How Beauty Executives at Ulta, Tarte and Beekman 1802 Are Using AI in Their Workflows

Beauty Brands Are Getting Serious About AI — Here's What the Leaders Are Actually Doing

Artificial intelligence has moved well beyond the buzzword phase. Across the beauty and wellness industry, senior executives are no longer asking whether AI deserves a seat at the table — they are actively building workflows, teams, and strategies around it. At Glossy's annual E-Commerce Summit in Miami Beach, executives from three powerhouse brands — Ulta Beauty, Tarte Cosmetics, and Beekman 1802 — took the stage to answer one deceptively simple question: how are you actually using AI right now?

The answers paint a picture of an industry in genuine transition. From content creation and customer personalization to supply chain optimization and social commerce, AI is quietly reshaping how beauty businesses operate — and the brands embracing it earliest are already seeing a competitive edge.

Why AI Adoption Is Accelerating in Beauty and Wellness

The beauty industry has always been early to adopt technology. Digital try-on tools, subscription boxes driven by quiz data, influencer-led social commerce — beauty brands have consistently leaned into innovation. AI is simply the latest frontier, but its scale and speed of impact are unlike anything the sector has seen before.

Consumer expectations have never been higher. Shoppers expect personalized product recommendations, rapid customer service responses, and seamless e-commerce experiences across every touchpoint. Meeting those demands manually is no longer scalable. AI gives brands the ability to process vast amounts of data, generate content at speed, and deliver hyper-personalized experiences without proportionally increasing headcount or cost.

According to industry research, the global AI in beauty market is projected to grow significantly through 2030, driven by demand for personalization engines, predictive analytics, and generative content tools. For brands like Ulta, Tarte, and Beekman 1802, staying ahead means embedding AI into the core of how they work — not treating it as an optional add-on.

Ulta Beauty: AI at Enterprise Scale

As one of the largest specialty beauty retailers in the United States, Ulta Beauty operates at a scale that makes AI adoption both a necessity and a significant undertaking. The brand has been investing in data infrastructure for years, which means its AI initiatives are built on a foundation of rich first-party consumer data — a significant advantage in a post-cookie world.

For Ulta, AI use cases span multiple business functions. On the customer-facing side, AI-powered recommendation engines drive personalization across the website and the Ultamate Rewards loyalty program, surfacing product suggestions based on purchase history, browsing behavior, and even skin or hair profile data. On the operational side, AI tools support demand forecasting and inventory planning, helping the brand reduce overstock and optimize replenishment across its hundreds of physical locations and its growing e-commerce channel.

The company has also explored generative AI for marketing content, using AI-assisted tools to accelerate the creation of product descriptions, email campaigns, and social media copy — freeing up creative teams to focus on higher-level strategy and brand storytelling.

Tarte Cosmetics: AI-Powered Content and Community

Tarte Cosmetics built its brand on authentic community engagement and bold, values-driven marketing. Its approach to AI reflects that identity — rather than replacing human creativity, Tarte is using AI to amplify it.

One of the brand's key focuses has been using AI to analyze social media data and identify emerging trends before they peak. By monitoring conversations, engagement patterns, and product mentions across platforms like TikTok and Instagram, Tarte can move faster on content creation and product positioning, staying relevant in a trend cycle that moves at near-impossible speed.

Tarte has also leaned into AI for influencer marketing analytics, using tools that go beyond vanity metrics to evaluate the genuine reach, audience alignment, and conversion potential of creator partnerships. In a space where influencer budgets are significant, that kind of data-driven decision-making can meaningfully improve return on investment.

Additionally, AI-assisted creative briefing tools help Tarte's internal teams and external partners align faster, compressing timelines without sacrificing the brand voice that its community has come to love.

Beekman 1802: Lean Team, Big AI Ambitions

Beekman 1802 offers a particularly instructive case study because it demonstrates how AI can be transformative even for smaller, founder-driven brands. The goat milk skincare company has built a fiercely loyal following through its kindness-forward brand ethos, and AI is helping its lean team punch well above its weight.

For Beekman 1802, AI tools have become essential for customer service and community management. Automated response systems handle routine inquiries, while AI-assisted sentiment analysis helps the team monitor how customers are feeling about products and campaigns in real time. This allows a small team to maintain the responsive, personal feel the brand is known for — even as its audience grows.

The brand has also embraced AI for content ideation and email marketing, using generative tools to test multiple subject lines, body copy variations, and send time optimizations simultaneously. The result is a more efficient marketing operation that continues to feel warm, personal, and on-brand.

Key Takeaways for Beauty Brands Evaluating AI Adoption

• Start with your data foundation. AI tools are only as good as the data they're trained on. Investing in first-party data collection and clean data infrastructure is the essential first step before layering on AI capabilities.
• Identify high-impact, low-disruption use cases first. Content generation, email optimization, and customer service automation offer quick wins that build internal confidence and demonstrate ROI without overhauling existing workflows.
• Keep humans in the loop for brand voice. Every executive on the Glossy summit stage emphasized that AI is a tool for amplification, not replacement. The brands succeeding with AI are those using it to free up human creativity, not eliminate it.
• Measure, iterate, and scale. AI adoption is not a one-time project. The brands leading the industry are testing constantly, learning from results, and building institutional knowledge around what works for their specific audience and business model.

The Bottom Line: AI Is No Longer Optional in Beauty

The conversation at Glossy's E-Commerce Summit made one thing abundantly clear: AI is not a future consideration for beauty brands — it is a present-tense competitive necessity. Whether a brand operates at the scale of Ulta Beauty or with the agility of Beekman 1802, the question is no longer whether to adopt AI but how to do so in a way that is authentic, strategic, and aligned with long-term brand values.

The executives who spoke in Miami Beach are not futurists speculating about what AI might do. They are practitioners sharing what AI is already doing — right now, inside real workflows, at brands that millions of consumers trust. For any beauty or wellness business leader still on the sidelines, their message is a clear and timely one: the time to start is not tomorrow. It is today.