The text of the Dentsu Inc. news release distributed on February 9 is as follows.
February 9, 2018
Dentsu Inc. Acquires Data Artist Inc., a Company with Strengths in AI Development for the Marketing Field
― Plans to Establish Mongolian Base Within the Year to Acquire AI Talent ―
Dentsu Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Toshihiro Yamamoto; Capital: ¥74,609.81 million) has reached an agreement with the major shareholders of Data Artist Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Satoru Yamamoto; hereinafter "DA") to make it a subsidiary. This move is part of Dentsu's strategy to strengthen AI utilization in the marketing field.
In January of this year, Dentsu launched "AI MIRAI," a central project team to drive AI adoption both internally and externally. AI has already reached a practical stage in the marketing domain, making the acquisition and development of AI talent proficient in the latest technologies a top priority going forward. Therefore, by making DA, which excels in AI development for marketing, a subsidiary, we aim to strengthen our competitiveness, advance the use of AI essential to our business, and provide more effective solutions to our client companies.
Since our business and capital alliance in November 2016, Dentsu and DA have accelerated collaboration. This includes developing the "SHAREST (β version)" TV viewership prediction system using deep learning and the expansion engine for "People Driven DMP," the data foundation for "People Driven Marketing"—an integrated framework that consolidates and advances marketing methodologies within the Dentsu Group from a "people"-centric perspective.
Going forward, we will position DA as our AI solution development unit and plan to establish a base in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, within the year. Mongolia is attractive due to its abundance of talent possessing advanced mathematical skills, the foundation for AI, as evidenced by the government's promotion of participation in the "Mathematics Olympiad." A key feature of DA is its history of hiring Mathematics Olympiad medalists and top finishers as AI technologists, leveraging them as immediately effective contributors.
Following the share acquisition, we will accelerate our growth strategy by applying cutting-edge technologies, including AI, to the marketing domain.
The impact of this transaction on our consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ending December 2018 will be minimal.
＜Data Artist Company Overview＞
Company Name: Data Artist Inc.
Location: Ichigo Mita Building 2F, 5-13-18 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Established: June 2013
Representative: Satoru Yamamoto, President and CEO
Capital: ¥250 million
Number of Employees: 70
Business Overview: Artificial Intelligence Development, Marketing Consulting, Software Development
URL:https://www.data-artist.com
Dentsu Inc. News Release
http://www.dentsu.co.jp/news/release/2018/0209-009460.html
