Holland & Barrett saves 3,000 hours with AI for data requests

Holland & Barrett has reduced the time required to process Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs) by implementing Aiimi's AI platform, resulting in an estimated annual saving of 3,000 hours.

The health and wellness retailer experienced an 83% year-on-year rise in DSARs, presenting a significant data compliance challenge that demanded new approaches. Teams were previously dedicating substantial resources to the manual location, assessment, and redaction of sensitive information spread across large stores of unstructured data. Organisations that fail to meet DSAR obligations risk reputational harm and potential fines from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which can be as high as GBP £17.5 million for non-compliance.

To address these challenges, Holland & Barrett adopted the Aiimi Workplace AI Platform to automate the entire DSAR workflow. This transition markedly reduced the time required for each step of the process. Setting up a DSAR, formerly a task that spanned a week, is now completed in approximately 15 minutes - a 95% reduction in effort. For more complex DSARs, typical delivery times have dropped from four weeks to just one week, with some being finalised within hours. Additionally, rerunning DSARs, which previously took two weeks, now require less than an hour - showing a 98% decrease in effort - due to retained information on the platform.

These improvements have allowed Holland & Barrett's Data Protection team to redirect focus towards strategic tasks that provide greater business value. By allowing the rapid collation and review of high volumes of data from multiple sources in minutes, the platform has enhanced the team's ability to meet compliance requirements efficiently.

The company stated that automation has also improved the accuracy of DSAR fulfilment. The risk of human error has dropped, as redaction of sensitive information can now be performed with one click. Manual intervention is largely limited to the verification of processed data, which, according to the retailer, increases the reliability of information returned to data subjects.

Holland & Barrett has announced plans to extend the use of Aiimi's platform into other business areas. Through broader implementation, the retailer aims to support wider data discovery, pre-emptively flag data risks, and develop data leadership across its operations.

"Organisations everywhere are seeing a surge in disclosure requests as the public become more aware of their data rights. For data protection teams, meeting these requests has traditionally meant weeks of manual work. Harnessing AI to handle the heavy lifting frees people to focus on the areas of data protection that require judgement, context and human oversight - where they can deliver the most value. We're excited to be working with Holland & Barrett to advance their data capabilities and look forward to exploring new ways to unlock value and empower teams with smarter, faster access to data."

Steve Salvin, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Aiimi, described the wider sector trend and the benefits of deploying AI in data compliance initiatives.

"Before using Aiimi's platform, setting up a DSAR might have taken us a week. Now, we can run a request in a few minutes. The difference this has made to our delivery times is genuinely night and day. Instead of struggling against tight deadlines, the team now has the breathing room to focus on accuracy and rigour in the results. Most importantly, the platform delivers data we can trust - allowing us to provide data subjects with their information more quickly and reliably."

Hollie Mela, Data Protection Officer at Holland & Barrett, outlined the operational impact of the new system on everyday data access request processes.

The company's experience with the Aiimi platform comes at a time when organisations in all sectors are responding to increased public awareness of data rights and heightened regulatory requirements in data management. By automating and consolidating the DSAR workflow, Holland & Barrett is seeking to maintain compliance and operational resilience amid growing data volumes and scrutiny.