Publicis Sapient CEO Sees Demand for Consultant AI Projects Picking Up
Big U.S. companies replaced CEOs last year at the highest rate since at least 2010 and this meant some Sapient projects were delayed, CEO Nigel Vaz said
- Sapient, Publicis Groupe’s consulting arm, sees clients increasingly interested in artificial-intelligence projects, moving from a wait-and-see approach.
- Many U.S. companies replaced chief executives at the highest rate since 2010, delaying client spending on major investment programs.
- Sapient launched three AI-focused platforms to help clients accelerate software development, build AI agents, and automate IT maintenance.
The head of Sapient, Publicis Groupe’s PUB -1.09%decrease; red down pointing triangle consulting arm, said clients are increasingly interested in artificial-intelligence projects, signaling more businesses are moving away from a wait-and-see approach and warming up to the technology.
Like other technology consulting firms, Sapient has been hit by delays in client spending over the past couple of years, with companies wary of embarking on major investment programs. But its chief executive, Nigel Vaz, hopes AI will become a tailwind for the business in the long run.
“We saw this also in the early days of the internet, when you were seeing lots of disruption coming to the organization,” Vaz said in an interview. “There’s a little bit of transformation that has to happen internally in order to then move forward.”
As the corporate world gears up for AI, a significant number of companies refreshed their executive ranks and those changes need to be absorbed within the organizations before transformations begin, Vaz said.
Big U.S. companies replaced CEOs last year at the highest rate since at least 2010, when the economy was emerging from the financial crisis, according to an analysis by executive-recruiting firm Spencer Stuart across 1,500 of the largest publicly traded companies.
For Sapient, this meant some projects were delayed because the executives who had to sign off on spending programs were either out of a job, in a different role or had just been appointed.
Publicis, Sapient’s owner, in February forecast the unit’s organic net revenue would increase slightly in 2026 after being flat last year. Over the past two years, Sapient’s top-line performance has lagged that of Publicis’ media and creative segments.
Analysts widely credit Publicis’ $3.7 billion acquisition of Sapient, closed in 2015, and its $4.4 billion purchase of data business Epsilon in 2019 with helping the French advertising company revive its fortunes. In a call with analysts in February, Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun called Sapient a strategic asset for the group in the context of AI.
Sapient works with clients ranging from hotel group Marriott to carmaker Nissan to mayonnaise brand Hellmann’s and has been leaning into their plans to use AI to overhaul operations. Sapient’s Vaz said the business is leveraging AI to help clients cut costs or drive growth.
In aggregate, clients are moving from an experimental phase to implementation of AI projects, but the moment at which each of them gets out of wait-and-see mode depends on whether the internal changes that allow for it have happened, Vaz said.
Sapient is now in conversations with clients “about how they’re actively going to transform,” he said.
The business has launched three AI-focused platforms to help clients accelerate software development, build AI agents—systems that can take actions on behalf of humans—and orchestrate workflows, and automate maintenance of IT platforms, Vaz said. All three are picking up, he added.
Sapient has historically focused on solving complex technical problems for other companies, rather than on taking on outsourced work to lower clients’ costs, Vaz said.