July 25, 2025
5 min read
Lindsey Wilkinson
Ulta Beauty is building its tech foundation to deploy AI agents, aiming to enhance employee productivity and personalize customer experiences.
Ulta Beauty Eyes AI Agents Amid Growth Plans
Ulta Beauty is advancing its technology foundation to adopt AI agents, aiming to improve both employee and customer experiences as part of its broader growth strategy. After a three-year modernization of its core technology systems, the beauty retailer is leveraging this momentum to explore what it calls the future of work: agentic AI. Mike Maresca, Ulta's chief technology and transformation officer, shared that while AI agents are still in their early stages at Ulta, the company is rapidly accelerating their development with plans to bring the technology to life next year.“We need to establish the foundation, but the power of agents is really going to come to life next year as part of the Ulta Beauty story,” said Maresca, who has been with the company for about two years.Many enterprises are currently navigating early challenges with AI agents but remain optimistic. According to a PwC survey published in May, nearly 75% of senior leaders expect AI agent technology to provide a significant competitive advantage within the next year. AI agents rank among the fastest-growing technology trends, driven by increased scientific research, patent activity, investment, and talent demand, according to a recent McKinsey report. However, companies also face challenges from vendor-driven hype as providers promote various AI tools and services. Ulta anticipates that AI agents will enhance marketing efforts, digital store operations, and overall efficiency. Potential use cases include streamlining decision-making and delivering personalized customer experiences.
“Some of the agents we can deploy to our associates so that they’re in the moment with our customers and we can advise them on how to best engage them, pulling up past purchases and making product recommendations,” Maresca explained.
Governance Amid Transformation
Ulta is also undertaking a broader business transformation focused on core growth and future realignment. This strategy was initiated by CEO Kecia Steelman, who took leadership in January 2025 following several underwhelming quarters. Steelman expanded Maresca’s role to chief technology and transformation officer to better align technology and business transformation efforts.“Everything is a business project at its core because you are changing the business process — and new technologies always do that. We focus a lot on organizational change and change management training,” Maresca said.To ensure responsible AI adoption, Ulta is upskilling employees through a tiered training system. This program emphasizes vetting AI systems, transparency, ethical use, and compliance, forming a key part of the company’s governance and change management strategy.
“Through that tiered system, as well as how we train our associates to use AI, we really have the right formula for how data governance works,” Maresca noted. “We’ve embedded governance throughout our architecture review boards so that as we build capabilities, we understand what AI is dealing with in our core systems.”An AI council, including Maresca and other executives, coordinates AI projects and tools to ensure alignment with Ulta’s broader strategy.
“This is a team sport,” Maresca said.
Source: Originally published at CIO Dive on July 25, 2025