Meet Julio - Tech Innovation Manager for Coty

My professional background is in Retail and Beauty Industry business strategy. I am a Tech Innovation Manager for Coty, a large beauty company. My responsibilities include starting and managing different AR, VR, AI, and metaverse projects for the brands in our portfolio by collaborating with tech companies. It is crucial that I stay on top of trends that can be applied to eCommerce and retail, so I follow multiple metaverse newsletters, YouTube channels, podcasts, Twitter (X) accounts, and Discord communities. I also like to game and create small games in my spare time. I took the Unity Bootcamp (Now the Game Development Bootcamp) to transition to a more technical role in my career and to better understand 3D engines.

Discovering the Gaming Industry

I became interested in game development when I saw the business use cases that gaming and 3D technology have for commerce. I knew I didn’t want to be in the game industry directly, but rather establish partnerships with relevant gaming studios and tech startups to create exciting 3D projects for commerce purposes. I found Pokémon Go to be the most impressive game because of its ability to create social multiplayer events and leverage geolocation for unique experiences. This technology is often used in experiential marketing campaigns by consumer brands. Initially, I learned about game development from YouTube videos and Unity Learn at unity.com.

Image source: Pokémon Go

Experience with the Course

Circuit Stream was great because I learned from experienced instructors while collaborating with motivated peers. We all had different interests, whether it was 2D gaming, 3D gaming, XR, or game design. For my capstone project, I created a VR simulation of a virtual commerce shopping experience as you are guided by a floating robot shopping assistant.

The most challenging part of the journey was learning to deal with time constraints versus exciting ideas. Sometimes exciting ideas take much longer than expected to actually develop. If I were to recommend the bootcamp or any course to others, I would just advise that you have a clear goal for why you want to do it and make sure you research the actual markets you are interested in to see what skills are needed, as well as what opportunities exist. The more narrow and clear you are on your goals, the better questions you can ask.

Julio’s Future Work

My goal is to continue working in the beauty and retail space to help improve XR experiences for consumers. I want to make sure the tech is used in a way that benefits both users and companies so XR and metaverse projects can continue to grow. Currently, I’m helping Coty roll out a metaverse for internal employees. The goal is for employees across the company to better understand social gaming to then better connect our brands with gaming consumers.

You can follow or add me to ask questions or learn more about how XR and gaming can be mixed with business and commerce.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julio-serrano-xr/

Twitter/X: @techbeautybro