Artificial intelligence and analytics company, Fractal Analytics, on Wednesday announced the acquisition of behaviour architecture firm, Final Mile, for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition brings together the disciplines of data analytics, artificial intelligence and behavioural sciences.
Srikanth Velamakanni, group chief executive and executive vice-chairman at Fractal Analytics, said, “Final Mile’s track record in influencing human behaviour through behavioural science, combined with Fractal’s data science and AI capabilities, will help our clients drive lasting behaviour change internally and externally.”
Since its inception in 2000, Fractal Analytics has worked with several Fortune 500 companies across areas such as insurance, retail, consumer goods and financial services, among others, and has helped them integrate analytics and AI in their decision-making process. While it is headquartered in Mumbai, Fractal Analytics has offices in 14 locations and has over 1,200 employees.
Biju Dominic, co-founder and CEO at Final Mile said, “Data and AI can dramatically improve our understanding of human behaviour, inform better hypotheses, and complement our work with clients in achieving sustained behaviour change. We see extraordinary opportunities to deliver greater value to our clients in partnering with Fractal over the long term.”
Final Mile has worked with industries such as safety and sanitation, healthcare, financial services, e-commerce,and consumer goods, among others, since its founding in 2008. It has helped them drive behavioural changes through the application of the Nudge Theory. The theory conceived by Nobel prize-winning economist Richard Thaler, proposes that alterations to a consumers ‘choice architecture’, has the potential to influence their decision-making positively and help make better choices.
“To fundamentally address a challenge or shape the decision-making process, one must identify and understand what truly drives behaviour. Organisations can achieve better outcomes by applying learnings from cognitive neuroscience, behavioural economics and design. That is our focus,” added Dominic.
Commenting on the need for AI to gauge human behaviour better and acknowledging the potential of this acquisition to achieve it, Velamakanni added, “While artificial intelligence is becoming an integral part of products and services we consume, AI needs to incorporate better understanding of human behaviour to improve human-machine interface, simplify information consumption and drive lasting behaviour change.”
