Zebra Technologies announced it intends to acquire antuit.ai, a provider of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions specific to forecasting and merchandising for the retail and CPG industries.
Antuit.ai, owned by a consortium led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, utilizes AI and machine-learning algorithms to ensure its customers have the right product in the right place, at the right time, at the right price based on the current state of the supply chain, store inventory, and consumer demand. Incorporating antuit.ai’s AI-powered demand forecasting solution into Zebra’s SaaS portfolio will enable retailers and consumer products companies to combine planning and execution to optimize margins and drive revenue growth, the partners note.
“Through its synergies with our retail store execution portfolio, the acquisition of antuit.ai will further drive our ability to bring the power of AI to our customers, and meet the demands of today’s consumer,” said Anders Gustafsson, chief executive officer of Zebra Technologies. “It will also enable us to offer our customers in the CPG industry an analytics, AI and automation solution that supports more efficient planning and operations with greater visibility across the supply chain. We are excited to welcome the antuit.ai team to the Zebra family.”
Antuit.ai will be the third SaaS company acquired by Zebra that has been recognized as a top solution provider in the RIS Software Leaderboard over the last two years. It will serve as the planning and demand forecasting module within Zebra’s retail software portfolio, alongside the analytics and execution solutions currently delivered by Zebra Prescriptive Analytics (ZPA, formerly Profitect) and Reflexis’ Workforce Management and Task Management solutions.
“The antuit.ai team is excited to join Zebra and will add immediate value by bringing innovation, AI talent and industry experts to help our combined customers optimize inventory, maximize fill rates and increase efficiencies,” said antuit.ai’s co-CEO Siva Lakshmanan. “Our AI solutions will influence planning and bridge the gap to execution, enhancing Zebra’s retail and CPG solutions that address associate productivity and inventory management,” said co-CEO Yogesh Kulkarni of antuit.ai.
“Zebra’s focus on visibility and productivity will be enhanced by the acquisition of antuit.ai and expand our customer offerings,” said Bill Burns, chief product & solutions officer, Zebra Technologies. “With the addition of antuit.ai, Zebra’s growing SaaS portfolio will have a stronger, more attractive value proposition for customers looking for solutions that include advanced planning capabilities alongside the dynamic optimization of labor and inventory across the supply chain.”
