Microsoft Partners With Publicis to Develop Global AI Platform Marcel

Today, Publicis Groupe announced that its much-discussed global AI platform Marcel will be developed with the help of one of the world's largest and longest-standing tech companies--Microsoft. Publicis.Sapient will design the "professional assistant" and structure its user experience, while Microsoft will build the platform itself, according to a company statement and an internal memo from CEO and chairman Arthur Sadoun. Bill Gates' company will help Publicis employees around the world access its "deep technology and AI capabilities" via such products as Azure AI and Office 365. "At Microsoft, we believe that people no longer just work for companies--companies need to work for their people," said CEO Microsoft Satya Nadella in a statement. That's what makes this collaboration so seamless and natural." Marcel aims to help drive productivity and creativity around the global Publicis network in several ways, chiefly by helping bring people with complementary skills and experiences together on shared projects even if their offices happen to be thousands of miles apart. Publicis also claims Microsoft's resources will allow Marcel to collect and organize the holding group's "collective knowledge," thereby enabling the further sharing of data and individual experiences across its team of 80,000 staffers at agencies across the globe. Late last year, the company also launched an incubator called M-Labs, with which it plans to develop "new collaborative models" for serving clients. Publicis Groupe has yet to reveal details about these services, but chief strategy officer and Publicis New York CEO Carla Serrano mentioned "a knowledge-sharing platform that gets tagged and learns with AI" in an October interview with Campaign. "I know that many of you have been curious to know what has been happening since we announced the platform last June.