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.：在过去的2-3年里，我们已经转了一个弯。 数据，加上自动化或人工智能模型，已经成功地证明了它在所有部门的盈利能力。它在通过吸引更多新客户或降低成本来创造竞争优势方面发挥着重要作用。例如，Artefact ，与家乐福一起为面包和糕点部门部署了一个需求预测模型，从多个参数（天、天气、校历......）给出了每个大卖场当天的销售量预测，使部门经理能够调整其日常生产。这一解决方案大大减少了食物浪费，并提高了客户的满意度，因为他们整天都能得到新鲜的面包。欧莱雅的另一个重要例子是使用机器学习算法分析数百万份文件和影响者的图像，以确定美容和化妆品领域新兴趋势的微弱信号。在这里，人工智能再次证明了它有能力成为预测消费者需求的真正的产品创新载体!

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.