Management consulting giant Accenture has acquired Kogentix, a Schaumburg-based big data and artificial intelligence startup, as a way to help it grow its data engineering business, Applied Intelligence.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Accenture said on Thursday that the acquisition will help it compete in a market where companies are increasingly looking for ways to harness big data and advanced analytics technologies that identify how they can grow revenue and reduce costs. Accenture’s Applied Intelligence division currently employs more than 6,000 data scientists, engineers and A.I. professionals worldwide.
Kogentix, which was founded in 2016 and employs 220 people, helps companies make better informed decisions using the data they collect. Its clients include companies across several industries, such as technology, healthcare, consumer goods and financial services.
“We founded Kogentix because we knew that big data and machine learning would play a critical role in transforming enterprises,” said Kogentix's co-founder and CEO Boyd Davis in a statement. “Becoming part of Accenture Applied Intelligence will allow us to seize a greater share of this market. We’re excited by the scale and scope of projects that will open up to us, as well as the long-term career and growth opportunities for our team.”
Accenture said in a statement to Chicago Inno that it plans to keep all of Kotengix's employees, and that it eventually plans for the startup to move its offices into Accenture's Innovation Hub in the Loop.
“Kogentix will strengthen Accenture Applied Intelligence's data engineering business, particularly in Chicago and more broadly across North America,” said Bob Markham, the managing director of Accenture Digital, who also oversees Accenture’s Innovation Hub. “We look forward to embedding Kogentix, their people and capabilities into Accenture so we can collectively help our clients transform into what we call intelligent enterprises."
