The rise of the data consulting specialist

Vincent Luciani: Artefact was founded in 2014 by three partners, one with consulting expertise, one with digital marketing expertise and one with AI research expertise, with one goal: to bridge the gap between data and business. Artefact helps companies rethink their organization around the use of data through three types of services:

V. L.: We have turned a corner in the last 2-3 years. Data, coupled with automation or AI models, has successfully demonstrated its profitability in all sectors. It has an important role to play in creating a competitive advantage by attracting more new clients or lowering costs. For example, Artefact has deployed a demand forecasting model with Carrefour for the Bakery and Pastry department, which gives a sales volume to be forecasted for the day, for each hypermarket, from multiple parameters (day, weather, school calendar…), allowing the department manager to adjust their daily production. This solution resulted in a significant reduction in food waste and an increase in client satisfaction as they get fresh bread all day long! Another significant example for L’Oréal is the use of Machine Learning algorithms analyzing millions of documents and images of influencers, in order to identify the weak signals of emerging trends in the field of beauty and cosmetics. Here again, AI proves its ability to be a real vector of product innovation anticipating consumer needs!

V.L.: Artefact is Art…and Fact! It is very rare to gather all the expertise needed for these very complex projects under the same roof. Our clients are often forced to multiply the number of service providers: strategy consultants, developers, data scientists, product owners, etc…creating delays and risks of inconsistency. Artefact brings together three main types of professions in a single entity: consultants with business expertise, data experts (data scientists, data analysts, data engineers), and digital marketing experts, who are essential for mastering highly evolving media formats. Another asset: our vast expertise allows us to assemble and create standardized technological bricks tested in many different business contexts, which we make available free of charge to our clients and make available in open-source.

V.L.: All functions and sectors of activity are affected. Our clients are mainly large international organizations that have challenges with organizational silos (data is present in several places in the company), and industrialization and scalability. Our clients include renowned international brands such as Danone, Samsung, Orange, Heineken and Unilever.

V.L.: Our goal is to quadruple the size of the company in 4 years, both through organic growth (we are recruiting 500 people by 2022) and through strategic acquisitions. Hence, to gain flexibility, our recent exit from Euronext Paris and the arrival of two of the best LBO funds (Ardian and Cathay Capital) to help us accelerate our growth. We also want to support the structuring of careers around data: we have created the Artefact School of Data to address the huge shortage of talent in our business, by offering a professional opportunity to anyone wishing to transition to the data industry.