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As Lemonade explores new ways to use artificial intelligence, the online home insurance provider is still determining which technology investments will create the efficiencies that lead to growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lemonade posts double-digit revenue increases, but remains unprofitable, so \u201cunit economics is key,\u201d says Adina Eckstein, chief operating officer at Lemonade, while speaking at a recent Fortune<\/em> COO virtual event. By investing in AI and creating a \u201csuperhuman\u201d workforce, Eckstein says she can maintain more stable spending on operating expenses, while still growing sales.\u00a0<\/p>\n The AI push is \u201clargely going to be divvied up into people that are kind of scared of it or don\u2019t embrace it, and those that do,\u201d says Eckstein, who adds that as COO and chief people officer, she is thinking about what work can be handed off to AI systems, how such investments in technology will change tasks that people are asked to do in the future, and what investments need to be made to teach staff about their changing roles and responsibilities.<\/p>\n The COOs that joined Eckstein for a roundtable discussion broadly agreed they are embracing generative AI to unlock efficiency gains. But they are also wary of how much the technology will cost and what the impact will be to their workforce.<\/p>\n \u201cIt creates fear,\u201d says Sebastian Burzacchi, COO at Alignment Health, a Medicare Advantage provider. \u201cHow do you keep people motivated? How do you keep the culture intact? And how do you keep the culture intact and your brand strong when you are shifting deep, personal connections and you are shifting that towards automation?\u201d<\/p>\n Like Eckstein, quite a few COOs on the call wear two hats at their company, including Adrian Mitchell, COO and chief financial officer at department-store chain Macy\u2019s. Mitchell says as COO, he sees investments in AI as helping better predict demand and run operations\u2014at times providing insights that are highly counterintuitive\u2014but can also unlock sales and margin growth if deployed properly.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAt the center of all of this is really a lot of strategic and capital allocation decisions with the CEO and with the CFO,\u201d says Mitchell. \u201cAnd so what I\u2019m seeing is the operations team that has to lean into a lot of these innovations and are really having a seat at the table in terms of setting the strategy agenda for the enterprise.\u201d<\/p>\n Kirsty Roth also holds two roles at Thomson Reuters, which sells tools to tax and legal professionals and operates Reuters News. As chief operations and technology officer, Roth is steering the company\u2019s generative AI pilots and product offerings, including enhancements to services sold to clients and internal projects to support employees. There is \u201ca lot more to do there as we sort of continue to balance the cost equation,\u201d says Roth.\u00a0<\/p>\n