Levi Strauss & Co. was looking to increase speed and agility across its growing direct-to-consumer business without adding more complexity for employees. As the company scaled, teams were:

• Working with data spread across multiple systems (SAP, HR platforms, retail systems, etc.).
• Navigating fragmented workflows just to complete everyday tasks.
• Struggling to access real-time insights needed to operate at the pace of modern retail.

This created a high cognitive load for employees and slowed decision-making. The goal wasn’t just to “add AI,” but to reimagine how work happens across the company:

• Give employees a simpler, unified way to get answers and take action.
• Reduce the need to jump between multiple tools and data sources.
• Support faster, more confident decisions in areas like inventory, HR, finance, and IT.

To do this, Levi Strauss & Co. adopted:

• Microsoft 365 Copilot to augment everyday productivity and knowledge work.
• Microsoft Foundry to build specialized AI agents that automate workflows and connect systems.
• Azure as the foundation to modernize infrastructure, run SAP workloads, and unify data globally.
• GitHub Copilot to help engineering teams modernize systems, accelerate development, and upskill talent.

In short, the company wanted to simplify work, accelerate decision-making, and make it easier for employees to deliver better fan experiences—without sacrificing governance, reliability, or trust.

Levi Strauss & Co. is building a unified “Super Agent” that sits inside Microsoft Teams and acts as a single entry point for employees to get things done. Instead of interacting with many different systems and bots, employees will:

• Open Microsoft Teams.
• Ask a question or request in natural language (for example, “Show me a categorized view of last year’s budget spend” or “Check inventory availability for this product”).
• Receive one trusted answer or completed action, powered by live data from systems of record.

Behind the scenes, the Super Agent:

• Understands the employee’s intent.
• Routes the request to the right specialized agent (for example, an ESS agent, a custom SAP agent, or a Retail Agent).
• Connects to enterprise systems like SAP, HR platforms, and retail systems using secure, governed access based on user identity.
• Uses Azure Functions for scalable, event-driven execution of workflows and integrations.
• Relies on Microsoft Agent Framework and Foundry for planning, intent routing, and orchestration.

A few important design choices:

• Levi Strauss & Co. uses multiple specialized agents instead of one generalized model.
• Agents are guided by structured prompts, intent detection, and reasoning workflows to improve reliability and scale.
• There is no duplication of data into shadow stores—agents access live, governed data directly from systems of record.

For employees, this means:

• Less time spent navigating multiple tools and portals.
• Faster access to real-time insights across inventory, HR, finance, and IT.
• AI embedded directly into the flow of daily work, inside Teams.

The Super Agent is essentially an intelligent orchestrator that helps Levi Strauss & Co. reshape how work gets done while maintaining consistency, performance, and trust across regions and roles.

Levi Strauss & Co. is using AI to augment its workforce, not replace it. The focus is on giving people time back to work on what matters most and making it easier to access insights. Here’s how different teams are using AI:

• Enterprise-wide productivity with Microsoft 365 Copilot
  Employees use Copilot as a productivity tool and thought partner:
  • Designers synthesize years of research more quickly.
  • Finance teams surface insights from complex data sets.
  • HR explores underlying employee experiences and trends.
  Sheena Kunhiraman, VP of HR Technology and Analytics, describes AI as a way to enhance the employee experience and “give time back.”
• Engineering acceleration with GitHub Copilot
  Engineering teams pair GitHub Copilot with Foundry-built agents to:
  • Modernize systems and accelerate development.
  • Upskill talent by using Copilot as a pair programmer.
  • Support junior developers while freeing senior engineers to focus on higher-value work.
  Jennifer Patchen, Senior Director of Shared Platforms and Services, notes that GitHub Copilot acts as a force multiplier for engineers.
• Reduced cognitive load and simpler workflows
  By centralizing access to data, AI, and workflows through agents and the Super Agent, Levi Strauss & Co.:
  • Reduces cognitive load for employees.
  • Eliminates the need to navigate multiple systems for routine tasks.
  • Ensures consistent, governed access to information across the business.

All of this is built on a standardized Azure foundation that supports global scale, performance, and reliability. As new agents are introduced, they build on the same platform, so the benefits compound over time. Culturally, Levi Strauss & Co. continues to encourage experimentation and keeps people at the center. Designers, engineers, and store teams are finding new ways to collaborate with AI while preserving the human creativity and judgment that define the brand.