ThoughtWorks, a global software consulting firm, has announced that the company is acquiring Fourkind, a privately-held Finnish consulting services company that combines data science and machine learning (ML) with strategy, design and engineering.
As ThoughtWorks’ second acquisition in 2021, it will allow the company to expand its European footprint, and improve its customer service experience in Finland, Netherlands and the Nordics countries.
Founded in 2017 in Helsinki, Fourkind is a consulting services firm that helps forward-looking organisations create futureproof services and products. Fourkind has a strong team of 40 data scientists, machine learning experts, designers, engineers and strategists, and has managed to work with 80+ organisations in 10+ countries. And with this acquisition, ThoughtWorks will leverage its machine learning and data science capabilities for its business.
According to the news media, Fourkind will continue to operate from their existing premises in Helsinki and Amsterdam, along with its founders and leadership team.
When asked about this acquisition, Guo Xiao, the President and Chief Executive Officer of ThoughtWorks said that the company has been looking to partner with a company that can help them “accelerate growth in our key strategic focus areas of data, digital transformation, enterprise modernisation and customer experience.” And this acquisition will allow ThoughtWorks to take advantage of Fourkind’s competence in machine learning, data science, strategy, design and engineering to “help clients lower the perceived risk of adopting new approaches to artificial intelligence,” said Xiao.
He further added, “We were impressed with their track record of delivering significant return on investment for their clients’ AI and ML investments, and believe that our complementary strengths and culture make Fourkind and ThoughtWorks a winning combination,” said Xiao.
Even Fourkind has been quite excited with this recent partnership. Expressing views, Jonne Heikkinen, managing director and one of the founding partners, Fourkind stated that the company’s vision was to create futureproof services and products for companies.
As a matter of fact, the company has been known for utilising ML in revolutionary ways for groundbreaking innovation. Being a part of ThoughtWorks will allow the company to flourish and expand faster, and “be part of an agile and successful global team of like-minded, passionate technologists” who are continuously striving to create a remarkable impact on the world,” said Heikkinen.
