Accenture Interactive and Softbank Robotics Collaborate to Reimagine the Future of Digital Customer Interactions

PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

As part of a newly announced collaboration with SoftBank Robotics to reimagine the future of digital customer interactions, Accenture ACN Interactive demonstrated a new prototype based on the Pepper robot in Paris yesterday at Pepper Partners Europe event during InnoRobo (May 24-26), one of the world's largest robotics events.

Pepper is the ground-breaking humanoid robot with the ability to read emotions that was developed by Softbank Robotics (previously Aldebaran Robotics) and first introduced in Japan in 2014. The enhanced Pepper-based platform blends human and artificial intelligence, provided by Accenture Interactive, to deliver omni-channel customer service and commerce capabilities – including social media, mobile and in-store applications. The goal is to enable businesses around the world to use robotics to provide sophisticated, but user-friendly, customer service capabilities.

Accenture Interactive, one of the world's largest and fastest-growing digital agencies and part of Accenture Digital, has been working with Softbank Robotics since 2013, bringing patent-pending hybrid intelligence to robots' brains and designing innovative business applications. The collaboration is part of Accenture Interactive's commitment to continue to invest in research and development to explore the future of customer experience, incubating the next generation of solutions.

"We believe that the future of digital customer service will be about striking a balance between human and artificial intelligence to deliver superior and seamless customer services, at scale," said Inés Guzmán, a managing director and Digital Customer Service lead with Accenture Interactive. "The ability for us to enhance Softbank Robotics' platform with enriched social intelligence, awareness and machine learning, in addition to its promising ability to scale, is consistent with our mission at Accenture Interactive to enable clients – across a variety of industries – to provide their customers with a first-class experience and build brand loyalty."

In June 2015 Accenture Interactive used a Softbank Robotics robot to showcase its work on digital customer service R&D at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France. In addition, over the past year Accenture Interactive has demonstrated and explored interactive robotics applications with hundreds of clients at the Accenture Interactive Innovation Center in Sophia Antipolis, France.

Anatoly Roytman, Accenture Interactive lead in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, said, "We continue to work with Softbank Robotics to break new ground, exploring new and innovative ways to help our clients solve their biggest challenges and discover new opportunities."

About Accenture

Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions – underpinned by the world's largest delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With more than 373,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

Accenture Interactive, part of Accenture Digital, helps the world's leading brands drive superior marketing performance across the full multichannel customer experience. Accenture Interactive offers integrated, industrialized and industry-driven digital transformation and marketing solutions. To learn more, follow us @Accenture Social and visit http://www.accenture.com/interactive.

This document makes descriptive reference to trademarks that may be owned by others. The use of such trademarks herein is not an assertion of ownership of such trademarks by Accenture and is not intended to represent or imply the existence of an association between Accenture and the lawful owners of such trademarks.

Copyright © 2016 Accenture. All rights reserved. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160524006698/en/