AI-Augmented Craftsmanship
Project Idea Metadata
- Project Idea Name: AI-Augmented Craftsmanship
- Date: 6/3/2024 9:10:25 AM
- Administrators:
Project Idea Description
What problem would you like to solve?
Despite the rapid increase in adoption of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in company processes over the course of 2023 and the first half of 2024 (McKinsey&Company, 2024a), managers and employees still lack a clear understanding on how AI and GenAI can contribute most effectively to their professional day-to-day tasks and activities. This is especially true in the luxury and fashion industry where creative processes are at the core of the business, and where creativity as a ‘human masterpiece’ (De Cremer et al., 2023) is crucial to shaping a company’s DNA. The limited and fragmented experience with AI and GenAI that many employees have accumulated to date generates skepticism and reluctance to adopt such technology. At times, unfounded fears of job replacement by AI solutions further stoke such skepticism and promote algorithm aversion (Dietvorsk et al., 2015) , leading to a preference for the status quo at the expense of innovation with the potential to benefit both, companies and their workers.
In other words, there might be a misinterpretation of what AI is, how AI can help employees of a fashion company, and how it can assist and support workers in their activities, optimizing their jobs and boosting their productivity rather than replacing them. Such misconception might be divisive for employees, creating a chasm between those who are more prone and capable of adopting AI and those who fear it. To avoid this, it is fundamental to unite employees and to design bottom-up approaches to overcoming reluctance toward technology and its implementation within a company (De Cremer, 2024).
But the question of how, precisely, AI and GenAI can be effectively implemented in a fashion company remains largely unanswered. In response to this knowledge gap, a team of academics from Franklin University Switzerland proposes to ideate, design, and prototype a strategic integration blueprint in collaboration with the HR team of the luxury fashion company Dsquared2.
How does the proposed solution solve the problem?
The strategic integration blueprint aims to create a set of guidelines for integrating AI and GenAI into the workflows of a creative fashion company by employing a methodical plan that includes theoretical and practical elements. The creation of such guidelines necessitates consideration of various aspects of AI and GenAI integration into the workforce and a thorough understanding of crucial workflow junctures and points of impact, including, for examples, workflow tasks, worker competencies, individual and company-wide sources of resistance and managerial communication strategies. The strategic integration blueprint is designed for mid-sized entrepreneurial companies willing to be innovative and open to cultural shifts, as well as to incorporating cutting edge and potentially disruptive technology.
Ultimately, the blueprint will enable top management to guide the adoption and implementation of AI technologies in the company by taking into account employees’ expectations, concerns and reactions, existing corporate practices and cultural artifacts, as well as the changing perceptions, competencies and ambitions of future generations of fashion industry workers. At the same time, the blueprint will guide management to emphasize the value and importance of the contribution of human talent to the success and growth of the company. To this purpose, the blueprint aims to offer companies a viable and feasible approach to integrating AI into their business practices, while avoiding disruption, anxiety and potential workforce instability.
Implementation (workplan and milestones)
To develop a universal strategic integration blueprint, the team will first create a tailored blueprint for the corporate partner, Dsquared2, which can then be generalized for broader industry application.
The project can thus be envisaged as entailing two phases: 1) The development of a company-specific blueprint for Dsquared2; 2) The academic effort of abstracting from a case study to create a universal strategic integration blueprint for industry-wide application.
Phase 1. (October 2024-April 2025)
Initially, it is vital to create a space for future employees (students) and workers from all company layers to share their experiences and insights on how they currently use AI in their activities, to learn of existing and imagine potential benefits and positive externalities of embracing a more favorable attitude toward AI technology. This first step is fundamental to lowering the individual barriers towards AI adoption and to understanding in which areas of the business AI is being utilized, formally or informally. It will, furthermore, foster dissemination of knowledge and experience within the company, permitting the researchers to collect valuable data for the creation of a strategic integration blueprint, to be used by the project partner and subsequently in the fashion industry more broadly.
A wide range of data will be collected and analyzed as follows:
1) The researchers will interview the company's HR team and selected managers. The goal of the interviews is to map the company culture, current employees’ attitudes toward AI and the general attitude that the company exhibits toward this technology.
2) The team (researchers + HR team company representatives) will work with Franklin University Switzerland undergraduate students in business. Students will be involved in analyzing the fashion business landscape, assessing best practices in AI implementation, and providing benchmark analysis and state-of-the-art knowledge. In addition, they will interact with Dsquared2 representatives to understand the business context of the company so as to be able to best contribute to the creation of the strategic blueprint for the integration of AI-based solutions in the company.
More specifically:
· A group of international business students in their junior or senior year will be selected through a competitive, university-wide process based on their competencies, motivations, interest and coursework related to technology, the fashion industry and business management. The project team (academic researchers and company managers) will oversee and guide student work throughout the year.
· An initial meeting will be held involving students, HR and some company representatives, and the faculty advisors. In this meeting, project objectives will be discussed, and expectations and milestones set.
· Students will visit the company to understand its operations, culture, and existing processes. Timeline and format of the visit to be defined at a later stage.
· Interviews and surveys will be conducted by students with HR and some company representatives to gather insights on current workflows and potential AI applications.
· Students will run focus groups and interviews with their peers, seeking to uncover unique insight on young adults' perspectives and ideas on how AI solutions can be integrated into a fashion business.
· Students will conduct research on AI technologies, industry best practices, and case studies of successful AI implementation in similar businesses.
· In sum, over the course of the academic year and under the supervision of the project team, students will collect primary and secondary data relevant to the project.
· Based on the data and input collected, students will develop a set of suggestions for implementing AI and GenAI in the company. The guidelines will include step-by-step recommendations, potential AI tools and technologies, required skills and training for employees, and change management strategies. A final report will be prepared and submitted to the project team, detailing the analysis, research findings, and the recommended guidelines. The report will include an executive summary, methodology, detailed recommendations, and an implementation roadmap.
3) The team (researchers and company representatives) will reflect on the entire body of data collected: interviews with managers and students’ work. By merging the Dsquared2 HR Team and managerial perspective with the knowledge and insights gained through the data collection processes, the team will be able to interpret, refine and craft the final set of guidelines that will constitute the strategic blueprint for AI integration at Dsquared2.
Phase 2. (May-September 2025)
In the second phase of the project, the researchers will capitalize on the case study data and the insights offered by the Dsquared2 strategic blueprint initiative. Further research will be conducted, data analyzed and findings shared with academic peers through formal channels (e.g., at international academic conferences). This effort will culminate in the crafting of a universal strategic integration blueprint for broader use by the fashion industry and made available to industry and the academic community at large (e.g., as an academic journal publication).
Who are the customers / users and what are the benefits? How does your challenge and proposed solution address the needs of Fashion & Lifestyle industry (incl. research, society and end users)?
The proposed solution, a strategic integration blueprint, will aim to make a crucial contribution to solving the problem of AI integration in a fashion company by proposing a roadmap for use by management: initially by the HR team and subsequently by managers across business units.
In a 2-phase process, it will address the needs of one specific company, the implementation partner, and subsequently illustrate broader applicability within the fashion industry, aiming at becoming a widely applicable tool for fashion companies facing similar challenges. The roadmap will shed light on emerging AI-related tasks and related skills and competencies more broadly. It will outline concrete integration steps and communication strategies needed to smoothly implement AI solutions in business processes, acknowledging workers’ potential resistance and suggesting solutions aimed at mitigating it. Ultimately, it will contribute to the company’s ability to capitalize on emerging cutting-edge AI technologies and the first-mover competitive advantage associated with their rapid adoption, while fostering inclusivity of all workers within the company. The investigation phase will, therefore, involve engaging the employees in frequent dialogue so as to fully capture and appreciate their needs and desires. As such, the company will integrate the interests of a variety of stakeholders, unite workers across professional categories and foster harmony in the corporate human labor force in a challenging time of rapidly-advancing artificial intelligence. In a broader context, this project responds to a number of targets stipulated by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, most crucially those covered by Goal 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth – and Goal 9 – Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure.
Ultimately, fashion companies equipped with a strategic integration blueprint can reinforce their capabilities to navigate the uncertainty that the industry is facing. The Lifestyle and fashion industry will be dramatically transformed by AI (McKinsey, September 2023), considered a clear priority for executives in fashion in 2024 (McKinsey 2024b), but its adoption risks falling behind because the industry is traditionally human-centric and thus focused on enhancing and reinforcing talent, instinct and personality. Companies are at a turning point: they must make critical decisions on how to effectively implement AI and GenAI into their organizations without losing focus on individual talent and creativity. An effective integration of AI in fashion industries inevitably involves balancing these two vital considerations, which in turn requires an effective identification of the changing nature of tasks and competences of its workforce. Proactively taking steps to manage the integration process is crucial for each fashion company that wants to compete effectively in the marketplace without diluting its unique identity. Given the challenging nature of this task, the need for a methodical blueprint of integration that equips companies to manage this process in a systematic, scientific way, without provoking fear of replacement or lash-back, appears evident.
Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The proposed AI integration blueprint aims at enabling the company to foster innovation and growth by implementing AI technological advancements in a way that is consistent and coherent with its identity and with employees’ mindsets. In developing the project, the company will integrate the interests of a variety of stakeholders, unite workers across professional categories and foster harmony in the corporate human labor force in a challenging time of rapidly-advancing artificial intelligence. This process aligns with the objectives of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, most crucially those covered by Goal 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth, specifically 8.2 and 8.3, which pertain to how organizations should enable growth and productivity.
In a broader context, this project also responds to the targets set by Goal 9 – Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure – by facilitating the critical assessment and adoption of AI technologies within the firm. More broadly, the proposed blueprint will encourage innovation and upgrade capabilities in the lifestyle and fashion industry, potentially leading to new context-specific applications and use cases of AI technologies in the sector.
Risks: What are the risks?
The value of the project lies in the richness of the data and insights collected by the various informants as well as the ability of the team to interpret the findings and generate new, tailored knowledge useful for Dsquared2 and other similar companies.
As with any project that involves collection of primary data with human subjects, redemption rates might be an issue to address. Ensuring an adequate participation of informants in focus group, in depth interviews and surveys is paramount. To this purpose, relying on the most promising talents within the Franklin University Switzerland student body helps to mitigate this risk. In addition, the ability of the Dsquared2 HR team to onboard colleagues within the company will guarantee a variety of employees’ perspectives that will contribute to increasing the depth of the data.
Estimated resource needs:
Details of each category’s components can be found in the Appendix, at the end of this document. A spreadsheet with estimate justifications and sources will be provided on request.
Data Collection fr. 8536
Data Analysis fr. 2700
Dissemination of findings fr. 5500
Research & coordination assistants fr. 8000
TOTAL
2473
How can the Innovation Booster – Fashion & Lifestyle help you?
The Innovation Booster-Fashion & Lifestyle can support the team in their work on the development of a project that bridges theoretical and academic research with industry application. By fostering the intellectual exchange between academics and industry practitioners, the Innovation Booster will provide the following stakeholders with the outlined benefits:
– Researchers. Academics will have the opportunity to collaborate with a company to develop a research project in the specific lifestyle and fashion domain. This partnership will enable them to gather specific data directly from the company that would be otherwise impossible to collect. This will ensure that the research output is highly relevant and applicable to real-world management practices. By applying rigorous analysis to this data, the researchers will be able to produce findings that can be generalized and applied to broader contexts, thereby enhancing the overall impact and utility of their research contributions.
– Dsquared2 team. Thanks to the Innovation Booster initiative, the company will be able to plan and evaluate the potential opportunity of AI integration, employing a cautious, methodical and shared approach tailored to the intrinsic characteristics of its employees. In addition, by engaging with a sample of future workers, such as the international business students of Franklin University Switzerland, Dsquared2 will act in continuity with its current efforts in the realm of employer branding, boosting their interaction with the younger generation of future employees.
– Young generation of employees (future workers). By design, this project builds on the exchange and interaction that the team will have with the young crowd of international students of Franklin University. This opportunity is made possible thanks to the framework provided by the Innovation Booster, which enables academic researchers to co-develop a project with the industry partner. Positive externalities of the initiative will also benefit the future generation of workers beyond those directly involved in contributing to the project by helping to shape corporate practices.
– Ticino territory and industry community. The research team is based in Ticino and works with a variety of stakeholders with the aim of bridging scientific knowledge with industry practice for maximum real-world impact. Thanks to the Innovation Booster initiative, the local community of fashion and luxury companies and beyond stands to benefit from the findings of this project. Given the financial support provided by the Innovation Booster initiative, the team will be able to disseminate the research output within the active community of companies in Ticino and Switzerland, as well as internationally, becoming a point of reference for those firms that are engaging in change management processes.
The findings from the project could lead to two types of publications: 1) an article targeted to industry audience that summarizes the best practices; 2) a scientific article targeted to the academic community that illustrates the theory advancements. Such publications will set the basis for the team to explore further funding opportunities within the Innosuisse and Swiss National Science Foundation framework.
1. References
De Cremer, D. (2024). For success with AI, bring everyone on board. Harvard Business Review, May-June 2024.
De Cremer, D., Morini Bianzino, N., & Falk, B. (2023). How generative AI could disrupt creative work. Harvard Business Review.
Dietvorsk, B. J., Simmons, J. P., & Massey, C. (2015). Algorithm aversion: people erroneously avoid algorithms after seeing them err. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 144(1), 114-126.
McKinsey&Company (2023). The state of AI in 2023: Generative AI in the breakout year. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai-in-2023-generative-ais-breakout-year
McKinsey&Company. (2024a). The state of AI in early 2024: Gen AI adoption spikes and starts to generate value. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai#/
Mckinsey&Company (2024b). The state of Fashion 2024. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/state-of-fashion#/
The project aims to develop an AI integration blueprint for fashion companies. AI is increasingly reshaping our daily lives and informally entering work environments worldwide. While often perceived as beneficial, integrating AI in companies poses challenges, especially for human resource management. Not only are current employees resistant to AI due to job concerns, but also face new generations, equipped with knowledge and skills to use cutting-edge technology, entering the workforce. This project aims to address this challenge by developing an integration blueprint designed and tested on the basis of data gathered from current and future employees. The strategic blueprint is meant to support ambitious AI-related change management initiatives, in which a company aims to systematically and effectively integrate AI while paying close attention to the well-being and concerns of the current and future workforce.