Accenture has strengthened its AI capabilities with the acquisition of Danish AI company Halfspace and an investment in AI-driven analytics firm Aaru.
The acquisition of Halfspace, a multi-award-winning company, on Tuesday brings nearly 80 AI specialists to Accenture’s Nordic AI practice. This expansion will extend Accenture’s Center for Advanced AI into the Nordics, helping businesses unlock the value of AI.
Halfspace has strong partnerships with Databricks, Microsoft, and NVIDIA, and its team has expertise in strategy consulting and top academic research. The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
On Tuesday, Accenture also invested in Aaru, a company that uses AI to analyse customer behaviour and predict market trends. The investment will help Aaru grow and improve its technology, allowing businesses to better understand customer expectations.
“As 85% of CMOs say it’s harder than ever to stay relevant. The gap between what companies offer and what customers expect has created an urgency to innovate,” said Baiju Shah, chief strategy officer of Accenture Song. “Using Aaru, our creatives and strategists will be able to simulate entire audiences in minutes, unlocking customer insights where we couldn’t before.”
Aaru CEO Cameron Fink pointed out the limitations of traditional customer analysis, such as sampling bias, slow data collection, and scalability issues. “Simulation is an incredibly powerful tool and will be the differentiator between companies that lead the market and those that fall behind in the AI age,” he said.
“Partnering with Accenture will accelerate the deployment of our prediction technology across industries.”
Aaru joins Accenture Ventures’ Project Spotlight, which supports innovative AI startups. The investment follows Accenture’s previous backing of AI-powered firms such as Cresta, Martian, and Writer.
