The acquisition comes as large language models and AI-generated answers increasingly shape how users research products, compare options and make purchase decisions online.

It also reflects a shift in how brand visibility is determined, with AI systems influencing which products and companies appear in answers, which competitors are referenced and which sources are cited—often before users reach a brand’s own channels.

“AI has changed buyer behaviour forever. We’re at a pivotal moment where companies must rethink traditional digital strategies and accept that the internet must be written for machines to understand if we want humans to experience it,” said Eric Stine, Chief Executive Officer of Sitecore. 

Stine added, “With Scrunch, we enable our customers to understand how they are represented in AI-generated answers and automatically act on those insights, maximising how they reach, engage, and serve their customers. We’re helping brands show up with greater clarity, authority, and relevance so they can build trust, increase share of voice, and influence decisions early in the buying journey when it matters most.”

Against this backdrop, Scrunch provides visibility into how brand messaging appears across AI-generated responses, including gaps or misrepresentations, and feeds these insights into SitecoreAI to support content optimisation across digital channels.

The deal combines Scrunch’s Agent Experience Platform (AXP) and analytics capabilities with Sitecore’s digital experience platform (DXP), creating an integrated system designed to connect insight with content activation and measurement.

Carrie Grapenthin, Chief Marketing Officer of Perficient, said, “At Perficient, we’re building an AI-first marketing engine focused on speed, relevance, and real impact. As a customer and partner of both Sitecore and Scrunch, this combination is an exciting opportunity for our team. Insight without action isn’t enough. Scrunch helps us see where our brand is showing up, where gaps exist, and what needs to improve. Sitecore helps us act on those insights across the content and experiences we already manage, so we can move faster and deliver differentiated content in our unique brand voice.”

Sitecore said the combined platform will help organisations distribute and manage content across channels with greater consistency, with the aim of improving engagement, conversion and performance tracking.

Scrunch’s approach focuses on Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO), extending beyond traditional website analytics by mapping how brands appear across large language models such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Perplexity, and identifying opportunities to improve visibility.

“Control of the brand narrative is shifting, and customers are increasingly trusting AI to define brands, rather than the organisations behind those brands,” said Chris Andrew, Chief Executive Officer of Scrunch, a Sitecore company. 

He added, “By joining forces, we’re helping companies meet buyers where they are, moving beyond traditional SEO to win inside AI-generated answers. That’s where Scrunch’s AXP is a critical advantage, delivering content in a format AI agents can read and use without disrupting the human experience, allowing brands to become the trusted sources that power those answers.”

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Inter Pariwara Global and iLab Indonesia bring media expertise across both global and local client portfolios, along with a combined workforce of about 150 employees.

Amrita Randhawa, CEO of Publicis Groupe Singapore and Southeast Asia, commented, “Indonesia is one of the most important and high-potential markets in Southeast Asia, and this acquisition reflects our continued commitment and optimism for its future at a time when much of the industry seems focused on divestment. This allows us to combine deep local expertise with the full power of our global capabilities in data, technology and innovation. Together, we are building a stronger, more future-ready offering for our clients.”

The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions.

The acquisition adds to Publicis Groupe’s ongoing investments in data and identity platform Lotame, influencer marketing firm HEPMIL, and its artificial intelligence initiatives, including an APAC AI Hub developed in partnership with the Singapore Economic Development Board.

Publicis Groupe continues to report strong performance in Southeast Asia and was ranked number one for new business momentum in Indonesia by COMvergence.

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This article explains how the acquisition signals a much bigger shift and that in the AI era, customer identity and intelligence infrastructure are becoming strategic enterprise control points.

The ‘customer graph’ is becoming the operating system for enterprise AI. That is the real story behind Publicis’ acquisition of LiveRamp

It’s not about consolidation, scale, or martech synergies. The question this deal forces every brand to answer is simpler and more consequential: who controls the intelligence layer your AI runs on?

For years, identity resolution and data collaboration were treated as plumbing — necessary, unglamorous, largely invisible. Publicis just paid $2.2 billion to make clear that they are now the foundation on which AI understands customers, makes decisions, and drives action across the enterprise. That is not infrastructure anymore. That is leverage.

Here is what most AI strategies get wrong: The model is not the moat

Foundation models are commoditising fast, and within a few years most enterprises will have access to roughly equivalent AI capabilities. The differentiation will not come from which model you run. It will come from what that model knows about your customers, and how accurately, durably, and quickly it can act on that intelligence.

In that environment, identity, first-party customer data, and interoperability become foundational enterprise infrastructure. The companies that win will be the ones capable of creating trusted customer context that AI systems can act on in real time.

That is the bet Publicis just made. And it should prompt every brand to ask whether they are making it too — or ceding that ground by default.

AI does not fix broken customer intelligence

There is still a tendency in the market to talk about AI as though the model itself is the differentiator. In practice, the differentiator is whether AI has access to accurate, durable, and real-time customer context.

If the underlying customer data is fragmented, duplicated, stale, or disconnected from durable identity, AI simply accelerates poor decisions. A recommendation engine becomes confidently wrong. Suppression fails. Media spend gets wasted targeting customers who have already converted. Personalisation becomes irrelevant because different systems hold conflicting versions of the same customer.

We already see this problem today. A customer purchases in-store but continues receiving acquisition ads for days because identity systems across retail, media, and CRM environments are disconnected. AI does not solve that problem. It amplifies it if the underlying customer graph is inaccurate.

That is why this acquisition matters beyond advertising technology.

The industry is shifting from systems of record to systems of decision and action. The companies pulling ahead are not necessarily the ones with the most data. They are the ones capable of continuously transforming customer signals into intelligent decisions in real time.

Durable identity is the moat. Not the model.

Brands should own the intelligence layer

LiveRamp built its business on neutrality. Sitting between advertisers, publishers, retailers, and agencies, it acted as trusted connective tissue — a Switzerland of identity. Publicis acquiring it changes that, regardless of what the integration roadmap says. You cannot be neutral infrastructure when you are owned by one of the largest buyers of media on the planet.

The conflict of interest is not subtle. Publicis now has a financial stake in how your identity data is resolved, governed, and operationalised — and a separate financial stake in winning your media budget. Those two incentives do not point in the same direction. Enterprises should not need to trust that they will be managed independently. They should not have to trust at all.

This is not a criticism of Publicis. It is a structural reality. And the right response for enterprises is not to hope for the best — it is to own the layer that makes the question irrelevant.

This will accelerate demand for independent customer intelligence layers that sit above activation and media ecosystems rather than inside them — particularly for enterprises operating across multiple agencies, retail media networks, cloud providers, and AI platforms simultaneously.

Most large enterprises do not want their customer intelligence strategy dependent on a single identity, media, or activation ecosystem. They want the flexibility to choose the partners and activation rails that best fit their business while maintaining ownership of the customer graph itself.

That becomes especially important as more enterprises build internal AI capabilities and deploy AI agents across marketing, service, and commerce. The intelligence layer powering those systems is becoming too strategic to fully outsource or embed inside a single activation ecosystem.

The black box problem gets harder in the AI era

There is a harder conversation underneath this deal that the industry has been reluctant to have. Black-box identity systems are increasingly incompatible with AI-driven enterprises.

As AI becomes more deeply embedded across marketing, commerce, and service operations, enterprises will demand greater visibility into how customer identity is resolved, governed, and operationalised.

Black-box identity systems become harder to justify when customer intelligence is powering automated decisioning at scale.

Brands increasingly want to understand how identity is being resolved, how customer data is governed, whether customer intelligence remains portable across systems, and how AI-driven decisions are being made from that data.

That pressure toward transparency and governance will only intensify as AI agents become more operationally embedded across the enterprise.

Interoperability will become a strategic advantage

One of the most important implications of this acquisition is that ecosystem flexibility itself is becoming strategically valuable.

The future will belong to enterprises that can create a durable customer intelligence foundation once and operationalise it everywhere.

That requires more than a customer database. It requires an enterprise-owned intelligence layer capable of interoperating across cloud environments, media ecosystems, retail networks, identity frameworks, and AI systems without forcing businesses into rigid architectures or closed ecosystems.

This acquisition will accelerate enterprise demand for warehouse-native and composable architectures. Brands that locked themselves into closed ecosystems are already feeling the cost. The ones building on open, portable foundations are better positioned for whatever comes next — whether that is a new AI platform, a new identity framework, or the next acquisition that reshapes the landscape.

The more fragmented the ecosystem becomes, the more valuable neutral orchestration layers become.

The next competitive battle will be won at the intelligence layer

The Publicis-LiveRamp deal is a signal, not an anomaly. The intelligence layer is being consolidated. The only question is whether your enterprise is building one you own, or inheriting one someone else controls.

The companies that win will not be the ones most dependent on a single media or activation ecosystem. They will be the ones that own their customer graph, control their intelligence layer, and preserve the flexibility to orchestrate across whatever partners, channels, and AI systems the future brings.

In the AI era, the customer graph is becoming the operating system for enterprise decisioning.

**

This thought leadership piece is written by Tony Owens, CEO, Amperity.

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The deal values LiveRamp at a total enterprise value of $2.2 billion and strengthens Publicis Groupe’s position in data collaboration as it deepens its investment in technology, data, and AI services. The acquisition is expected to support higher long-term growth targets for net revenue and headline EPS.

With this acquisition, for a total enterprise value of $2.2 billion, the Groupe furtheres its investment in technology, data, and AI services to unlock new opportunities for the agentic era. In doing so, it will expand its addressable market, allowing it to raise its 2027-2028 objectives on net revenue and headline EPS growth at constant currency.

LiveRamp is a global data collaboration platform that enables companies to unify, manage, and activate data across the digital ecosystem. With LiveRamp, Publicis will become a leader in data co-creation, an important capability in the age of artificial intelligence and an enabler of agentic business transformation.

Interoperable by design, it connects over 25,000 publisher domains and 500+ technology and data partners across 14 markets, enabling collaboration across brands, retailers, media platforms, and data providers. It transforms fragmented data into unified, actionable data assets for activation and measurement.

With 1,300 employees and a recurring revenue model, LiveRamp has delivered a trailing five-year CAGR of 13%.

Under the terms of the agreement, Publicis will acquire LiveRamp at $38.50 per share, representing a $2.167 billion enterprise value and a $2.546 billion equity value, including net cash of $379 million. The offer represents a 29.8% premium to LiveRamp’s last closing price before the announcement.

The transaction is expected to be accretive to Publicis Groupe’s headline EPS from the first year of consolidation, excluding transaction costs. Publicis has also raised its 2027–2028 constant currency growth targets to +7% to +8% for net revenue and +8% to +10% for headline EPS, up from previous guidance.

The deal has been unanimously approved by both companies’ boards.

Following the acquisition, LiveRamp’s leadership and operating model will remain largely unchanged. 

According to the company, CEO Scott Howe will continue to lead the company and report directly to Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun. LiveRamp’s financials will be reported under Publicis’ Technology segment, alongside Publicis Sapient.

LiveRamp will continue to operate as a neutral, interoperable platform with open access across the ecosystem. No customer will be restricted from accessing or using its services.

The company also assured the public that they will maintain their existing commitments on data privacy, handling client, partner, and publisher data in line with contractual obligations and without extending usage beyond agreed terms. It will also continue standard commercial practices, with no changes to pricing outside normal business operations.

As part of Publicis, LiveRamp is expected to benefit from greater investment, scale, and expanded innovation capabilities while maintaining its neutrality and interoperability.

“We are thrilled to announce our agreement with Publicis, marking the beginning of an exciting new chapter for LiveRamp and all our stakeholders,” Howe said. “Our customers and partners have always been our North Star, and by joining forces with Publicis, we will have greater resources and flexibility to scale our business, continue innovating our platform, and help them unlock even greater value from their data.”

The transaction has been signed and is expected to close before year-end 2026, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals as well as other closing conditions.

“LiveRamp joining Publicis Groupe is the latest demonstration of our commitment to investing in new talent and innovation ahead of market shifts…By building the future of data co-creation, we’re empowering our clients to generate new, exclusive and proprietary data to build the smartest, most differentiated AI agents on top of the leading LLMs,” Sadoun said. 

“Beyond its technology platform, LiveRamp is a team of outstanding talent that we have had the opportunity to work closely with through our strategic partnership. We’re looking forward to welcoming them all to the Publicis family,” he added. 

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The deal brings together Insider One’s AI-driven customer engagement platform with Bluecore’s retail data and identity infrastructure. Bluecore’s client roster includes brands such as ALO Yoga, J.Crew, Sephora, Bloomingdale’s, The North Face, Ralph Lauren, QVC and Michael Kors.

According to Insider One, the acquisition is intended to strengthen its data infrastructure and expand its capabilities for autonomous customer engagement at enterprise scale.

“Insider One sits at the core of how the world’s leading brands engage their customers. Our platform doesn’t layer AI onto marketing – it is the execution layer. Decision ownership has shifted from humans to intelligent systems that think, decide, and act in real time. With the acquisition of Bluecore, we further strengthen our data infrastructure edge to make autonomous customer engagement possible at enterprise scale,” said Hande Cilingir, Co-Founder and CEO at Insider One.

Insider One positions its platform as an “agentic” customer engagement system, where artificial intelligence systems are designed to plan, execute and optimise customer interactions autonomously. The company said its architecture integrates a native customer data platform (CDP), real-time data unification, identity resolution, contextual data graphs, and journey orchestration across multiple channels.

The platform also includes Agent One, a suite of AI agents that the company says enables brands to engage customers in real time while generating intent and preference signals that enrich customer profiles.

Through the acquisition, Insider One will integrate Bluecore’s Transparent ID Network, which provides identity resolution and shopper data infrastructure for retail brands. The network processes more than 10 billion daily shopper events to power machine learning models tailored to retail and commerce use cases.

“Insider One’s product is unlike anything I’ve seen in this industry. They are five years ahead of where the market is going. They have built the exact infrastructure our identification and behavioural data is built to power,” said Fayez Mohamood, Co-Founder and CEO at Bluecore.

Insider One said the acquisition will also accelerate its expansion in North America, where Bluecore’s enterprise retail client base is concentrated.

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M Bloc Group is known for transforming historic and iconic spaces into cultural hubs across Indonesia. The acquisition forms part of IDN’s broader efforts to expand its presence in the culture and entertainment sector through physical community and entertainment spaces.

In a LinkedIn post announcing the acquisition, Founder and CEO Winston Utomo said the move is aimed at strengthening IDN’s culture and entertainment ecosystem by creating spaces where younger Indonesians can “experience, connect, and create together”.

The acquired portfolio includes M Bloc Space in Jakarta, Posbloc Jakarta, Posbloc Surabaya, Posbloc Medan, and Lokananta Bloc Solo. These venues will now operate under a unified platform called IDN Bloc, while retaining their existing brand names.

“The synergy between IDN and M Bloc Group will substantially expand the cultural and entertainment potential of creators, communities, and brands across Indonesia, particularly to strengthen IDN’s priorities in the entertainment industry,” Utomo said.

According to the company, the integration is also expected to accelerate the connection between IDN’s digital ecosystem and physical creative spaces, while opening opportunities for future collaborations across entertainment and community initiatives.

“Our long-term vision is to build a media and entertainment technology company that reflects the spirit of the young generation and actively shapes the cultural identity of Indonesia — and IDN Bloc will be at the heart of that journey,” he added.

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The Bengaluru- and San Francisco-based technology company announced the acquisition on 7 May, saying the deal is intended to strengthen its advertising platform’s ability to support brands seeking new users across the iOS ecosystem. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in San Francisco, MobileAction provides AI-driven app analytics tools designed to help marketers improve app discoverability and performance. The company is particularly known for its expertise in Apple Ads and App Store Optimization.

According to InMobi, the acquisition will enhance its capabilities in supporting both organic app growth and AI-powered optimisation for marketers targeting iOS users. The move also expands the company’s advertising and commerce ecosystem, which includes its consumer platform Glance.

MobileAction’s platform is used by several global brands and app publishers, including Google, Meta, DoorDash, Block, Zalando, Playtika and Priceline. The company says its platform analyses data across more than 90 million creatives, 6 million keywords, 5 million apps, 100,000 publishers and 500,000 advertisers.

“As the advertising ecosystem shifts toward AI-led intelligence and platform-native expertise, marketers need partners who can deliver both scale and precision,” said Rohit Dosi, Vice President & General Manager, InMobi. “MobileAction’s AI-powered platform and leadership in helping marketers drive growth for their apps makes this a highly strategic addition to InMobi Advertising. Together, we’re better positioned to help marketers and brands drive sustainable, intelligent growth in an agentic world.”

“Joining InMobi marks an exciting next chapter for MobileAction,” said Aykut Karaalioglu, Founder & CEO, MobileAction. “I look forward to partnering with Rohit, and I am confident our shared vision for the future of agentic AI-driven advertising — spanning innovation, data-driven decision-making, and customer impact — will allow us to accelerate our roadmap and deliver even greater value to marketers worldwide.”

Following the transaction, MobileAction will continue to operate as a dedicated platform. Its teams across the United States, Europe and Turkey will join the InMobi Group, which said it plans to further invest in the company’s product development and global go-to-market initiatives, particularly in the United States, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and North Africa regions.

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The acquisition covers HSBC Indonesia’s International Wealth and Premier Banking (IWPB Indonesia) business, which serves retail and wealth customers through a range of banking, investment, insurance, and lending products. The portfolio includes customer deposits, investment products such as bonds and mutual funds, credit cards, and retail loans.

Under the agreement, OCBC Indonesia will acquire the assets and liabilities of IWPB Indonesia. The transaction includes assets under management (AUM) worth S$6.6b, comprising S$4.3b in investment products and S$2.3b in customer deposits. A retail loan portfolio worth S$0.3b will also be transferred.

The total consideration will be based on the net asset value of IWPB Indonesia at completion, along with a premium of up to S$0.48b, subject to adjustment mechanisms outlined in the agreement. The transaction is expected to complete in the second quarter of 2027 and is projected to be earnings accretive to OCBC, excluding one-off transaction costs.

According to OCBC, the acquisition will add around 336,000 customers and about 1,300 employees to its Indonesia business. IWPB Indonesia currently operates through 261 branches across the country.

Following completion, OCBC Indonesia expects the transaction to increase its AUM by 25% and expand its credit card balances by more than 150%, further strengthening its retail and wealth banking operations in Indonesia.

Tan Teck Long, Group CEO of OCBC, said, “This acquisition in Indonesia fits well into our Next Frontier strategy under the Franchise Shift of building up our Indonesia franchise. It follows our successful 2024 acquisition and integration of PT Bank Commonwealth Indonesia in further expanding our market penetration in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. Indonesia is a long-term commitment and a key growth market.”

He added, “We are excited about the scale and synergy that this high-quality portfolio brings to the group as OCBC, Bank of Singapore and Great Eastern come together to deliver the Whole-of-Wealth proposition. We look forward to serving HSBC Indonesia’s retail and wealth customers and welcoming our new colleagues to the OCBC family.”

OCBC Indonesia and HSBC Indonesia said they will work together to ensure a smooth transition for customers and employees ahead of the completion of the transaction.

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The deal folds 160over90 into Publicis Sports, plugging it into the group’s Epsilon data spine and media buying heft. The aim is clear: turn sport into a measurable, end-to-end channel, not just a branding exercise.

160over90, currently part of WME Group, brings more than 670 staff across the US, UK, EMEA, and APAC. 

Its portfolio spans blue-chip campaigns at the Super Bowl, the Olympic Games, and the FIFA World Cup—properties that still command mass audiences in an era of fractured media.

Publicis is positioning the combined unit as a single system. Media, sponsorship, content, creators, and commerce—stitched together, measured, and sold as one. 

Data sits at the centre, with Epsilon’s identity tools expected to track audiences across channels and markets.

Arthur Sadoun, CEO of Publicis Groupe, said,  “After building our industry-leading position in identity resolution, commerce, and creators, our next big bet is sport. In the age of AI, it has become one of the most high-value channels for clients, delivering unparalleled cultural relevance, live engagement, and measurable impact.”

He added, “By combining 160over90’s scale and expertise in sports experiences, culture, and talent with the industry’s most powerful connected influencer platform, experiential capabilities, and data-driven insights, we are disrupting a highly fragmented landscape by creating a unified, end-to-end platform that connects brands to fans in ways that are both meaningful and measurable.”

Beyond the deal, Publicis is also tightening ties with WME Group. 

A strategic partnership will give it earlier access to talent, intellectual property, and content opportunities—an area where agencies increasingly compete with studios and platforms.

Dave Penski, CEO of Publicis Connected Media, said, “Sport has become the most powerful intersection of culture, commerce and community. As brands invest more in the space, Publicis Groupe and 160over90 are uniquely positioned to advance and integrate sports marketing as an addressable and measurable channel, not just across media, but sponsorships, talent, and live activations.”

Mark Shapiro, President and Managing Partner of WME Group, said, “160over90 has earned its reputation as a trusted partner to many of the world’s most influential brands, consistently delivering unique experiences and valuable partnerships on the biggest stages in sports. Combining forces with Publicis Sports will create an unmatched offering for brands looking to move faster and create deeper connections with sports fans, properties, and content.”

He added, “Additionally, WME Group’s new collaboration with Publicis Groupe will deliver more opportunities for our talent and partners to realize their business ambitions at scale.”

Within the new structure, Publicis Sports will sit under PMX, with Suzy Deering continuing as CEO. Robbie Henchman will remain at WME Group, overseeing brand representation and the partnership with Publicis.

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A notice in the Government Gazette confirmed the appointment of liquidators for Fitbit Singapore.

Meanwhile, regulatory filings with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority show the company is in the process of being wound up, as reported by The Strait Times.

The move comes more than a decade after Fitbit established its presence in Singapore in 2015, and follows its acquisition by Google’s parent, Alphabet Inc., in a US$2.1 billion deal completed in 2021.

Since the acquisition, Fitbit’s operations have been progressively integrated into Google’s devices and services portfolio. 

Its health and fitness tracking features now form part of Google’s wearables push, including its Pixel Watch lineup, as the company expands its footprint in the competitive smartwatch segment.

Consumers are not expected to be affected by the development. Fitbit-branded devices will continue to function, with support and services maintained under Google’s ecosystem.

Fitbit’s transition from an independent brand to part of Google’s broader strategy reflects wider industry shifts, as tech giants prioritise scale, platform integration, and recurring services over standalone hardware businesses.

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