In the dynamic and competitive world of women's fashion, Cabi is making waves in the direct-sales apparel market. Founded in 2002 by fashion designer Carol Anderson and management consultant Kimberly Inskeep, the company has carved a unique niche by reimagining retail through a personalized, relationship-driven sales approach. The brand has experienced significant growth this past Fall of 2024 under the leadership of CEO Katie Malone-Woods, most notably through the expansion of their network of independent stylists.

"Our success at Cabi stems from understanding that fashion isn't just about the clothes—it's about creating meaningful connections between stylists and clients, a model that has proven its value year after year."
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Katie Malone-Woods, CEO, Cabi

An impressive feat considering the current state of the global women's apparel market. Projected to generate $936.30 billion in revenues by 2025, with an anticipated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.71% through 2029, the market underscores the critical importance of strategic differentiation. Additionally, the fashion industry stands at the intersection of technology and consumer experience, and the transformative force of artificial intelligence has already begun to take root. As early as 2019, human stylists at Stitch Fix have been collaborating with AI.

"Our business is getting relevant things into the hands of our customers.

Eric Colson, Chief Algorithm Officer, Stitch Fix

The design process has also undergone a huge transformation in 2023-2024, as a suite of AI tools for designers became widely available to the public. Designers are generating new patterns and styles, expediting the design process, fostering creativity and innovation as a result.

And let's not forget about how AI is optimizing supply chain operations in the apparel industry. Consider fast-fashion giant Shien. At a retail conference in Berlin, January 2024, Peter Pernot-Day, Shein's head of global strategy and corporate affairs, revealed how the company leverages AI to optimize its supply chain. He shared that over 5,000 Shein suppliers now utilize an AI software platform designed to analyze customer preferences. This data enables Shein to produce small, targeted batches of merchandise, aligning supply with real-time demand.

“We are using machine-learning technologies to accurately predict demand in a way we think is cutting-edge. The net effect of this is reducing inventory waste.”

Peter Pernot-Day, global strategy and corporate affairs, Shein

It is against this backdrop of intense competition and industry transformation that Cabi approached Forum3 for guidance along their AI transformation. When it came to artificial intelligence the question was not if or when but how?

• How to set their team up for success in the AI era?
• How to thoughtfully and strategically lay the foundations needed to support an AI transformation?
• How to build AI processes and systems that ultimately allow Cabi to outperform not only competitors who aren't using AI, but also competitors like Stitch Fix, who are.

The age old question: How to do it better? How to do it the best?

Since engaging with Forum3, the leadership and team at Cabi have demonstrated a remarkable ability to move from AI curiosity to practical application, bridging the gap between cutting-edge technology and real-world business challenges. Leveraging lessons learned from Forum3, organizational change at Cabi looks like  weekly office hours, monthly organizational-wide meetings, and an internal "AI Champions" program.

The depth of Cabi's AI transformation was evidenced by the awards recently handed out to teams for their use of AI.

1. Comms Team - "Willow the Writer"
   Willow is a GPT-based assistant designed to support the communications team by streamlining copywriting and creative processes. It generates on-brand content, refines communications, and provides feedback on tone, grammar, and style, ensuring consistency with Cabi's style guides. The tool has proven invaluable for saving time, generating creative ideas, and acting as a "sanity check" during high-pressure moments. "It enhances collaboration by giving clear feedback on why changes were made, helping us all grow and work smarter," confirms Joy Libby, Director of Communications.
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2. IT Team - "Sprintmate"
   The IT team developed Sprintmate, a GPT-based tool that leverages historical data to optimize sprint planning and resource allocation. By analyzing data from JIRA, including story points, hours logged, and team rates, Sprintmate improves cost forecasting and sprint timelines. Sageous Suggs, Director of Application Development and QA, estimates Sprintmate GPT "has led to a 25% reduction in sprint planning time and a 20% increase in budget forecasting accuracy."
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3. Customer Support - "CTS Ticket Insight Assistant"
   This GPT assists the Customer Technical Support (CTS) team by analyzing Zendesk tickets, summarizing key details, and suggesting actionable solutions. Tailored to Cabi's systems, it reduces resolution time by half and enables the team to focus on high-effort tasks. The tool has also improved collaboration between teams, and customer satisfaction metrics.
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4. Pre-Production Team - "Style Notes Assistant"
   The pre-production team utilizes a GPT to generate detailed style notes for production vendors. The AI analyzes previous notes, design data, and uploaded images to create foundational documents, saving hours per style. The tool exports notes in Word with images, serving as a starting point for final edits.
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5. Marketing and E-Commerce - Black Friday HTML Formatter
   For Cabi's Black Friday sale, Eboni Hudson, Director of Digital Marketing, oversaw a GPT which automated the conversion of product descriptions into HTML, matching them with product data from spreadsheets and formatting them for Shopify uploads. "This would have taken days of hand-copying," Hudson stresses, "instead, it was automated in minutes."

"One of the things I’ve challenged my team with is if you’re ever working on something and it feels like it’s taking too long or is too hard, there’s definitely an easier way. AI encourages us to question our processes and find smarter, more efficient solutions."

Eboni Hudson, Director of Digital Marketing, Cabi

Cabi’s transformation into an AI-first company offers a roadmap for apparel and retail business leaders navigating the rapidly evolving intersection of technology and consumer experience. By embedding AI into multiple facets of their organization, Cabi has demonstrated how artificial intelligence can become a strategic differentiator in a competitive market.

Key takeaways:

Start with Education to Drive Alignment Across Leadership and Teams
AI adoption begins with a shared understanding. Through initiatives like AI Bootcamps and Workshops, Cabi ensured their leadership and teams understood not only the capabilities of AI, but also how it could be applied across their roles. Investing in education is crucial for cultivating organizational buy-in and encouraging a culture of experimentation and innovation.

Tailor AI Solutions to Business-Specific Challenges
Cabi’s success lies in how they tailored AI tools to meet specific organizational needs, such as "Willow the Writer" for content creation and "CTS Ticket Insight Assistant" for technical support. Leaders should focus on designing AI applications that address the most pressing challenges to enhance efficiency.

Empower Teams to Experiment and Innovate
A cornerstone of Cabi’s strategy is fostering a culture where employees feel encouraged to explore and apply AI tools in their daily work. By empowering teams to experiment, Cabi has seen rapid adoption and creative problem-solving, driving meaningful change across the organization.

As Cabi’s continues on their AI-first journey, they offer a powerful example of how retail brands can harness technology not as a replacement for human ingenuity but as an accelerator for innovation, collaboration, and growth. For business leaders in apparel and retail, Cabi’s story is a call to action: to invest in AI thoughtfully, and empower teams to innovate.

"It goes to show, if you've had some level of AI literacy, it's the difference between it being a novelty where you're not sure if it's worth $20 a month, all the way up to companies using this as an 'Iron Man suit' to create tens of millions of dollars of incremental enterprise value from the same technology, for the same price."

Adam Brotman, CEO, Forum3