Bain & Company takes on managed services divisions, acquires Australian AI firm Max Kelsen Consulting

Bain & Company has acquired managed services divisions and artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) solutions firm Max Kelsen Consulting, in a bid to strengthen their digital and tech offerings to clients worldwide.

The Australia-based consulting team with approximately 66 employees, will bring their expertise in full stack ML systems and solutions, as well as AI-powered applications and advisory services to Bain under the firm’s Advanced Analytics Group (AAG). Founded in 2015, Max Kelsen has worked with Australian and global companies to build and deploy machine learning solutions including real-time prediction, forecasting, computer vision, industrial control optimisation, robotics and more, as well as establishing best practice operational machine learning capabilities. 

The firm has served a wide range of clients, including Fortune 500 companies, and has partnered with market-leading cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform. While Max Kelsen applies its ML and AI expertise across industries, such as mining, financial services and retail, the company has particularly deep experience serving the healthcare & life sciences sector.

The latest merger comes after Bain’s announcement earlier this month of their intention to acquire the Asia-Pacific arm of global venture-building and start-up development studio, Rainmaking. The deal which was due for completion by the end of July pending several constrictions and legal considerations, focuses on helping companies across the region to better innovate, launch, and scale businesses.

Speaking on the acquisition of Max Kelsen Consulting, Roy Singh, global head of Bain’s AAG division shared his thoughts in a release.

“We are delighted to welcome the Max Kelsen Consulting team to Bain, and to bring their industry-leading machine learning expertise to bear to deliver even more powerful solutions to our clients. We are seeing growing demand from clients for AI-related services and engineering capabilities that will enable them to be early movers in shaping how this generational shift in technology could transform their respective industries.”

“This acquisition will strengthen the suite of AI and ML capabilities we offer to our clients regionally and globally,” added Richard Fleming, leader of Bain’s AAG division in Asia Pacific.

Nicholas Therkelsen-Terry, co-founder and CEO of Max Kelsen said, “We are excited to join Bain at a time when businesses are starting to navigate the disruptions brought on by generative AI. In a rapidly evolving business climate, companies that understand how to use these tools to their advantage will come out on top. We are thrilled to be working with an even larger pool of global clients and supporting Bain to strengthen their global ML capabilities.”

Note: Max Kelsen also operates a products division (SAVI Surgical and PROPeL Health AI) and a research division, which are not part of the acquisition by Bain.