The Artificial Intelligence M&A market report from Hampleton Partners reveals that the year 2019 saw a total of 279 deals – more than the 261 AI deals recorded across 2017 and 2018 combined.
The report analyses transactions, trends and activity across the quantitative analysis, vision, and language analysis segments.
It also features interviews with two of the sector’s pioneers: Albert Stepanyan, founder and CEO, Scylla.ai, the AI-based protective intelligence suite that enhances security operations; and Artem Rodichev, Head of AI, Replika, which has created an AI-friend experience chatbot, proving popular with those under 25 years of age.
Heiko Garrelfs, Sector Principal, Hampleton Partners, said: “On the back of record AI deal volumes in 2019 the arrival of Covid-19 is putting artificial intelligence innovators and companies further in the spotlight for strategic buyers.
“New norms such as health checks and social distancing at work are driving AI adoption and adaptation. Companies are having to find new ways of automating processes and drive cost-efficiency as, in many sectors, their profits are coming under pressure.
“On the home front, if ‘stay at home’ and ‘shelter in place’ orders continue, we expect to see more language analysis, chatbot and personal assistant AI deals beyond the usual suspects of Apple, Amazon and Google.”
AI used for the purpose of quantitative analysis represented 70% of all AI deals between May 2019 and May 2020, according to the company.
The segment also saw the largest AI deals, courtesy of both financial and strategic buyers. These included Thoma Bravo’s take-private of security and antimalware giant Sophos for $3.8 billion; Prudential Financial’s acquisition of Assurance IQ’s machine learning-enabled direct-to-consumer insurance search service for $2.4 billion; and Hewlett Packard’s acquisition of Cray’s high-performance computing tech for $1.4 billion.
“AI is a key source of transformation and disruption. Segments such as Vision and Language Analysis are seeing high growth as tech giants are making their AI models available and democratising the sector, giving companies and start-ups the chance to develop top-class technical products and develop their niche,” added Garrelfs.
“Ultimately, this all-round momentum for AI is set to continue, given the unwavering interest from strategic acquirers looking to capitalise on the added-value AI can bring to all processes.”
