Artificial intelligence: Accenture and IPsoft to deploy virtual agent technology for clients in banking, insurance and travel industries

• Accenture and IPsoft Launch Accenture Amelia Practice to Help Organizations Accelerate Adoption of Artificial Intelligence
• Initial practice focus is to deploy virtual agent technology for clients in banking, insurance and travel industries

NEW YORK, 16-May-2016 — /EuropaWire/ —  Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and IPsoft today announced the creation of an Accenture Amelia practice, designed to accelerate client adoption of artificial intelligence to improve business outcomes and create new growth opportunities for their businesses. Accenture will utilize IPsoft’s Amelia platform to develop go-to-market strategies, solutions and consulting service offerings around deployments of virtual agent technology for clients across several industries with initial focus on banking, insurance and travel.

“Artificial intelligence is maturing rapidly and offers great potential to reshape the way that organizations conduct business and interact with their customers and employees. At the same time, executives are overwhelmed by the plethora of technologies and many products that are advertising AI or Cognitive capabilities,” said Paul Daugherty, Accenture’s chief technology officer. “With our new Accenture Amelia practice, we are taking an important step forward in advancing the business potential of artificial intelligence by combining IPsoft’s world-class virtual agent platform with Accenture’s broad technology capabilities and industry experience to help clients transform their business and operations.”

The market opportunity of artificial intelligence has been expanding rapidly, with analyst firm IDC predicting that the worldwide content analytics, discovery and cognitive systems software market will grow from US$4.5 billion in 2014 to US$9.2 billion in 2019[1], with others citing these systems as catalyst to have a US$5 trillion – US$7 trillion potential economic impact by 2025.

Accenture’s Technology Vision 2016 – research that gathers input from more than 3,100 business and IT executives across the public and private sectors, academia, venture capital firms and entrepreneurial companies in 11 countries and 12 industries – found that 70% of corporate executives are making significantly more investments in artificial intelligence related technologies than two years ago, with 55% stating that they plan on using machine learning and embedded artificial intelligence.

“Accenture has embraced Amelia’s unique capabilities as a pillar of its technology suite for artificial intelligence, and we believe this will be transformative for clients in every industry,” said Chetan Dube, president and CEO, IPsoft. “We are at a turning point in seeing CEOs take the decision to adopt true digital labor as their differentiation strategy. By equipping Amelia with Accenture’s deep industry knowledge, technology skills and ability to scale, we can together help enterprises realize the full potential of artificial intelligence technology as it reaches maturity.”

“The creation of an Accenture Amelia practice will have a significant impact on the emerging market for AI,” said Phil Fersht, CEO of HfS Research. “Accenture’s services capabilities and focus on AI, combined with IPsoft’s strong positioning across HfS’ Intelligent Automation Continuum, spanning both Autonomics Platforms and Cognitive Computing, promises to offer a new threshold of value for customers.”

Enterprises are already engaged in integrating Amelia into their businesses. For example:

• A global oil and gas company has trained Amelia to help provide a prompt and more efficient way of answering invoicing queries from its suppliers.
• A leading European bank has completed a rapid deployment of Amelia within the IT function, successfully equipping the cognitive agent to take action a mere 45 days after project start.
• A large US-based media services organization taught Amelia how to support first line agents in order to raise the bar for customer service.
• A prominent global bank intent on seizing first-mover advantage in its digital strategy has successfully tested Amelia’s ability to support its network of mortgage brokers by providing guidance on policy details.

The formation of the Accenture Amelia practice further expands existing collaboration with IPsoft and builds on Accenture’s own artificial intelligence capabilities and efforts; including the recently announced accelerated research and development agenda in artificial intelligence across its global network.

About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions – underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With approximately 373,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

About IPsoft
IPsoft automates IT and business processes for enterprises across a wide range of industries. Through its portfolio of world leading autonomic and cognitive solutions it provides services that allow its clients to secure competitive advantage. Headquartered in New York City, IPsoft has 18 offices in 15 countries across the world and serves more than 500 of the world’s leading brands directly as well as more than half of the world’s largest IT services providers.

[1] Source: IDC, “Worldwide Content Analytics, Discovery, and Cognitive Systems Software Forecast, 2015–2019,” Doc ##256774, June 19, 2015

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Contact:

Alexander Aizenberg
Accenture
+ 1 917 452 9878
alexander.aizenberg@accenture.com

Daniela Zuin
IPsoft
+ 001 212 708 5521
daniela.zuin@ipsoft.com