Fusion CX plans to ramp up share of AI-enabled services in biz to 20-25%, explores overseas acquisitions
AI Summary
Fusion CX is preparing for its IPO and aims to increase its AI-enabled services from less than 3% to 20-25% of its business within the next three to five years. The company is actively pursuing both organic growth and acquisitions to expand its operations globally, particularly in AI, and has already made 15 acquisitions since its inception. With a growing workforce in AI-enabled services, Fusion CX is well-positioned to capitalize on the rapidly expanding global data annotation market, projected to grow at a CAGR of 33.2% through 2027.
IPO-bound Fusion CX, a global customer experience solutions provider, is betting big on both organic and inorganic opportunities to ramp up the share of AI-enabled services in its total business to around 20-25 per cent in the next three to five years.
The Kolkata-based company, which currently operates in 15 countries, garners less than 3 per cent of its business from AI-enabled services.
The customer experience (CX) service and ITES solutions provider is now exploring the possibility of foraying into new geographies through inorganic routes, its Co-Founder, Managing Director and CEO, Pankaj Dhanuka, told businessline.
“We have so far done a total of 15 acquisitions. With the first one in 2007, we have done one, or maybe two or three acquisitions depending on the year. Even now, we are working on acquisition opportunities to expand our operations in AI-enabled services,” Dhanuka said.
Commencing operations in 2004, Fusion CX began investing in AI around five years ago. Anticipating a structural shift in how customer interactions would be managed, the company first experimented with AI internally and then carved out a dedicated AI arm, Omind, to house its products, teams, and investments.
Fusion CX’s AI portfolio, built through Omind, now spans three layers: customer experience through MindVoice, MindSpeech, and the AI QMS Arya; AI model training data through Annotera.ai; and robotics training data through Roborax.ai, together reflecting the company’s push to expand AI-enabled services across its global operations.
Across 15 countries, Fusion CX currently has 30 operating locations and around 17,000 employees. “A lot of our growth has come through organic means in terms of acquiring new customers, new opportunities and opening up in new countries. And equally, growth has also come by way of acquiring companies,” Dhanuka said.
“Globally, around 1,500 people are working in AI-enabled services for us. In the next three months, the strength may go up to around 2,500-3,000, depending on how fast we can deploy and train them,” he said.
The company’s AI-led expansion is creating demand for a new generation of global talent: annotators, AI trainers, quality auditors, data operations specialists and human-in-the-loop reviewers across markets in North America, Europe, Asia and beyond.
The global data annotation market is on a steep growth trajectory, with projections indicating a compound annual growth rate of 33.2 per cent through 2027.
Fusion CX secured approval from capital market regulator SEBI last year for its proposed ₹1,000 crore IPO.
Original Article
Published on Hindu BusinessLine