Accenture Buys Data Science Firm Clarity Insights

Global consulting group Accenture has agreed to acquire Chicago-based data consultancy Clarity Insights, whose expertise spans data science, artificial intelligence and machine learning expertise.

The buy adds almost 350 employees, plus a portfolio of products to help clients realize value rapidly from their data, to Accenture's 20,000-strong Applied Intelligence business.

Clarity was founded in 2008, has additional offices throughout the US and has built a strong client base in healthcare, financial services and insurance. Accenture says it invested nearly US$1.2bn globally on 33 acquisitions in its fiscal year 2019 - these included analytics firms Knowledgent and Kogentix, while Applied Intelligence bought Pragsis Bidoop in Spain and Analytics8 in Australia.

The Applied Intelligence division employs more than 20,000 people, working to help clients scale AI, including 6,000 data scientists, data engineers and AI professionals worldwide. Accenture itself boasts 492,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries.

Athina Kanioura, Chief Analytics Officer and global lead for Applied Intelligence at Accenture, says 'Clarity's focus on insight-driven transformation for healthcare bolsters Accenture's capabilities and is particularly critical now, when our research shows that 87% of healthcare executives surveyed report that they know how to pilot, but struggle to scale AI across their business'.

Clarity Insights President and CEO Neil Huse comments: 'We were drawn to Accenture, in large part, because of the synergies in how we approach clients. Fully understanding clients' business goals and objectives is the first step to a successful AI deployment. From there our team can pull together the right data foundation, tools and accelerators that will smooth their path to adoption. With Accenture, we'll be able to accelerate this shared vision for success and help more clients get there, more quickly'.

The deal is subject to customary closing conditions, including antitrust clearance. Web site: www.accenture.com/appliedintelligence .