Essity has begun a multi-year collaboration with Accenture and Microsoft to introduce AI agents into core business functions. The program will be delivered from the company’s AI Centre of Excellence and built on Microsoft Azure, Copilot Studio and Power Platform, supported by Accenture’s engineering and implementation teams.
The initial focus will be procurement and finance, where the company manages high volumes of transactions across a global supply base. These functions were selected for their potential to provide measurable improvements in speed, accuracy and operational efficiency.
Essity positions the initiative as part of a broader effort to build a unified approach to data and AI across the business. According to the company, the goal is to move beyond separate pilots and establish a consistent framework that scales across regions and business units.
Competitors expand AI use
Large competitors in the hygiene and personal-care market have already applied AI in multiple operational areas. Procter & Gamble has detailed efforts using analytics and machine learning for forecasting, product development and marketing optimisation across global categories.
Kimberly-Clark has introduced AI into distribution and supply-chain planning and has expanded digital and analytics capabilities through regional technology hubs, including in India, to support those programs.
In Asia, Unicharm has incorporated digital tools and automation into its manufacturing operations and consumer-facing services, including AI-supported applications and smart-factory initiatives.
Essity has undertaken its own digital projects in recent years. The company has referenced the use of AI-supported tools in operator training, localised marketing adaptation and logistics analysis intended to improve production efficiency and quality.
Essity also operates digital offerings in professional hygiene through sensor-enabled cleaning and supply-monitoring systems. These provide real-time usage and flow data to facility teams and form part of the company’s broader digital-services portfolio.
Essity builds AI agents within a defined governance structure
As it scales AI agents across procurement and finance, Essity is incorporating governance requirements that include auditability, defined user roles and oversight mechanisms. Accenture has said the platform will be developed with controls designed to support secure deployment within enterprise environments.
Essity has also formalised internal standards. In 2024, the company published an AI Ethics Policy outlining principles for fair, explainable, safe and human-centred AI, with annual review processes overseen by an AI Council.
That same year, Essity joined the EU AI Pact, a European Commission initiative aimed at preparing organisations for compliance with the EU AI Act. The company described the move as part of its work to align internal governance with emerging regulatory requirements.
The company’s broader supply-chain operations provide additional context for the selection of procurement and finance as starting points. Essity has previously highlighted the role of digitalisation in building more agile sourcing and logistics networks and has noted the importance of data-driven tools for managing volatility in global materials and transportation markets.
As Essity proceeds with the agent-based program, the pace of implementation and the ability to integrate data from multiple business systems will shape how quickly the platform can expand into other functions such as production, logistics or customer-facing services. Partners on the initiative have emphasised the need for iterative testing and controlled scaling as part of the deployment model.
Essity’s new platform marks a shift from individual digital projects to a coordinated approach to AI across the organisation. The initiative is being launched at a time when major competitors are already applying AI across manufacturing, planning and consumer-insight workflows at scale. How effectively Essity integrates its new agent architecture into day-to-day operations will determine the speed at which it can match that level of adoption. Carl-Magnus Månsson, Essity’s Chief Digital & Information Officer, said in an interview on the company’s broader digital direction, “We’ve been actively working to use digital capabilities in ways closely aligned with the values we want to create.”
