Publicis.Sapient is to invest in Lucid, a specialist in the commercial application of artificial intelligence (AI), with the aim of creating a comprehensive, advanced AI practice.

The platform, Cyc, is designed with the aim of helping clients transform data into insights, allowing them to capitalise on opportunities presented by digital disruption.

Analysis suggests that the market for AI could reach $260bn by 2018, with the partnership allowing Lucid to start developing marketing-specific solutions to help a broader range of clients.

“Across industries, our clients are grappling with increasingly complex business environments created by a digitally disrupted world,” said Publicis.Sapient chief exec Alan Herrick. “To compete effectively, they must harness and make sense of multiple, previously undetectable or unintelligible, data sources.

Herrick hopes that the partnership will allow his company to “deploy transformational solutions to uniquely enable (our) clients to analyse and glean insights from data to gain a competitive advantage”.

“In particular, the new suite of marketing intelligence services expands our ability to capitalize on the explosion of consumer data to improve marketing performance while at the same time providing customer insights to guide business transformation efforts,” Herrick added.

This practice is unique from other AI offerings in its ability to share how it reaches its conclusions.

Publicis.Sapient, which was formed in February following the acquisition of Sapient by Publicis Groupe for approximately $3.7bn, will initially focus on healthcare, energy, marketing and financial services as part of the AI practice.

“We are thrilled to welcome Publicis.Sapient as a strategic partner and investor,” said Lucid founder and chief exec Michael Stewart. “We initially began working with them because of their significant client relationships across the financial services, energy and healthcare industries, which align with Lucid’s focus, as well as their tremendous expertise in marketing services.

“Together, we can help transform the way companies use AI to conduct business and improve the way our services impact the market at large.”