FOCUS — Ralph Lauren ties executive payouts to AI in sign of retail's shifting priorities

Ralph Lauren replaced sustainability with AI metrics in 2026 short-term incentive plan 12% of S&P 500 companies disclosed AI goals in incentive plans this year, data shows Consumer sector lags in incorporating AI metrics into bonus plans, but adoption could grow By Danielle Kaye NEW YORK, Oct 15 (Reuters) — Ralph Lauren, like many companies in the retail space, had until last year tied part of its executives’ compensation to a warm-and-cuddly metric known as “citizenship and sustainability.” But in a sign of the times, the fashion label has replaced the sustainability measure with one linking a portion of its top leaders’ annual payout to “AI metrics.” The company's previously unreported move eliminates sustainability targets — a hallmark of the so-called ESG movement, which urged companies to find performance measures tied to environmental and social well-being — from its short-term incentive plan. Those targets had been in place for four years. Instead, AI goals were added to a series of other factors, such as sales growth and operational costs, as a basis to adjust annual incentive payouts for executives. Buried in a 131-page disclosure, the shift signals an emerging push in the