Jade Huang is the Co-founder and CEO of StyleSage, an AI-powered data analytics platform designed for the fashion, beauty, and home industries. An ex-fashion designer-turned-technologist, Huang has over 10 years of award-winning experience in digital strategy, design, and technology. 

Huang is a frequent industry speaker, having presented in more than six countries over the span of her career. She studied fashion design at Parsons School of Design and holds a bachelor’s degree in international trade from the Fashion Institute of Technology. Huang also has an MPA in international economics from Columbia University and an MBA from INSEAD, where she was awarded the L'Oreal Scholarship for Creativity and Entrepreneurship Spirit.

In the era of digital transformation, information is power. And with increasing online accessibility, consumers now have more information at their fingertips than ever before — often more than retailers themselves. So how do brands keep up with this ultra-savvy, digitally native generation of customers? Award-winning technologist and former fashion designer Jade Huang talks about this and more as she joins Thomas A. Stewart on The Leading Edge — a place where new ideas emerge and are sharpened, and where leaders look to find the edge that brings success for themselves, their teams, and their enterprises.

Huang has worked with world-class retailers including ASOS, Zalando, and Neiman Marcus, empowering them with real-time data so they can make more informed, market-driven, and profitable decisions. Her company, StyleSage, has been recognized by CNBC, Vogue, and more for its AI-powered, fast-track solutions for retailer success. Using image recognition and machine learning tools, StyleSage’s platform helps brands analyze the complex details behind a product, understand consumer purchase drivers, and stay up to date on the shifting trends of the fashion industry–even learning when and in what locations competitors put specific items on sale, for example. 

With an extensive background in technology, Huang understands that digital is here to stay. When e-commerce first emerged, it was a very small part of retail, taking up between 1% and 5% of sales. Now, that number has jumped between 15% and 20% for hybrid businesses (and often much higher for digitally native brands). E-commerce initiatives and up-to-date market research are a must if you want to compete with the big-name brands. With StyleSage, companies that don’t have the scale and reach of larger retailers can still analyze local and global consumer trends to revolutionize their digital strategies–and big companies can track the behavior of rivals that might otherwise have flown beneath their radar. 

In this episode of The Leading Edge, Thomas A. Stewart sits down with Jade Huang, Co-founder and CEO of StyleSage, to talk about transforming the retail industry through AI-powered data analytics. Huang shares how her company is helping retailers make data-driven decisions, the lessons she learned on self-care and building out processes, and why technology enablement is vital to the success of current retail brands.