AI companies willing to provide their users with election-related information and updates on voting results.ChatGPT didn't exist during the last presidential election in 2020. Its <a target="_blank" rel="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-openai-company-chatgpt-elon-musk-founded-2022-12">launch two years ago</a> kicked off a wave of generative AI chatbots and tools integrated into popular consumer products like Google Search.Ahead of the election, the companies behind the products had to decide what restrictions, if any, they would implement on AI-generated content related to the election, analyzing the associated risks.Some, like the AI startup Perplexity, are loudly leaning into it.The <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/perplexity-ai-startup-lawsuit-allegations-targets-funding-2024-10">AI search engine</a> launched a dedicated "Election Information Hub" that uses AI to provide information about the upcoming election and results tracking. The hub includes details about voting requirements, how to find your polling place and poll times, and AI-summarized analysis on ballot measures and candidates, the company <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/blog/introducing-the-election-information-hub">wrote</a> in an announcement.<div type="image" title="Perplexity providing information about how to vote in New York" height="1358" width="2876" msid="114958491" hostid="261" sizebytes="107828"></div>"Perplexity uses a process called Retrieval-Augmented Generation to identify relevant information and summarize it in a way that's tailored to a user's query," Perplexity spokesperson Sara Platnick told Business Insider.For election-related questions, the company is using a "curated set" of non-partisan and fact-checked sources, the company said. The separate hub doesn't use stored knowledge from the model's training data in its responses, which helps minimize hallucinations, Platnick told BI.Perplexity will also start offering live updates on elections on Tuesday by using data from The Associated Press. Other responses will use information from Democracy Works and other non-partisan factual sources like Ballotpedia and news organizations, Platnick said.<div type="image" title="Response to query about who will most likely win the election" height="1184" width="1579" msid="114958489" hostid="261" sizebytes="78204"></div>Alon Yamin, the cofounder and CEO of AI-based text analysis platform <a target="_blank" href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/copyleaks.com/__;!!JZyed81S!itOc7IDeF_76NxsTUPRsm7xTzocjiL3rm1gW5KKoRo7WetzRSjCOUxm_bOIxkDmjSF4sJyCQNmuN0oTLaA$">Copyleaks</a>, said Perplexity's approach "can certainly help filter and contextualize content," helping users access reliable sources.Yamin said there are potential benefits that come with using AI for election information. AI can provide real-time updates and help identify trends, voter sentiment, and key issues.However, Yamin said that the chance of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/snowflake-ceo-sridhar-ramaswamy-ai-hallucination-rates-2024-11">AI hallucinations</a> and accuracy issues presents risks.Other companies are taking different approaches. OpenAI will continue to integrate election-related responses into ChatGPT while providing some extra features in light of the election.<div type="image" title="ChatGPT response to query about who will win 2024 presidential election" height="1289" width="1719" msid="114958486" hostid="261" sizebytes="114838"></div>Starting on November 5th, those who ask ChatGPT about election result queries will see a message encouraging users to check sources like the Associated Press and Reuters, or state and local election boards for "the most complete and up-to-date information," the company said in a <a target="_blank" href="https://openai.com/index/how-openai-is-approaching-2024-worldwide-elections/">post</a> updated on October 31.OpenAI said it was "actively testing the safeguards" put in place over the last year and monitoring for any issues. It also said it will continue to adjust its protective measures, which include transparency around AI-generated content and preventing chatbots from pretending to be real people.ChatGPT will also direct users to the US voting information site <a target="_blank" href="http://CanIVote.org">CanIVote.org</a> when asked procedural election-related questions.Anthropic's Claude similarly implemented a pop-up feature that allows users who ask for voting information to be redirected to TurboVote, a nonpartisan resource from Democracy Works, it <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.anthropic.com/news/us-elections-readiness">wrote</a> in a post.Anthropic has other guardrails in place, including prohibiting users from using it to promote a specific candidate or issue. It said it would also prevent the chatbot from being used to generate misinformation about election laws, candidates, or related topics. In its post, the company said outputs will be limited to text-only to help eliminate "the risk of election-related deepfakes."While the live election updates may be helpful to users, AI-generated election content poses a number of risks.Yamin said AI can spread biased information, misinterpret data, and create false narratives. He also added that these models are "only as good as the data they are trained on," which opens the risk of AI-generated responses reflecting the bias of the data they are trained on.Misunderstandings could be amplified if AI misinterprets information and serves up inaccurate results, especially in a fast-moving and closely followed election environment, Yamin told BI.<a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-gemini-ai-layoffs-innovation-boring-2024-2">Google</a>, which experienced some <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-scales-back-ai-in-search-feature-overviews-eat-glue-2024-5">highly publicized AI fails</a> with its Gemini AI and AI Overviews, chose to implement constraints on what users can ask its AI products about the election. Google has said is <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-restricts-gemini-ai-chatbot-answering-election-questions-trump-biden-2024-3">restricting its AI chatbot Gemini</a> from answering questions about <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/elections">elections</a> "out of an abundance of caution."<div type="image" title="Screenshot of Trump query in Gemini" height="1239" width="1651" msid="114958488" hostid="261" sizebytes="42396"></div>A similar search on Google's main search product on Monday didn't trigger an AI Overview summary, showing the "Top Stories" carousel of stories from publishers. Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.Brad Carson, cofounder and president of the nonprofit Americans for Responsible Innovation, told BI that while Google's approach is commendable, it's not a global solution to the problem.Carson said that combatting disinformation is "not an easy task," and while it's smart for companies to try and do more to limit misinformation, the government should work on legislation that requires AI companies to clearly label the information they serve to users."I feel that other products will probably fill the gap that Google is vacating, but I think it is responsible of Google to try to step back a bit from this," Carson said.

The election is a big test for AI companies

Julia Dovgal has always loved smelling good. As a child, she would douse herself in her mother's Chanel or Dior scents before going to school or meeting friends. For her birthday in 2017, she received her first "luxury" fragrance: Jo Malone's $165 bottle of Wood Sage and Sea Salt. The 29-year-old's collection has since grown to over 200 bottles.At first, Dovgal was into <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-perfumes-scents-everyone-should-buy-former-ulta-fragrance-consultant">designer fragrances</a> like the ones her mother owned. "Then I discovered niche perfumery," she tells me. She's constantly on the hunt for perfumes with notes of vanilla and sandalwood. Dovgal says she spends about $600 a month on her collection, which she reviews on TikTok. "I want to have them all," she says.Now a full-time content creator, Dovgal is far from the only young person driving a perfume renaissance. The market-research firm Circana says sales of luxury fragrance brands in the US grew by double digits in 2023. From 2021 to 2023, the size of the so-called prestige fragrance market increased by nearly $2 billion, to $8.3 billion, prompting a flood of new scents and brands.Behind the booming appetite for new smells is Gen Z. The generation has graduated from <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/victorias-secret-using-gen-z-nostalgia-to-become-relevant-2024-10">Victoria's Secret</a> body mists and is desperate for something fancier. Circana found in 2023 that 83% of Gen Zers said they used fragrance, compared with 79% of Gen Xers and 69% of boomers. It's not just the women either: A recent survey on consumer spending by the investment bank Piper Sandler found that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/status-symbols-for-men-list-examples-2024-7">fragrance spending among teen boys </a>had increased by 26% since the spring of 2023. Longtime favorites — Axe, Old Spice, and Bath &amp; Body Works — have been replaced by brands like Valentino and Jean Paul Gaultier. The boys' locker room today smells less like a boys' locker room and more like the sales floor of Saks.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/perfume-buying-tips-mistakes-from-frequent-shopper-collector">Perfume</a> is no longer an afterthought sprayed on while running out the door; it's part of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-business-startups-entrepreneurship-digital-era-branding-social-media-2024-3">Gen Z's personal brand</a>. "Clean girls" might be wearing Maison Margiela's Replica Bubble Bath, a "quiet luxury" queen might give off the rich floral scent of Maison Francis Kurkdjian's Baccarat Rouge 540, while a "coastal grandmother" might douse herself in the woody notes of Byredo's Gypsy Water. Instead of picking one signature scent, young people are increasingly cycling through aesthetics. For Gen Z, it's all about the scent wardrobe.When e-commerce took off, the perfume industry smelled trouble. How are people supposed to know what scent they're buying if they can't spritz it through their screen? For a long time the industry tried to avoid online shopping, prioritizing classic scents and in-store sales. But when everything moved online during the pandemic in 2020, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.voguebusiness.com/beauty/fragrance-the-shift-to-digital">US fragrance sales dropped by 21%</a>. Marketers used increasingly complex descriptions and illustrations of scents, but it was still an uphill battle.Around 2022, TikTok changed the game. Creators on #PerfumeTok touted their favorite scents, painting a picture for their followers of what they smelled like. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/glossier-you-perfume-viral-tiktok-genz-millennial-saved-brand-2024-6">Viral posts have caused fragrances to sell out</a>. Phlur said its Missing Person fragrance — the subject of TikTok videos with more than 50 million views — sold out within hours of its launch and amassed a 200,000-person waiting list. Curious about what it smells like? "You know when you're cuddling with someone that you really love, and you're, like, nuzzled up in their chest and you look up at them?" one creator said in a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@christina.calcote/video/7074014008629841198?lang=en">clip</a> that's been viewed 1.7 million times. "It smells like that." Circana found that 45% of people who bought perfume in 2022 said that TikTok influenced them. Instead of buying a scent based on smell, young people have started making purchases based on <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/influencer-marketing-is-booming-as-brands-take-creators-more-seriously-2024-7">influencer recommendations</a>. "This is the type of fragrance for when you need to impress for a first date or a special-occasion event," Dovgal says in one of her most viewed TikToks. Under the handle @juliaperfumery, she shares perfume reviews for her primarily Gen Z audience against the backdrop of her New York City apartment's perfume closet. Each month she'll choose five or six fragrances to rotate through. "Perfume depends on the season and on the weather," she tells me. At the moment, her favorite brand is Juliette Has a Gun — she has almost all of the French label's fragrances.To address the issue inherent in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-scents-fragrances-to-wear-in-fall-from-perfumers-2024-10">online perfume reviews</a> — people can't smell through the screen — PerfumeTok creators got creative. Their posts are often miniature personal essays designed to evoke emotions and memories."I have to communicate with your other senses to try and paint a picture of this fragrance for you," says Emelia O'Toole, who posts to her nearly 400,000 followers on TikTok under the handle @professorperfume. "We really lean into these dramatic, often long-winded descriptions of perfumes because it's what sets the scene. We have to put an image in your head instead of a smell." A viewer may not know what rose, lychee, and oud smell like, but they can imagine what an elegant woman in a long evening dress out on an evening in New York might, she says. "There's been a shift from classical perfume terminology to a more creative way of communicating with the senses," O'Toole adds.Part of the shift is a growing interest in wearing scents that fit a specific aesthetic, mood, or brand. "If there's one thing Gen Z loves, it's a name for something," O'Toole says. Niche identities based on beauty fads have blossomed, especially on TikTok. If you're a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@marysherb/video/7266129751486598406?lang=en">tomato girl</a>, you probably have a bright rosy shade on your lips and cheeks to emulate a Mediterranean sunburn. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@itsitorri/video/7341746974216965419?lang=en&amp;q=vanilla%20girl&amp;t=1728926747169">Vanilla girls</a> have glowy skin and smell of expensive hand cream. A <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@isabellrrose/video/7325120662979300651?lang=en&amp;q=mob%20wife&amp;t=1728926764427">mob wife</a>, on the other hand, dons a fur coat while sporting dark eyeliner. "We've gone in a circle, from wanting to move away from labels to wanting to hyperspecifically label everything," O'Toole says.This has encouraged what she calls a scent wardrobe. Years ago, someone's perfume collection may have included a day scent and a night scent, or perhaps a summer scent and winter scent. Now there's a scent for every occasion, mood, and scenario. There are <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thenoelthomas/video/7407554605111889195">back-to-school</a> scents, scents to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@dinasshops/video/7387888204533239073">win your ex back</a>, scents to smell like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@characterperfumes/video/7219699790706265370?lang=en">Vanessa Paradis in Paris in the '90s</a> — the list goes on. While not every Gen Zer can boast a collection of hundreds of perfumes, there is an evident appetite for more. Piper Sandler's survey found that fragrance spending among teens had grown by 25% since last year.Cathrine Jansson-Boyd, a professor of consumer psychology at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK, connects the shift away from a signature scent with a weakening sense of identity. "The more time you spend online, the more you want to change how you represent yourself," she says. "You never really establish a proper sense of self." She also pointed to mass-consumption culture — the increasing ease and convenience of buying an exponentially growing number of cheap products — as a contributing factor. The <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/shein-temu-could-get-more-expensive-genz-customers-trade-wars-2024-10">fast-fashion retailer Shein</a>, whose clothing prices rarely top $50, is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.emarketer.com/content/shein-temu-win-over-gen-z-shoppers">incredibly popular with Gen Zers</a>, for instance. "With all these choices in terms of consumption, you don't get this full, internalized anchoring of who you are," Jansson-Boyd says. It's all about who Gen Z wants to be.That could be why certain companies have taken off recently. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/renting-clothes-pros-cons-what-its-like-using-nuuly-2023-1">Nuuly, a clothing-rental subscription service</a> launched in 2019 by Urban Outfitters, allows young people to cycle through new clothes each month and try out different styles without too much of a commitment. Last year the brand reached profitability, and this year it said in the second quarter that its "average active subscribers" had grown by 50% year over year.For O'Toole, experimenting with aesthetics is part of the fun. "I think that's one of the most beautiful parts about wearing a fragrance," she tells me. "You can say, 'Who do I feel like being today?' and just spray that on."For a long time, perfume was used <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/quiet-status-symbols-popular-this-year-2024-1">to communicate status and wealth</a>. For many, it was a form of affordable affluence — a way to secure their status even when the economy was bad. You may not be spritzing it from your château in the Riviera, but with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/met-gala-nicole-kidman-chanel-commercial-dress-karl-lagerfeld-2023-5">Chanel No. 5</a> you could at least smell like Marilyn Monroe, Catherine Deneuve, or Nicole Kidman. For Gen Z, however, the most coveted scent isn't always the most expensive one.With the emergence of niche independent perfumers and the increasing availability of affordable fragrances, signaling status is not just about having the money to splurge on designer fragrances — it's about being in the know. While most will recognize Chanel No. 5 on the street, only a few can put their finger on the notes of cardamom, fig, and black tea of BDK's Gris Charnel. A niche scent affords wearers an opportunity to stand out from the crowd while signaling that they have good taste — an inescapable paradox that Jansson-Boyd describes as part of being human. Who exactly you choose to signal to depends on your priorities: Out at a bar, you might sniff out <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@scoutdixonwest/video/7290642013110947118?lang=en">a fellow horse girl</a> or someone with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@hllywoodforever/video/7403371630489062698">rockstar-girlfriend energy</a> and experience a fleeting moment of connection.For Gen Z, it's not enough for a fragrance to smell good — it has to make them feel something. By its very nature, perfume taps into this idea. The power of scent on our emotions can be traced back to ancient times; <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3794443/">research suggests</a> smells evoke emotions that can help <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5198031/">reduce stress and depression</a>. Amid a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rich-people-obsessed-longevity-luxury-hotels-iv-drips-mri-scans-2024-10">booming wellness industrial complex</a>, fragrances are increasingly being marketed as self-care tools. Take Bella Hadid's Orebella fragrances, which incorporate "aura enhancing" essential oils, for instance. Or Gabar, the London-based brand that says its mission is "to encourage ideas of self-expansion and self-awareness through scent and everyday rituals.""Nowadays people are looking beyond wholly utilitarian concepts and are looking to their beauty products and rituals to cultivate a sense of intentionality in their lives," says Susan Wai Hnin, Gabar's chief operating officer and global director. "This convergence of the worlds of beauty and wellness have resulted in the rise in popularity of mood-boosting products — people are looking to feel something when they use their products."The wellness angle — as opposed to the old-school sex-appeal marketing, which has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-08-03/young-adults-less-sex-gen-z-millennials-generations-parents-grandparents">fallen out of favor</a> with the "puriteen" generation — is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/the-trends-defining-the-1-point-8-trillion-dollar-global-wellness-market-in-2024?cid=other-eml-mtg-mip-mck&amp;hlkid=54f51c678f164e64b81b88f2b4f5146a&amp;hctky=1926&amp;hdpid=a91cc4a1-cb5d-48e8-9020-050490cd48c6">especially appealing to younger consumers</a>. Through a more holistic approach, fragrance is firmly embedding itself in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-loves-gym-weightlifting-workout-fitness-trends-planet-fitness-2024-8">Gen Zers' daily wellness routines</a>.If their perfume isn't getting them <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@karinawaldron/video/7348967227967769861">chased down the street</a>, lifting their mood, and signaling a unique-but-not-too-unique aesthetic, Gen Zers will turn their noses up.<a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/eve-upton-clark">Eve Upton-Clark</a> is a features writer covering culture and society.

Gen Z's latest obsession: smelling good

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Neha Sampat says being promoted quickly at Sun Microsystems made her overconfident.</li><li>When she moved to a job at VMware, she struggled to navigate a new environment.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Neha Sampat, 47, about navigating multiple promotions when she worked at Sun Microsystems. Business Insider verified her employment with documentation. The following has been edited for length and clarity.I've always had one foot in startups throughout my career.I started a PR firm with my friends after undergrad and ran it while pursuing an MBA at Santa Clara University. It was one of many startups I founded throughout my life. Currently, I'm the founder and CEO of my own software company, Contentstack.But early in my career, I wanted to try working for a big company. In 2002, while doing my MBA, I started a product management internship at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jensen-huang-nvidia-history-demise-cisco-sun-microsystems-2024-6">Sun Microsystems</a>. After about eight months, they hired me full-time as a product manager.I was a kid who fell into a company that was one of the darlings of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/san-francisco-new-york-london-tech-where-to-live-2024-8">Silicon Valley</a> at that time. Getting a job there was a big accomplishment for me.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/remote-worker-promoted-senior-manager-2024-4">I was promoted</a> three times in my four years full-time at Sun, but when I moved to a new job at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vmware-customers-report-massive-price-increases-since-broadcom-deal-2024-8">VMware</a>, I had to learn to do things completely differently, and it humbled me.I realized being promoted too quickly made me overconfident. Nowadays, at my own company, I'm much more careful about how rapidly I promote employees.<h2 id="edd3cbc1-fed7-49ca-b59b-f86ba0404fa5">I got promoted annually at Sun. I felt like a rising star in the company.</h2>Sun hired me as a product manager after my internship, roughly around March 2003.I had a lot of confidence because I'd already run my own business. A year into my full-time role, I got promoted at my regular performance review into a senior product manager, where I was managing others.I realized I wanted to keep moving up and began actively trying to get promoted, attempting to perform at the level above my position so I could achieve that goal.A year later, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/strategies-manage-career-get-promoted-from-amazon-vp-2024-6">I was promoted</a> to product line manager, and then after another year, I was made group product marketing manager.Other people were getting promoted at the company as well, but I think I was one of the rising stars in the organization. Roughly a year after I was hired full-time, one of my VPs pulled me aside, saying I brought an entrepreneurial mindset to Sun and they wanted to invest in me and my career.Sun was a place where you could be yourself and hone the power you brought to the table. If you had a really good idea, it didn't matter whether you were an intern or a 70-year-old engineer, someone would be willing to listen, and those ideas could go all the way up to executive meetings.I had the opportunity to think differently, and I felt it was valued. It fed my confidence a lot.<h2 id="bd32a7d1-e282-4449-be29-b247925b831a">I was managing people with more experience than me</h2>The last title I held at Sun was as a group product manager. I was around 27, managing a team of about 15 people. Everyone on my team had been at the company longer and had years more experience than me. It was really challenging because many of them saw me as the intern who got promoted way too quickly.The biggest challenge was gaining people's confidence. I remember one of my employees saying he didn't think he should report to me. I suggested having one-to-one meetings to learn from each other. Eventually, he realized I was giving him projects that he wanted to do, and he started instigating meetings with me, too.I think I was good for an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biggest-mistakes-of-new-managers-2014-1">inexperienced manager</a>. There were many things I didn't know, and I was definitely naive, but I did the best I could with what I knew.I don't feel I underperformed in my roles, partially because my growth mindset led me to have many peers and mentors who guided me, but I didn't have the years of experience a person in these roles would typically have.<h2 id="0b1a2fda-0e18-40a1-af7f-55054a1a4f87">It was only after moving to a new company that I realized I was out of my depth</h2>I wanted to step up to a director position at Sun, but the company was going through a lot of changes.While it was a darling of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dating-silicon-valley-big-tech-hard-want-marriage-kids-2024-7">Silicon Valley</a> in the 1990s, it struggled in the early 2000s. The part of the business I worked in wasn't getting the traction the company wanted. I knew I needed to leave and started applying for other jobs in and outside Sun.In March 2007, I started a job at VMware. It was a lateral move — I was hired as a group marketing manager running their e-commerce channel. I expected to keep rising through the ranks, but VMware had a very different culture.Sun was all about good ideas, but I felt VMware was focused on high pedigree. There were a lot of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-high-school-dropout-stanford-harvard-became-lawyer-2024-7">Stanford and Harvard</a> alumni and I wasn't one of those people. I realized how different my career and upbringing were from the majority of employees there.The first year was the hardest. I remember being worried about asking stupid questions.I once had to put together a presentation about our commerce store. I had meetings with the product management teams where I couldn't even understand some of the questions the team members asked me because of the company vernacular and acronyms they used.It felt like everything was done by committee, and I felt like I had to convince people to let me attend meetings. They were methodical about decision-making, which meant getting things done took longer. I had to learn to do things completely differently.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/eat-the-frog-promotions-meta-google-2023-12">Getting promoted fast</a> at Sun gave me too much confidence. Being at VMware humiliated me because I didn't know how to grow and thrive in a different organization, and it was humbling.It was great to be uplifted early in my career, but this felt like a big fall. I didn't feel secure enough to ask questions and seek help.I spent four years at VMware, but I was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/some-truth-nice-guys-finishing-last-work-personality-business-promotions-2024-6">never promoted</a>. I probably should have moved up during my last year, but I also think I was catching up to the experience others had at my level.Just before joining VMware, I co-founded a consultancy company called Raw Engineering with my husband. I'd already been helping him with the business in my spare time while at VMware and wanted to return to being a founder, so I left VMware and became Raw Engineering's CEO.I'm now the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/work-advice-for-introverts-to-succeed-from-ancestry-ceo-2024-9">CEO</a> of another company we built called Contentstack.<h2 id="c64d5c9c-bb38-4853-bba2-228823eb2264">I now take a slower approach when promoting my own employees</h2>If I were going to work in corporate for life, I think the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ways-to-get-promoted-quickly-2016-10">rapid promotions</a> I experienced wouldn't have been great for my career because you need to move at a pace where you can successfully grow.But as an entrepreneur, I think it was great because it forced me to do things outside my comfort zone.Now, at Contentstack, we're very intentional about <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-promoted-at-work-2018-7">promotions</a>. We try not to promote people more often than every two years, even if they're super high-performing.We're a much smaller company, with just under 500 employees, but if Contentstack were to grow as large as a company like VMware, I'd want to be even more intentional about promotions.You have to give people the opportunity to grow in their roles for them to advance to the next one.

I was promoted too quickly at my Silicon Valley job and it made me overconfident — moving to a new company was a humiliating experience

<ul class="summary-list"><li>This post originally appeared in the Insider Today newsletter.</li></ul>Good morning. Milton has strengthened once again into a Category 5 hurricane. Gas stations across Florida are already <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-gas-stations-out-of-fuel-before-hurricane-milton-landfall-2024-10">running out of fuel</a> as millions of people try to flee.In today's big story, we got our first interest-rate cut, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fed-interest-rate-cuts-outlook-economy-recession-no-landing-borrowing-2024-10">but it doesn't feel like it for many consumers</a>.What's on deck:<ul><li>Markets: Roblox is the latest target of <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/roblox-stock-price-short-seller-hindenburg-report-gaming-inflated-metrics-2024-10">short-seller Hindenburg Research</a>.</li><li>Tech: The DOJ is considering asking a judge to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-search-antitrust-case-doj-remedy-alphabet-2024-10">break up Google</a>.</li><li>Business: Walt Disney World will temporarily <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/disney-world-shut-down-hurricane-milton-florida-orlando-parks-2024-10">close its doors</a> for Hurricane Milton.</li></ul>But first, we're canceling the landing.If this was forwarded to you, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/subscription/newsletter/insider-today">sign up here.</a><h3 id="7fa5f018-5b05-4a37-a8dc-d3f89138bcb3">The big story</h3><h2 id="5fd547b9-ec52-41fc-8e08-4f4b27dd8097">So much for the help</h2><div type="image" title="Business person in a suit holding scissors, preparing to cut strings suspending a stack of cash, with a group of people standing below" height="1500" width="2000" msid="114087130" hostid="261" sizebytes="264596"></div>The US economy is having an Instagram vs. reality moment.Last month's interest-rate cuts were supposed to kick off a new era. After two years of battling inflation, the Federal Reserve finally claimed victory. More rate cuts were coming, which meant lower borrowing costs for everyone.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fed-interest-rate-cuts-outlook-economy-recession-no-landing-borrowing-2024-10">But the relief many were hoping for isn't materializing</a>, writes Business Insider's Jennifer Sor. Let's break down why.We finally got an interest-rate cut, but borrowing costs are still high. What gives? First off, last month's interest-rate cut wasn't going to provide immediate relief. It takes time for cuts to trickle down to consumers. The Fed also telegraphed the cut, so the market started pricing it in.That seems fair, but borrowing rates are still rising in some cases. Yes, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mortgage-rate-increase-since-federal-reserve-cut-interest-rates-housing-2024-10">has gone up 47 basis points since the Fed cut rates</a>, writes BI's Matthew Fox.So the Fed cut rates but borrowing costs went up? How is that possible? You can thank the 10-year Treasury yield, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/economy-outlook-impact-of-rate-cuts-10-year-treasury-yields-2024-9">which is a key benchmark used by</a> lenders. It went above 4% this week for the first time since August.I'm confused. Why is there such a discrepancy between the two? The Fed's rate is focused on the short-term while the 10-year Treasury reflects a longer-term view (hence the name). As a result, the 10-year bond yield can diverge from the Fed's benchmark rate.Gulp So what does the 10-year Treasury rising mean for the economy? Big picture, it's a good thing. Thanks to a stellar jobs report, investors have a positive view of the economy's future. But the downside is we shouldn't expect the slew of rate cuts investors were banking on. The economy will likely avoid a recession and not need the help.Is this a soft landing or a hard landing? Neither. It's considered a "no landing" because the economy remains strong, but in a way that risks reigniting inflation, which would hamstring the prospect of future stimulative rate cuts.What's with all the aviation metaphors? I don't know.OK, so at this rate, will I ever be able to buy a house? It's honestly not as bad as it seems. BI's James Rodriguez, who's covered the housing market for a while, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/housing-market-ice-age-homebuyers-mortgage-rates-spring-real-estate-2024-10">has a piece on why the industry's ice age is starting to thaw</a>. There was a 34% year-over-year increase in active listings in September. More inventory will help unstick the economy.<h3 id="77f31a4c-8462-4e3d-a71f-838cb79493fb">News brief</h3><h2 id="1fcd294b-3f53-425f-9f20-4093e8623b59">Top headlines</h2><ul><li>The Kremlin says <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kremlin-says-trump-sent-putin-covid-tests-pandemic-denies-calls-2024-10">Trump sent Putin COVID tests</a> during the pandemic, but denies subsequent calls.</li><li>Boeing's negotiations with union leaders <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-strike-negotiations-union-leaders-break-down-after-two-days-2024-10">break down 2 days after restarting</a>.</li><li>Exclusive: AI cloud startup Ori is in talks to raise up to $80 million in funding, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ori-gpu-ai-startup-talks-raise-funding-nvidia-2024-10">sources say</a>.</li><li>A surprising company <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/robotaxi-ridesharing-tesla-waymo-uber-2024-10">might beat Elon Musk</a> in the robotaxi race.</li><li>Influencers are swiping a new black card at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/influencer-marketing-startup-oth-network-pays-creators-products-services-2024-10">restaurants, spas, and fitness studios</a>.</li><li>I don't allow Roblox in my house. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/roblox-not-allowed-my-child-kids-why-explained-2024-10">Here's why</a>.</li></ul><h2 id="8120060b-ae66-48dc-b149-f0489a30ffa2">3 things in markets</h2><div type="image" title="Photo of wave hitting Florida park" height="1000" width="2000" msid="114087135" hostid="261" sizebytes="112966"></div><ol><li>The Hurricane Milton trade is in full effect, according to US natural gas futures. Energy traders are betting the storm barreling toward Tampa will cause power outages in multiple states. <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/hurricane-milton-power-outage-florida-electricity-natural-gas-prices-futures-2024-10">Futures on US natural gas have dropped 8% over the past few days</a> as power plants are expected to be left idling as demand evaporates.</li><li>A short-seller takes aim at Roblox for "lying to investors." Hindenburg Research accused the online gaming platform of <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/roblox-stock-price-short-seller-hindenburg-report-gaming-inflated-metrics-2024-10">inflating its user numbers</a> by including bots and players with multiple accounts. It also called Roblox a "pedophile hellscape," claiming child users are exposed to grooming and pornography. A Roblox spokesperson said in a statement it "totally" rejected the claims made in the report.</li><li>Bank of America is bullish on stock gains ahead of this earnings season. "The bar isn't high," BofA analysts said in a Tuesday note. Stocks should rise as long as companies report they're <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stocks-q3-earnings-lower-rates-stocks-returns-outlook-bofa-2024-10">feeling good about lower rates</a>.</li></ol><h2 id="f4b54806-7f81-450c-ba32-92560d4fae9b">3 things in tech</h2><div type="image" title="Vinod Khosla" height="900" width="1200" msid="114087136" hostid="261" sizebytes="76966"></div><ol><li>OpenAI's exec exodus might actually be a good thing, Vinod Khosla says. The legendary investor backing OpenAI has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-vinod-khosla-fixing-ai-image-2024-10">plenty of confidence in the startup</a>, even after multiple high-profile exits. He also thinks the AI industry is catching strays from "Luddites" — those who think the tech is a slippery slope into a Westworld-ian apocalypse.</li><li>The DOJ may seek to break up Google. After a major antitrust lawsuit against Google, a federal judge ruled that it illegally monopolized online search. Now, prosecutors are proposing "behavioral and structural remedies." If enacted by a judge, the changes could <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-search-antitrust-case-doj-remedy-alphabet-2024-10">force a major reorganization or even a breakup</a> of some of Google's basic businesses, including its search engine.</li><li>Where are the Gen Z Mark Zuckerbergs? Gen Zers, aged 13 to 27, haven't produced any big-name tech founders like previous generations. But don't just blame it on Zoomers' blasé attitudes toward work — <a target="_blank" href="https://businessinsider.com/gen-z-tech-founder-gap-zuckerberg-bezos-holmes-2024-10">there's a bigger reason</a>.</li></ol><h2 id="9260fa45-d397-4b3c-b4f8-4bb193976216">3 things in business</h2><div type="image" title="A screenshot of zara.com" height="1500" width="2000" msid="114087133" hostid="261" sizebytes="93076"></div><ol><li>Zara's bizarre website is the secret to its success. The site, which feels more like a magazine spread than an online retailer, is routinely roasted for being "virtually unusable." But experts say <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/zara-website-memes-mocked-secret-success-aspirational-luxury-consumers-2024-10">there's a method to Zara's madness</a>: It's meant to project an upscale image, distancing itself from other fast-fashion brands.</li><li>The "happiest place on earth" takes a rain check. There are literally storm clouds forming over Florida's family-friendly amusement parks, as the state braces for Hurricane Milton. It's a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/disney-world-shut-down-hurricane-milton-florida-orlando-parks-2024-10">rare occasion for Disney World</a>, which has only closed its gates nine times in more than 50 years.</li><li>Tesla executives are hitting the exits. In the past week, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-loses-4-top-executives-ahead-of-robotaxi-event-2024-10">four of Elon Musk's direct reports have announced they're leaving</a>, or have already left, the company. Their departures come ahead of Robotaxi Day tomorrow, where Musk is tasked with convincing investors that Tesla is more than just a car company.</li></ol><h2 id="9f5d80ac-3466-429f-a50a-2ffbb70c65ff">What's happening today</h2><ul><li>Hurricane Milton is projected to hit the west coast of Florida, including the Tampa Bay area.</li><li>Federal Open Market Committee's September meeting minutes and forecast published.</li></ul>The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Milan Sehmbi, fellow, in London. Amanda Yen, fellow, in New York.

Why the interest-rate cut isn't delivering the relief consumers were hoping for

The first day at a new job is always weird. You have no idea what you're supposed to be doing, who to talk to, or how to even really be. The theory is that over time you get the hang of it — but lots of workers make it months into their jobs and feel like they're still kind of winging it. It's not that they don't want to learn; it's that nobody's teaching them. In many pockets of corporate America, on-the-job training mostly amounts to "figure it out." Workers are struggling to get a handle on their jobs, and this failure falls on everyone — companies, managers, human-resources departments, and, in some cases, the workers themselves.You don't need to look far to find evidence that people don't feel ready when it comes to work. Some <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-workers-are-lazy-lack-soft-skills-managers-say-2023-8">bosses complain</a> that Gen Z workers don't know what they're doing and are lazy. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-lazy-hiring-jobs-careers-hr-training-pandemic-2024-8">HR professionals and Gen Z workers</a> argue that young people want to be successful in the workforce, but they simply aren't given the tools to do it. In a survey from the <a target="_blank" href="https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2023/09/27/adobe-future-workforce-study-what-us-employers-need-know-about-gen-z-workplace#:~:text=Gen%20Z%20is%20hungry%20for%20mentorship%20and%20development&amp;text=Gen%20Z%20is%20eager%20for,percent)%20reported%20having%20a%20mentor.">software company Adobe</a>, 83% of Gen Z respondents said having a mentor at work was crucial to their career, but only half said they had a mentor. It's not just young workers who are facing a training problem; it's everybody. For <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gallup.com/394373/indicator-employee-engagement.aspx">Gallup's employee-engagement indicator</a>, which analyzes employee perspectives using random samples of working adults, less than half of US employees said they knew what's expected of them at work. This is a costly problem, too: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gallup.com/workplace/393497/world-trillion-workplace-problem.aspx">Gallup</a> found employees who weren't engaged cost $8.8 trillion in lost productivity worldwide.Just figuring out the day-to-day basics of the job is a challenge. The pandemic-driven upheaval of the past several years led to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/great-resignation-still-going-layoffs-low-job-openings-quits-high-2022-11">high amounts of</a> job-hopping, organizational brain drain, and a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/loyalty-employee-employer-job-security-broken-work-companies-bosses-2024-1">decline in loyalty</a> among employers and employees. The chaos has left employers, managers, and employees wondering just how much time and money it's worth investing in training in the first place. The rise of remote and hybrid work has complicated the situation even more. It's tough to learn by osmosis over Slack, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hr-software-tech-companies-employees-productivity-workday-oracle-adp-2024-8">the deluge of HR apps and training modules</a> isn't filling in the gaps."Most companies want employees to 'hit the ground running' and use apps, AI, and training videos to avoid disrupting another employee's flow or for the lack of staff to train someone new or help someone learn a new skill," Ana Goehner, a career strategist and HR professional, said.That may work in some instances, but in others, instead of hitting the ground running, workers find themselves perpetually zig-zagging, unable to break into a full sprint.That people feel like they're not equipped to do their jobs isn't a new phenomenon. There's been a long-standing decay of investment in learning and training by employers as part of an effort to create leaner organizations, said Kenneth Matos, the director of market insights at HiBob, an HR-tech company. If you're cutting costs, training is an easy place to do it. That's especially true when many employers use the internet to access a wider talent pool than in the past, which means they can just look for a candidate who already knows everything instead of having to teach someone. And, of course, plenty of companies have been axing middle managers, the people who would have previously been in charge of training up younger or newer employees."You cut away the people who are the link between big strategic ideas and day-to-day tactical activities," Matos said. "And so you end up with a scenario of a big strategic speaker talking to a much more junior doer, and they're like, 'I don't know how this translates into my job.'" Making matters worse, in many workplaces, training and mentoring are treated as an extra, rather than an integral part of the job, if they're noticed at all. In your performance review, "I spent 10 minutes explaining something to the new guy he was too afraid to ask his boss about" doesn't rate very highly. As workers and managers are increasingly overextended, these types of unmeasured, softer activities can fall by the wayside. This creates a conflicting web of incentives. It may be better, organizationally, for a manager or experienced employee to spend time teaching everyone on their team to complete a complex task so that a team's performance is better overall, but if they have an individual quota to meet, they may opt to focus on doing the task themselves, even though it's not what's best for the business."You end up with this really weird tension around organizational citizenship behaviors like mentoring and developing employees," Matos said. "Do you give a manager a lower quota because they are also magnifying everybody else's, or are you assuming they're going to do more than everybody else, are more talented, and also do the mentoring?"The people in the middle — who find themselves in between the big bosses and the little guys — are going to focus more on managing up than managing down. It's hard to tell the CEO that you can't come to that third unnecessary meeting of the day because your time would be better spent training that new hire on logging sales calls."Managers feel so caught up, and oftentimes they feel pressure of, 'OK, well if I'm going to disappoint someone, then it's going to be someone junior to me and not someone senior to me,'" said Ashley Herd, the founder of Manager Method, a training platform for managers.Many managers really are over it. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gallup.com/workplace/510326/manager-squeeze-new-workplace-testing-team-leaders.aspx">Gallup found</a> that in 2023, managers were likelier than nonmanagers to say they're disengaged at work, burned out, and on the lookout for a new job. Their workers have been given more responsibilities, their teams have been restructured, and they're expected to accomplish everything with fewer resources, as in, money. And less than half of managers said they're sure they already had the skills needed to be great at their jobs, meaning managers weren't getting taught to be managers.At the r/managers forum on Reddit, the what-am-I-doing sentiment is evident. "Is it normal to get zero training as a new manager?" one Redditor <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1d6soeu/no_training_in_a_figure_it_out_situation/">asked</a>. "I have reviewed the team's work over the past couple of years, asked them questions to clarify a few things, and asked my boss questions to clarify a few things and have basically picked up most of it. Thought it was kind weird I got zero training, though."Technology is supposed to make training better, in theory. Why have an HR person go over the same PowerPoint on vacation policy for every new hire when a quick video or document stored away somewhere can do it just fine? That may work for simple processes like requesting time off or finding subscription logins, but it can become a problem when companies try to throw technology at their more-in-depth training problems. Nobody knows what they're doing here? Why not get an app to fix that? One of the biggest issues with using tech to solve what's ultimately a human problem is that it's hard to know if anyone is even going to use it. Take mentorship: Having one-on-one coaching from someone with more experience can help workers gain skills and knowledge that can't be found in a training video. It can also make workers likelier to stick around longer, help them feel more connected, and boost the sharing of institutional knowledge. Fostering these kinds of relationships is important, hence why the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mentorcliq.com/blog/mentoring-impact-report">vast majority of Fortune 500 companies say</a> they have mentoring programs, many of which are facilitated by apps and software. How many people are actually using those programs, however, is unclear. Christy Pettit, the CEO of Pollinate Networks, which creates mentoring software, told me she recently spoke with a large multinational that told her despite having 2,000 licenses for the mentoring program, which was mainly an app, fewer than 200 people were using it and participation was declining every quarter."Most companies say they have a mentoring program, but few have one that works," she said. "It feels a little bit like when you buy a gym membership, and it makes you feel like you're doing something, but you may or may not be going to the gym."In some cases, tech-based training materials are disconnected from the realities of the work. All the training videos are done in an "official" corporate speak it turns out nobody actually uses, Matos, from HiBob, said. Or managers aren't well versed in what their charges are being taught and end up wanting the task done differently.Even when companies invest in training, it can often be directed toward the wrong people. Herd said that businesses often make the mistake of spending a ton of money on fancy retreats and training courses for their most senior leaders without making much, if any, investment in the bottom rungs."You could spend a fraction of that and give good training to all of your employees, and you're probably going to get more ROI if that's what you're focused on," she said.Stephanie Wolf, a vice president at RebuttalPR, a legal-communications firm, said the company learned the hard way about the costs of not investing enough time and energy in training people. As the firm grew, managers wouldn't realize people didn't know how to do timely tasks until they became urgent, or they'd discover employees were doing things in a way that wasn't consistent with the documentation and processes in place. That meant they had to rely more on senior staff to do the work and that projects took longer because training was happening alongside execution. "We've seen how our whole team can suffer when we don't train folks thoroughly enough," she said. To ensure accountability, she's now the point person on training, because the company found that when training was everyone's job, it was no one's. The firm has taken steps to get all the necessary information in one place and to slow the onboarding process down — instead of expecting people to take a week to get up to speed, it now gives them about a month.Wolf acknowledged it's "super easy for training to fall by the wayside when your client work gets busy," which means not allowing that to happen is a conscious effort. "Investing time now is going to save us all time in the long run," she said.It's easy to blame hybrid and remote work for some of these issues, to argue that if people were just gathered in an office together, that would fix things. But many HR professionals and career coaches say that's not necessarily the case. Yes, human interaction is helpful, but it doesn't solve problems like misaligned incentives, increasingly stretched managers, and a lack of a real, holistic plan for getting people up to speed. A remote-work training plan probably has to look different from an in-person one, but it's not impossible to craft. "In a remote environment, you, as the leader, need to model and also hold the individual accountable for taking initiative, saying, 'Hey, if you need something, I need you to tell me because I can't see you,'" Phoebe Gavin, a career and leadership coach, said.Gavin emphasized that it's not just on companies and managers to make sure employees are learning and getting onboarded but also on individual workers. Essentially, if you see something — or don't know something — say something. Ask questions, or take the initiative to figure things out on your own. I told her about an experience I'd had at a job where on my first day, one of four "important" passwords I'd received was for software the company didn't use anymore. I expressed disappointment that the HR department hadn't caught the error, which it took me a long time to figure out even was an error. She pointed out that I should have then gone to HR to alert them to the error so the next new person didn't have the same experience. I did not."That's a tiny place where you could have a positive impact," Gavin said. It wasn't necessarily my fault, she said: "Just that was an opportunity that you didn't take, and those sorts of things happen all the time."But not everyone gets the chance to sound the alarm on their employer's faulty training system before it's too late. That's what happened to Michelle, which is a pseudonym I'm using to protect her privacy. Before starting a job at a science-focused communications firm earlier this year, she was assured that she would get all the training she needed to overcome the fact that she didn't come from a scientific background. When she started, she was surprised by the deluge of training modules and videos that were added to her plate on top of the tasks of the job itself. There were supposed to be meetings with other, more seasoned coworkers after those video training sessions, but eventually, almost everyone stopped showing up. She was fired in a matter of weeks after being told she wasn't picking things up fast enough. She said she received little feedback and hadn't been given warning that things were going wrong."I felt blindsided by the termination just because I didn't think I was given enough time to do all of this," she said. "I was led to believe they would kind of hold my hand a little bit at the beginning, and a month in, to me, is very much still the beginning."You know how there are certain tasks in life that feel designed to be so complex that you'll give up? Like filing an insurance claim or <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cancel-subscriptions-congress-ftc-dark-practices-autorenewal-2023-2">quitting the gym</a>. Work should not be like that, but for many people, it is.Employees have complained about just being thrown into the fire forever. Many employers subscribe to the idea that you just toss people into the water and see who can swim. Trial by error is part of learning at work — one of the best ways to learn how to do something is to just try doing it. But it shouldn't be the entire approach. You know how you learn at school? The teacher explains something, you do your homework, it gets graded, you take a test, and you move on once you more or less figure it out. Imagine if teachers just piled 15 algebra tests on high-school students and everyone hoped for the best.There are aspects of the current workplace environment that make training more complicated to tackle. Remote work is different — you can't just lean over and ask the person next to you how this one software works again when you're typing on your laptop alone from your couch. Workers and employers don't feel as tied to one another, so there may be a decline in investment from both sides in the idea of getting supergood at the task at hand. The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/remote-workers-middle-managers-most-affected-by-layoffs-experts-2024-2">middle-management class</a> is increasingly stretched thin and hollowed out.Above all, it's really easy to load up on a bunch of tech-based solutions without identifying whether they actually solve anything. Relying on tech is appealing financially because buying a software license is a heck of a lot cheaper than paying a real live person. Many of the HR experts I talked to for this story suggested the training gap was a problem artificial intelligence might fix, a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/generative-ai-exaggeration-openai-nvidia-microsoft-chatgpt-jobs-investors-markets-2024-3">common refrain for intractable problems</a>, no matter the industry. Maybe that's true — if your manager won't have a one-on-one with you, having a chatbot to ask questions to isn't the worst thing in the world (assuming said chatbot knows stuff and doesn't make things up). But AI isn't going to be a panacea here. When you need to speak to a real person, no Coursera video or HR app or robot can do the trick. People make human mistakes, and sometimes humans need to address them.Wolf's firm is fully remote, but managers have noticed that Gen Z hires, in particular, tend to inquire about an in-person component for training. So they've adjusted. For a couple of incoming hires, they've rented a coworking space and enlisted some other employees to work alongside them for a couple of days to help them learn the ropes.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/emily-stewart">Emily Stewart</a> is a senior correspondent at Business Insider, writing about business and the economy.

On-the-job training is broken. Companies are paying a steep price.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Colgate-Palmolive uses sensors and robotics to speed up quality checks with less human intervention.</li><li>These tools allow the company to optimize manufacturing at its 49 plants.</li></ul>Colgate-Palmolive produces more than 15,000 tubes of toothpaste a minute.To ensure the manufacturing line was running properly, an employee would perform quality checks every 30 minutes to make sure that the Colgate toothpaste tube was aligned properly, its seal was sturdy, its artwork was printed properly, and the box's case matched the tube.But with new technology investments, sensors, and other digital tools, the company can now conduct quality checks continuously. Similarly, the consumer products giant is rolling out analytical testing for Hill's pet food, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/robots-warehouses-human-workers-startups-investors-amr-fetch-robotics-2022-10">using robotics to ensure the quality</a> of the food matches the desired formulation.With less human intervention, "people can really focus on the operation of the lines," Luciano Sieber, Colgate-Palmolive's chief supply-chain officer, told Business Insider.<h2 id="12915478-3930-408a-ad68-2c35ab4b4ad7">How COVID changed supply chains for consumer-products giants</h2>Colgate-Palmolive produces Irish Spring soap, Speed Stick deodorant, and Ajax cleaning supplies at 49 plants, and its goods in categories ranging from home to personal care are stocked at nearly 200 warehouses globally. Colgate-branded products are found in almost 60% of households worldwide.Like other <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cpgs-arent-planning-to-up-their-marketing-spend-but-will-if-consumers-rebel-against-price-increases-2023-2">consumer-packaged goods giants</a>, Colgate-Palmolive's supply chain was built on a fairly steady business model. Large volumes of goods are made at its plants, then shipped to warehouses that distribute them to large retailers.However, the supply chain is more complex now because <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/people-revolutionizing-customer-experience-ai-2023-10">consumer shopping patterns</a> have changed. COVID led to a spike in demand at e-commerce stores that sell household goods, even those that were still available at physical stores. Food and personal-care products saw the greatest revenue growth in transitioning to online channels, according to the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration.That migration of spending has stuck, even after the pandemic waned, putting greater pressure on consumer brands to ensure their supply chains are as efficient as possible. CPG brands aren't just shipping to large accounts like Walmart and Target. Food and household goods are now coming from a lot more locations to reach shoppers.<h2 id="a0b45714-7cea-47ed-b03c-a01f98706e0d">Automation and AI allow for more efficient manufacturing</h2>Automating Colgate-Palmolive's manufacturing lines helps smooth out location-related variables, the company said.In Europe, where product formulas can vary by region, a plant might have hundreds of combinations of packs and formulas, and there are thousands of vendor partners for Colgate's toothpaste, tubes, and containers.With artificial intelligence, the plants can use <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/forget-ai-algorithm-apocalypse-driving-humans-lives-data-stock-market-2024-4">algorithms to optimize the manufacturing plan</a> for all the different toothpastes the company produces."It supports our growth, but also it minimizes the amount of capital expenditure we need to invest in more capacity because we can optimize what we already have," Sieber said.Emma Rolfe, Colgate-Palmolive's senior vice president of global supply, demand, and e-commerce, said that leveraging AI helps the company more effectively adjust for changes to the workflow when a new formula is added or capacity requirements change when demand increases locally."That is something that today takes many hours, and you get many different answers depending on who you are," Rolfe said. "AI can help in a more standardized way."<h2 id="e821ca3a-c0fd-4b46-a31b-0f757a8424f2">New AI tools help track and trace goods</h2>Colgate-Palmolive is piloting digital AI tools, including <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-machine-learning-robotics-retail-supply-chain-technology-2023-10">track-and-trace technology</a>, that can give retailers automatic updates to their product orders, including any delays that might occur during shipping.Sales representatives can use a phone to scan a shelf in a store, leverage AI to look for gaps, and determine which items need to be restocked to meet the demand of that store's customer base.Last year, the company opened a new Hill's pet-food factory in Kansas, a 365,000-square-foot facility that's Colgate-Palmolive's first <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-factories-data-centers-nvidia-foxconn-2023-10">"smart" factory</a>, which relies on AI and automation and fewer people. It's allowed the company to shorten its production cycle, create flexibility to innovate new pet-food products, and decrease energy and water use compared to other plants, a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hills-pet-nutrition-opens-new-smart-factory-in-tonganoxie-to-meet-global-pet-owner-demand-for-science-led-nutrition-301957784.html#:~:text=TOPEKA%2C%20Kan.%2C%20Oct">press release</a> from the company said."Every single operation, like quality testing, has been automated and that enables for a much more efficient factory," Sieber said.As is often the case with AI and automation, new factories like the one in Kansas raise questions about their impact on jobs. But Sieber stresses that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-ceo-retail-workers-lose-jobs-ai-2024-1">humans will always participate in manufacturing</a>."What we find in our most advanced sites is technologies alone, they don't solve everything," Sieber said. Upskilling Colgate-Palmolive's workforce, he said, moves people "away from doing manual work to really using the power of critical thinking and conceptual thinking to improve process performance."

A consumer-packaged goods giant is harnessing AI to produce more toothpaste and dog food in less time

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The chief AI officer is a developing C-suite position that leads a company's AI strategy.</li><li>The AI chief at Golin, a PR agency, said his role was created to help the company integrate AI.</li></ul>Companies worldwide are <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/technology-executives-on-artificial-intelligence-applications-role-of-cto-cio-2024-9">using AI to enhance their efficiency and creativity</a>. Golin, a global public-relations agency, is embracing this transition with the ambitious goal of becoming the world's first fully AI-integrated PR agency by 2026.Jeff Beringer, Golin's newly appointed <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chief-artificial-intelligence-officer-job-skills-required-2024-5">chief AI officer</a>, said he hoped to weave AI into every facet of the company's operations. He told Business Insider that the company was in the "phase of enablement" as it rolls out AI-powered tools to employees and strategizes how to use AI with clients. Golin partners with companies such as Adobe to access their AI services and also develops more niche solutions in-house.Beringer, who's worked at Golin for over 20 years, stressed that public relations would always require a human touch. He said Golin wasn't looking to use AI for automation but for "intelligence augmentation."The following has been edited for clarity and length.The role of chief AI officer is new for Golin, and you're the first to have the title. Why did the company see the need for a CAIO?Our journey with AI began over two years ago when we started an incubator to explore how <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-artificial-intelligence-customer-experience-business-applications-2024-5">new technologies could enhance our work </a>for clients. We realized that the changes in AI are happening much faster than anticipated.Our executive leadership team asked ourselves, if we were starting this 70-year-old agency from scratch today, would it look the same? The answer was probably not.So we made a transformation plan to become the first fully AI-integrated global PR agency by the start of 2026. By fully integrated, we mean that every employee, regardless of role, specialty, or seniority, will benefit from AI's assistance.That's a lot of change in a short time, and my role spun out of that ambition. As the chief AI officer, my job is to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-the-ai-revolution-means-for-business-2024-5">orchestrate that change</a> by working with other leaders at Golin and with our clients.What specific steps has Golin made toward achieving the goal of becoming fully AI-integrated by 2026?We've mapped out a detailed plan that unfolds in phases, almost quarterly. The first step was setting the right ambition and making sure everyone in the organization understands it, and we've done that.Currently we're in the phase of enablement. We've identified the right tools for core jobs across our organization and are building or licensing the best technology to support them.We're also working with client partners to test these tools. For example, with Grubhub, we're <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://golin.com/2024/11/04/ai-in-pr-lessons-from-golin-and-grubhubs-special-delivery-campaign/">exploring how AI can improve our work</a>, from research and insights to creative content production.Can you share details about the specific AI tools, software, and services Golin is using?Our philosophy is to remain flexible and not get boxed in with specific providers. That said, we have partnerships with companies like Adobe. Adobe's Firefly technology, for example, is transformative for creative work.Besides partnering, we develop products internally. We've created a solution for influencer vetting. Using AI, we can analyze up to 10 years' worth of an influencer's online presence to identify potential risks. Before, that was both time-consuming and less thorough.We also use <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-surveillance-detects-emotion-at-work-gets-you-fired-2023-11">AI for emotive content testing</a>. Traditionally, content testing involved expensive and time-consuming focus groups. Now we use AI and facial-recognition technology to gauge real-time emotional reactions to content that hasn't been published yet.Does Golin have an engineering team on staff to develop these solutions?We have developers, but we're not a technology company. Our strategy is to work with the best partners out there.However, we're adding depth in areas like data science and data architecture because there's immense opportunity in leveraging the data we generate daily. We're hiring in these areas to better synthesize data and make more informed decisions with AI assistance.Importantly, we're not trying to replace people with server farms. Instead of AI and automation for everything, we're at intelligence augmentation. What our clients really want is a great human partner.There's a lot of interest in AI, but also a lot of criticism. How does Golin balance excitement with caution, especially with clients more wary of AI?It's evolving, and it reminds me of the early days of digital or social media. Some clients are eager to move fast, while others take a wait-and-see approach.What's different with AI is the speed at which clients have moved from being inspired to focusing on application. They want to see results, not promises.Each client is different in their appetite for AI, but many realize that if they don't embrace it, they <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-ai-extended-reality-disrupting-changing-technology-industry-2023-8">risk being left behind</a>.From a business perspective, where are you looking to see the return on investment with AI?We are focused on efficacy more than efficiency.With clients, our primary metrics are improved outcomes. We want to see that our clients are satisfied.Internally, we're looking at employee engagement and happiness. If AI helps our people spend more time on thoughtful, strategic tasks rather than routine ones, that's a win.These are the most important goals. Is our work getting better? Are our people happier in their roles? If we get those two things right, everything else will follow.

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