Press Release

NEW YORK, NY, May 23, 2023 – Publicis Sapient, a digital business transformation company, today announced the acquisition of Publicis Sapient AI Labs, an innovative artificial intelligence (AI) research and development joint venture launched in 2020 in partnership between Publicis Sapient, Elder Research and Tquila.  The acquisition will further strengthen Publicis Sapient’s data & AI capabilities and enable the company to develop innovative solutions across industries for a wide range of applications, such as generative AI, natural language processing (NLP), computer vision and autonomous systems.

Transforming the way enterprises interact and understand their customers, Publicis Sapient AI Labs combines Publicis Sapient’s more than 30 years of global delivery of its SPEED (Strategy, Product, Experience, Engineering and Data & AI) capabilities with Elder Research’s 28 years of expertise in the multidisciplinary fields of data science, AI and machine learning and Tquila’s record of hiring and rapidly scaling new technology services practices worldwide.

The highly experienced AI and data science professionals from Publicis Sapient AI Labs will become part of the company's existing data and AI practitioners, together propelling client enterprises into the era of advanced analytics, data-driven insights and intelligent solutions. With organizations worldwide exploring the transformative potential of generative AI, Publicis Sapient will provide its clients multiple services to transform their businesses, including:

• Conducting fusion workshops and hackathons to develop a data & AI vision, uncovering value pools enabled by AI and building the supporting roadmap
• Prototypes and rapid proof of value for business use cases
• Training programs spanning prompt engineering to large language model development
• Collaborations with Publicis Sapient’s alliance partners, including Microsoft, Google and Amazon to train and fine tune Large Language Model (LLM) Foundation Models 

“As a digital business transformation company, Publicis Sapient actively partners with its clients to transform their businesses and build a competitive advantage through digital and data,” said Nigel Vaz, CEO of Publicis Sapient.  “The acquisition of Publicis Sapient AI Labs will accelerate our generative AI offerings, playing a critical role in enabling our clients to apply data and AI solutions to solve complex business problems and build data-driven organizations at scale.”

“Elder Research is proud to have contributed to the success of Publicis Sapient AI Labs through our expertise in data science and AI,” said Gerhard Pilcher, CEO of Elder Research.  “We’re thrilled by this acquisition and will continue to help organizations build their own analytic capabilities so they can successfully harness the power of data in the new information frontier.”

“We have a strong record of success in building technology capabilities through joint ventures with Publicis Sapient and Publicis Groupe. We're delighted to have partnered with them on this occasion to rapidly scale an AI and data science capability at the forefront of data-driven innovation,” said James McHugh, Founding Partner, Tquila.  “It has come at a critical time when many industries are developing AI and machine learning solutions to solve some of their biggest challenges.”

The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

About Publicis Sapient

Publicis Sapient is a digital business transformation company. We partner with global organizations to help them create and sustain competitive advantage in a world that is increasingly digital. We operate through our expert SPEED capabilities: Strategy, Product, Experience, Engineering and Data & AI, which combined with our culture of curiosity and deep industry knowledge, enables us to deliver meaningful impact to our clients’ businesses through reimagining the products and experiences their customers truly value.  Our agile, data-driven approach equips our clients’ businesses for change, making digital the core of how they think and what they do. Publicis Sapient is the digital business transformation hub of Publicis Groupe with more than 20,000 people and over 53 offices worldwide. For more information, visit publicissapient.com.

About Publicis Sapient AI Labs

PS AI Labs was formed in early 2020 as a joint venture between Publicis Sapient, a digital business transformation partner, and Elder Research, a data science consultancy. With mentorship from both companies and the agility of a startup, PS AI Labs uses deep resources and world-class data science to help our clients change the way they optimize their operations and interact with and understand their customers.

Our data scientists and artificial-intelligence experts are adept at tackling complex business challenges with predictive analytics. PS AI Labs designs, builds and implements practical, end-to-end solutions that help the world’s most recognized brands to make smarter decisions and provide more valuable services to their customers.

About Elder Research

Elder Research is a trusted data analytics partner with over 28 years of AI, machine learning, and data science consulting experience. We have enabled hundreds of organizations to make better decisions and maximize the value of their data through strategy, solution development, and training. In an era of rapid AI advancement, we have earned the trust of our clients through our firm belief that the mastery of the new information frontier is contingent upon the equity of competency and character. For more information, visit elderresearch.com

About Tquila

Tquila is a global technology venture company founded by James McHugh in 2010. It has built a thriving portfolio of technology service businesses by combining investment with expertise across growth, talent, and operations.  It invests in companies from start-up through to post-series A, either as stand-alone entities or with co-investment from consulting firms and software companies. For more information, visit tquila.com