Luxury Intelligence

AI is no longer a tool for retailers, it is becoming the platform luxury and jewellery brands will be forced to compete on. Amazon and Google’s combined $65 billion bet on Anthropic signals that the next wave of retail power will be shaped by whoever controls the underlying intelligence, not just the storefront. Macy’s and Ulta Beauty are already letting Google and Gemini build their customer-facing AI, while Meta’s AWS deal shows even tech giants are picking sides. Some argue luxury can stay above the tech fray, but as lab-grown diamond prices drop 14% and customer service agents go AI-native, the margin for slow adaptation is gone.

The strongest objection is that luxury’s value lies in human touch and brand story, not algorithms. Yet the evidence says the battleground is shifting: COS is scaling global experience through cross-functional teams, and DeMellier is driving loyalty with materials and craft, but both will need to defend these advantages as AI-powered competitors get faster and more personalised.

If you run a luxury or jewellery business, you cannot outsource AI strategy to vendors or hope a premium product will insulate you. Test every new AI tool yourself, from customer service to merchandising. Audit your data, because whoever owns the customer journey data will own the next decade. The window to build your own AI muscle is closing fast.