Kellie Fitzgerald, managing director of retail at Google, took to the stage at the WWD x FN x Beauty Inc Women in Power forum on Sept. 8 to address a quandary: Why do so many women feel stuck right now? One big reason: the frenetic pace of change.

“Women make up 43 percent of the global work force and hold merely 31 percent of the leadership positions,” Fitzgerald shared. “This disparity isn’t new, but the rate of change is.”

While there was was a steady increase of women occupying leadership roles from 2015-2022, Fitzgerald explained that the share of women in such positions increased less than half a percent in the last two years.

Meanwhile, artificial intelligence is rapidly shifting and becoming more prevalent. To emphasize how quickly it’s being integrated into our lives, Fitzgerald noted that she didn’t mention AI at all when she first spoke at the Women in Power event three years ago — but now it’s predicted by analysts that at least 15 percent of everyday business decisions will be made by AI agents by 2028.

Fitzgerald explained how these tools can be harnessed to help retailers and consumers.

“I’m particularly delighted by all the change we have access to right now on our phones,” she said. “The AI that’s being used by consumers. AI that grants a wish. This is the stuff that I spend time showing retailers, and brainstorming with them on how to use it to grow loyalty, brand awareness and drive more sales.”

Fitzgerald outlined three of her favorite examples of this. Google‘s visual search and circle to search tools allow users to find products featured in an image, like a pair of boots. More than 100 billion visual searches have happened this year, the Google executive noted.

Another example she mentioned is a virtual try-on tool in which customers can view an image of themselves wearing a product they’re interested in — this increases the likelihood they purchase the item and significantly reduces return rates.

Lastly, Fitzgerald showed a still photo of herself standing in front of a Monet painting — this picture had been transformed into a six-second video with the help of a prompt in less than two minutes. She expressed excitement about how the tool can be used for marketing and creative versioning.

Fitzgerald shared what she’s gleaned about AI through her work: “In my short time working with AI and helping retail clients put it to use, I’ve learned that the single most impactful thing to activate AI is the prompt. Take Gemini, our virtual assistant — like many AI tools, it starts with a prompt. And the value one gets back from Gemini is directly proportional to the quality of the question.”

She provided an example in which a generic search for shopping was compared to a detailed, specific prompt which yielded better, more tailored options. Fitzgerald also explained how a detailed prompt also helped her come up with a “career inventory” which can help her ascertain if a job opportunity meets her personal goals.

Fitzgerald concluded her speech with an emphasis on the importance of asking questions.

“In this moment of incredible change, there is no such thing as having all the answers. So I free you of this burden. It is an unrealistic expectation and a waste of our collective time and energy. Why don’t we instead pour our energy into asking more questions and asking better questions … that will help us and others get unstuck and participate fully in the progress and excitement of this moment.”