Hermès to form an Artificial Intelligence Governance Committee

Data, retail tools, automation of logistics processes, and decision-making support are the main areas in which Hermès uses artificial intelligence (AI). The Parisian group, questioned by a shareholder ahead of the general meeting held in the French capital on Wednesday, April 30, discussed its relationship with AI and future developments.

“AI is transforming many sectors and professions, bringing significant changes to the way companies operate and interact with their stakeholders, employees, customers and suppliers. AI is integrated into some of our systems via our partners and is implemented when appropriate. The group is open and attentive to change and to everything that can contribute to safeguarding and supporting our unique model, while relieving operational staff of difficult and repetitive tasks,” the 15.2 billion euros turnover company emphasised.

Hermès: ‘Our artisans will continue to work and express our savoir-faire by hand’

Among the first use cases is the improvement of IT and technical services (automation, documentation, development support), of data with the use of business intelligence for decision-making support, reporting and document research. There are also retail tools such as customer service centre support and assistance in logistics processes, and supply chain optimisation, which enables the automation of some logistics processes and decision-making support.

“The group will continue to follow its artisanal model and our artisans will continue to work and express our savoir-faire by hand. AI can improve and facilitate access to continuous training to better meet the needs of our artisans. Similarly, creation will remain in the hands of our designers and artists, offering a perspective on the group, our materials, our expertise and modernity,” the house emphasised.

“Regarding the social and ethical consequences of AI, we have identified the need to train our employees to help them understand and use AI responsibly. Furthermore, in order to supervise these technological developments while remaining true to the company's values, a governance structure with an Artificial Intelligence Governance Committee will be established in 2025. The role of this committee will be,” Hermès explained, “to establish a comprehensive list of projects and initiatives in order to identify potential interactions between them in terms of AI and correct any distortions; manage the quality of the technology: accuracy, robustness, performance, transparency and explainability and take responsibility for the approach, i.e. measure distortions (for example of models, data, interfaces), impact, confidentiality, risks and compliance (risk assessment) and approve roles and responsibilities”.