Meet Adam, Global Product Information Lead at H&M, who is driving the future of eCommerce at H&M by harnessing data and AI to revolutionise product information and customer experience across global digital channels. In this article, he shares his insights on building agile systems, embracing omnichannel strategies, and the balance between tech-driven innovation and the creative essence of fashion retail.

Adam's career and Advice

Tell us about your career so far and the key turning points that led you to where you are today.

My career began at 18 when I sought my first internship in New York. I cold-called several companies in Manhattan, offering to help scale their businesses and structure their online marketing strategies. Why would a company in Manhattan hire an 18-year-old from Sweden to set up their online marketing strategy? That was the question I had to answer convincingly. I needed to create a sense of urgency for these companies to hire someone younger who understood emerging technologies like social media and online marketing, which were gaining traction in 2010.

I secured an interview at a new company on a Friday and was offered a position to start the following Monday. As the third employee, we grew the real estate business from a small living room to a 5th Avenue office, expanding to over 50 employees in just 1.5 years.

Upon returning to Sweden, I applied my experience in scaling and online marketing across various roles. I promoted American businesses at the American Chamber of Commerce in Sweden, launched the scooter company Bird in Stockholm, expanded the fintech company Klarna globally, and contributed to the launch of Amazon in Sweden. Currently, I’m strategically building and scaling product information offerings for H&M Group across online stores, marketplaces, social media channels, and digital touchpoints worldwide.

A key turning point in my career was when I fully committed to Product Management. I realised that mastering discovery, delivery, product launches, and strong leadership skills would open doors to leading large operations. Working with global products appealed to me as it allowed for international collaboration and travel, which are important. I’m passionate about growth and expansion within organisations. The most valuable lesson I’ve learned is to “start small and fail fast.” Experiment, evaluate, and adjust as needed.

Additional turning points include embracing the mindset that, much like in baseball, the more times you try to hit the ball, the more likely you’ll eventually score a home run. Always make the best of the hand you’re dealt. Life often nudges you toward a particular field because you have an inherent skill, even if you don’t initially recognise it. The turning point was realising I had a natural talent that attracted opportunities. By focusing on refining that talent, success followed.

Looking back at your career, what advice would you give your 20-year-old self?

Study past trends and styles, visualise where you want to be in 10 years, and chase that future version of yourself. Plan how you can surpass your future self. If you practice this mindset, you’ll find yourself achieving more than you imagined, faster than you anticipated.

Surround yourself with both older and younger individuals. Perspective is key—older generations offer wisdom and decision-making insights, while younger generations introduce new technology. Don’t fear failure or others’ opinions; those are their perceptions, and you have yours. This is your journey. If you can envision it, you can achieve it. Determination and grit will help break down your vision into achievable goals. Be humble but persistent. Innovation rarely comes from accepting “no” as the final answer.

Adam's Conference at eCommerce Expo “Future of Commerce at H&M: Leveraging Data and AI for Growth”

Tell us more about your session on the Headline Stage titled “Future of Commerce at H&M: Leveraging Data and AI for Growth"

The commerce landscape is evolving, and we must focus more on omnichannel strategies. Digital touchpoints are everywhere, and we can no longer limit our thinking to online stores alone. Online marketing and touchpoints are ubiquitous. Our job is to understand these changes and stay ahead to ensure customer satisfaction. We need to offer AI-driven solutions and personalised recommendations to our customers. We require an integrated approach to achieve this, especially as our assortment expands each year.

Don't miss out on Adam's session, it's FREE to attend for retailers and B2B/B2C brands:

REGISTER NOW

Can you elaborate on the specific AI technologies H&M uses to enhance product enrichment and customer understanding?

We’re exploring the use of AI in digital touchpoints within our physical stores. The source of our product information remains consistent within our Product Information Management (PIM) team’s scope. Therefore, we need a flexible architecture to accommodate this shift, allowing us to manage and present more data on the front end.

How has H&M’s flexible architecture enabled the seamless distribution of product data across global digital touchpoints?

Our Product Data Hub, built on microservices, first ingests product data from our sourcing systems into our Data Layer, where we aggregate all the data. We then distribute this data through microservices based on the product lifecycle. All product data is shared with our SaaS system, Bluestone PIM, where the enrichment occurs. Once enriched, products and articles move to our foundation layer.

In this foundation layer, we build APIs that allow our experience/capability teams to request the specific data they need for their operations via an API-driven approach. These teams then maintain their data within our Experience Layer, which creates flexibility on the front end. This decouples the front end from the back end, providing a single source of truth for product information across the company.

Our digital product information management has significantly advanced, thanks to our flexible MACH Architecture built on our Product Data Hub. This structure allows us to distribute all product information efficiently to the front end.

With the new architecture, we’ve successfully decoupled the back end from the front end, allowing the Experience Layer to select the necessary product information to present to customers.

How does H&M balance the need for data-driven decision-making with the creative aspects of fashion retail?

It’s crucial to keep humans involved to maintain creativity. We leverage the latest technology to provide recommendations while preserving the creativity within our skilled workforce. At our core, we are a fashion retailer, and our goal is to use technology to deliver fashion and manage product data.

Looking ahead, how do you see the role of AI and data evolving in the future of commerce, both at H&M and across the retail industry?

We may reach a point where the next generation only trusts AI-driven advice, viewing it as the most reliable source. It’s important to find a balance in how much AI influences the product information we present to customers.

Quick-Fire Questions

What do you dislike the most as a customer?

When it’s challenging to find the information or answers you’re looking for. Customers should be well-informed and educated about the “why.” It’s an organisation’s responsibility to ensure customer satisfaction.

What is your favourite social media platform?

LinkedIn, by far. It’s a valuable platform where organisations, professionals, think tanks, and NGOs converge. It fosters natural interactions between business and politics, helps build professional networks, and is a forum for companies and organisations to attract top talent.

How many unopened emails do you currently have in your inbox?

I have just a few from potential new vendors I haven’t had the chance to respond to since returning from vacation. It’s not that their requests aren’t valuable; our current priority is ensuring smooth operations for our online stores and providing up-to-date product information for our global customers.

What tool do you use the most on your laptop?

Aside from Outlook for email, it’s Excel. It’s an incredibly powerful tool for managing analytics, creating graphs, and tracking team progress and priorities.

What is your proudest moment in your career so far?

My proudest moment was when our team successfully switched PIM systems within six months while keeping all online stores operational worldwide. This included managing incidents and launching new content for new assortments in some markets during this period—an amazing team achievement. Another proud moment was launching Amazon.se in Sweden, where I was responsible for the Search function and expanding Klarna in the U.S.

What is your dream career achievement?

My dream achievement is to contribute to delighting our customers and making it as easy as possible for them to feel fashionable and confident in their daily lives through our sustainable approach.