EPAM Expands AI Agency to North America
Digital transformation firm EPAM Systems is expanding its AI-native agency, Empathy Lab, into the North American market following a successful European launch. The agency aims to help Chief Marketing Officers unify marketing, product, and technology by using AI-powered platforms grounded in human insight to accelerate business growth.
- The North American expansion follows the agency's European launch in 2025. - To establish its European presence, EPAM rebranded its existing digital and marketing agencies, Emakina in Belgium and the Netherlands, and The Reference in Belgium, as Empathy Lab. - Ben Hall has been appointed as the Head of Empathy Lab for North America to lead the growth across the United States and Canada. - Elaina Shekhter, the Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at EPAM, noted that the role of the CMO has evolved to require a mastery of data, technology, and customer experience with a higher level of accountability for revenue and ROI. - The agency's work in Europe includes projects such as conducting synthetic audience research for Mars and developing an integrated AI operating system for over 700 marketers at Reckitt. - Empathy Lab aims to create more human-like experiences with AI by anticipating needs and detecting emotional cues to design personalized interactions. - The agency is composed of data scientists, AI experts, technologists, strategists, and creatives. - Empathy Lab focuses on several key areas including "total commerce," "intelligent products," "omni-modal experiences," "generative loyalty," and "next-gen marketing".
