Ipsos to invest $1.4 billion over five years on AI, acquisitions

French market research firm Ipsos plans to invest 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) over five years in artificial intelligence and acquisitions in a bid to reverse slow growth, Jean-Laurent Poitou, chief executive, said in an interview.

He said the investment plan will be split between acquisitions, targeting specific technologies and developing internal capabilities.

“We will increase the proportion of data scientists and artificial intelligence engineers in Ipsos’ talent pool in the coming years. This is one of the reasons why we are investing,” Poitou said. More than 1,000 data scientists and AI engineers currently work at Ipsos.

The company plans to focus its AI efforts on business research, which accounts for the bulk of its revenue, rather than political surveys, which is a smaller service line.

Ipsos plans to develop or acquire many of its core technologies but remains open to partnerships if they accelerate progress or better align with financial goals.

The firm primarily uses the data it has, such as data from collaborations sold to multiple clients, to train its AI models. Poitou said custom studies commissioned by clients include contractual agreements that determine data ownership.