Key learnings from the round table with Alix Boulnois, Chief Digital Officer and Member of the Group Executive Committee at Accor, Biljana Kaitovic, Group CIO and Chief Digital Officer at Engie, and Gilles Morel, Executive VP at Whirlpool, at the Adopt AI Summit by Artefact - June 5, 2024

About Alix Boulnois: With a wealth of experience and degrees, Alix had leading strategic initiatives across various sectors enhancing client experience and pricing strategies across Europe. Since joining Accor in 2020 as SVP of Digital & Innovation, and now as CDO, Alix has been instrumental in driving the group’s digital transformation.
About Biljana Kaitovic: With her extensive background in IT and digital transformations across the global stage, her role as Engie’s Group CIO and Chief Digital Officer is to accelerate the digitalization of businesses to serve the group’s growth ambitions and operational performance.
About Gilles Morel: Having joined Whirlpool in 2019 as President of the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region, he spent over 25 years in the consumer goods industry, holding leadership roles at Mars Inc. and Savencia Fromage & Dairy​.

The focus of the panel was on scaling AI and fostering adoption within large corporations. Companies like Accor and Whirlpool are focusing on AI to enhance user experience, marketing, and decision-making processes, targeting broad-scale applications like CRM personalization and predictive maintenance. In particular, Whirlpool is integrating AI into its home appliances to improve operational efficiency, such as assisted cooking and product diagnostics.

Adoption challenges and strategies

To ensure successful AI adoption, Accor has established a Center of Excellence to frame AI use cases and guide technology adoption, focusing on business-driven innovation for broader adoption, while Whirlpool emphasizes the importance of leadership ownership in AI integration to drive competitive advantage and business alignment.

“We are heavily focusing on improving the client experience through AI, using it on our website, and for more personalization at scale in our CRM. We leverage AI to reduce manual tasks, enhancing our internal productivity and even addressing ESG by reducing our carbon footprint and food waste.”
Alix Boulnois, Chief Digital Officer and Member of the Group Executive Committee at Accor

Bottom-Up innovation approach

Whrilpool supports a bottom-up approach to foster AI innovation within the company, empowering teams to develop AI solutions that are closely aligned with business needs, thereby accelerating adoption and fostering a culture of innovation and agility.

“We have a responsibility to build, develop, and invest in our own talent and we must also choose our external partners wisely, as we cannot house all solutions internally. This dual approach of nurturing internal talent and selecting the right external partnerships forms the cornerstone of our strategy to enhance business capabilities and leadership in AI.”
Gilles Morel, Executive Vice President at Whirlpool

Safety and compliance in AI deployment

Engie is cautious about AI’s operational risks, especially in safety-critical field operations. They focus on thorough testing before scaling solutions. Biljana describes efforts to ensure that field workers have rapid access to necessary information through AI, improving efficiency and safety.

“This year is going to be one of the defining years with regards to AI becoming natural. We’re really witnessing an enormous change and from a corporate perspective this can make so much difference to so many things we do.”
Biljana Kaitovic, Group CIO and Chief Digital Officer at Engie

Empowering talent management and development

All speakers emphasized the challenge of recruiting and retaining AI-skilled talent. They aim to create an integrated environment where technology aligns with business goals through interdisciplinary teams that can innovate effectively.

Long-term adoption and motivation

The discussions highlighted the critical role of leadership in promoting AI adoption within companies. There is a strong focus on providing opportunities for employees to interact with AI technologies, fostering a culture that is both inclusive and conducive to innovation.