Pravin Shekar to Advise New Synthetic Data Firm Acutus

Acutus AI, the 'Synthetic Data as a Service' company launched last week by former Cint and Lucid execs Arindam Bhattacharya and Ankesh Saxena, has appointed krea founder and ESOMAR Council stalwart Pravin Shekar as a Non-Executive Director (NED) and Strategic Advisor.

Acutus uses advanced generative AI models to create 'high-fidelity' synthetic datasets, promising clients predictive solutions 'without privacy risks, compliance hurdles or real-world data limitations'. Its QMAPI solution (Quantitative Market AI Predictive Insights) offers privacy-safe, optimal respondent matching, to eliminate inefficiencies in survey qualification. The firm will initially target other restech and MR firms, as well as clients in logistics and supply chain, and healthcare. Co-founder and CEO Bhattacharya spent three years at healthcare panel firm krea from 2011, setting up and launching the India project management team for its client, Cint.

Shekar (pictured) co-founded research and analytics firm Dexterity before launching krea, a specialist provider of online and off-line panels, in 2010. The same year he was elected as a Council member of global MR association ESOMAR, where he has served ever since, including recently as Interim CEO - he was also elected President of The Market Research Society of India (MRSI) for a two-year term starting in 2017.

In his new role Acutus says he will provide guidance on 'strategy, growth and unconventional market approaches', with his 'expertise in disruptive marketing' supporting Acutus' 'product-market fit'. 'Pravin's approach complements our growth goals' says Bhattacharya. 'His marketing and research experience will be valuable as we scale the business and refine our solutions'.

The new company can be found on the web at www.acutusai.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.