Serviceplan Group Belux has acquired a majority stake in Data Wizards, a Belgian consultancy specialising in data and artificial intelligence. Its two founders, Jaâfar Karioun and Gregory Cosman, will also lead Plan.Net Belgium, the digital and tech agency of the House of Communication. 

The deal is part of Serviceplan Group's growth strategy. With Data Wizards and Plan.Net Belgium, the group has set itself a clear goal: to become the go-to player for data and AI in Belgium, and to take that ambition across Europe.

A clear signal: the group is betting on technology in Belgium

By handing Plan.Net Belgium and key roles within the group to the founders of Data Wizards, Serviceplan Group puts technology, data and AI at the heart of its offer. Gregory Cosman will drive the group's transformation and the integration of AI across its businesses. Jaâfar Karioun will lead its technology strategy.

Together, Data Wizards and Plan.Net now cover the whole chain: marketing, technology, data platforms, automation, AI and organisational change.

Mediaplus Belgium will also benefit from this expertise. In media, data and AI have become strategic. For a media agency, having these skills under its own roof makes a real difference: it performs better, and its clients reap the benefits.

Data Wizards: from proof of concept to rollout

Data Wizards was born from a simple idea: helping companies turn their data into a real competitive advantage, long before AI became a boardroom topic.

It has more than 200 projects to its name, including work for BNP Paribas Fortis and Bpost, in banking and insurance, healthcare, consumer goods and retail, and telecoms and media.

Its team of around twenty experts covers data science and analytics, data engineering, AI and data governance. Its hallmark: always starting from the client's real problem. Data Wizards follows every project from the first workshop to go-live.

With this move, Data Wizards wants to step up its support for business leaders on AI and data. Many companies have piled up proofs of concept. Few have turned them into tools people use every day. That is where Data Wizards wants to make a difference: taking pilots to scale, with operational gains that can be measured.

“From day one, our ambition has been to make data and AI concrete, useful and profitable for businesses. With Serviceplan Group, we move up a gear. We will be able to support our clients on more ambitious transformation projects without losing what makes us who we are: an entrepreneurial mindset, expertise and a close relationship with every client.” Jaâfar Karioun and Gregory Cosman, Co-founders, Data Wizards

More firepower for clients, next stop the Netherlands and France

For Data Wizards' clients, the partnership opens the door to the international network of Serviceplan Group Belux and Plan.Net, and to House of AI, the group's approach to artificial intelligence. Serviceplan's clients, in turn, gain sharp data and AI expertise that goes beyond marketing and reaches across the whole organisation.

Data Wizards also plans to expand into other countries where the group operates, starting with the Netherlands and France in the near future.

“Serviceplan Group has always helped organisations get the most out of digital, technology and data. With Data Wizards, we significantly build up our data and AI skills and go beyond marketing to support the transformation of the business as a whole. Entrusting Plan.Net Belgium and our technology strategy to Jaâfar and Gregory makes it very clear where we are heading.” Gino Baeck, CEO, Serviceplan Group Belux

This investment marks a new step for Serviceplan Group Belux. Clients can now find all of the group's expertise in one place: strategy, creative, technology and data.

Contact: brussels@house-of-communication.com

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