Microsoft and Publicis unveil Marcel, an AI-based productivity platform for the ad giant

Microsoft under CEO Satya Nadella has refocussed to double down on enterprise, artificial intelligence and cloud services, and today the company took the wraps a new project for advertising giant Publicis that shows how it is leveraging all three to expand its business. At an event in Paris, the CEOs of the two companies unveiled Marcel, a new platform comprised of multiple apps using AI, social networking mechanics, voice recognition, predictive analytics and more aimed at getting Publicis' 80,000 employees to be more productive and work together better. The first three apps on Marcel -- named after Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet, the founder of Publicis who had an interesting second career as a fighter in the French Resistance -- will be Daily Six, Expert Match and Open Brief, with plans to add more apps over time, CEO and chairman Arthur Sadoun said in an interview this week. They've been trialled so far with 100 employees and will be rolling out more widely from today, with an aim of having its whole staff connected in 18 months. The move is an interesting turn for Publicis, currently the world's third-largest advertising agency, to defragment and improve how its organization works.