Wipro Digital acquires customer experience firm Rational Interaction

Wipro Digital, the digital business unit of information technology services firm Wipro, has acquired digital customer experience firm Rational Interaction. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The acquisition is expected to boost the Bengaluru-based software exporter’s customer experience offerings and digital marketing capabilities, the company said in a statement. 

Seattle-based Rational Interaction’s ability to map and orchestrate the customer journey along with Wipro Digital’s ability to design and build experiences at a global scale will enhance its product portfolio, Wipro said. The companies will provide customised solutions for enterprises’ marketing suite.

Last year, Wipro’s design unit Designit acquired Australian customer experience brand Syfte, founded by Katja Forbes in 2014. Wipro has 18 digital studios globally.

Founded in 2009 by Kahly Berg, Rational Interaction has more than 300 employees worldwide. It does not plan to reduce its current staff as it integrates with Wipro Digital, the company said.

“This acquisition comes at a time when companies increasingly compete solely on customer experience and the spending is growing exponentially,” Rajan Kohli, president and head of Wipro Digital, said. 

According to Wipro, long-term benefits from marketing expenses require an ecosystem of connected touch points across the entire customer journey. Rational Interaction helps brands create sustained customer experience programmes, with core offerings that include strategic advising, customer acquisition and customer lifecycle management.

Wipro said that Rational Interaction’s expertise in digital marketing and experience management complements Wipro Digital’s capabilities across digital engineering, architecture and design.

“As companies continue their digital transformation journeys, we see chief marketing officers increasingly stepping in as the leaders of these initiatives, tasked with representing the voice of the customer and ensuring that the digital transformation pays off the brand promise,” Rational Interaction CEO Berg said.  

Digital interactions with customers are gaining prominence, Wipro said, adding that the end customer in almost every industry, especially the hi-tech industry, is being constantly redefined. As a result of this transformation, customer and channel partner journeys need to be reimagined, the company said.

“Capturing customer sentiment in real-time and using artificial intelligence to engage with them in more meaningful ways will drive higher engagement, purchase and loyalty,” Nitin Parab, senior vice president and global head of technology business unit at Wipro, said.

Last month, Wipro CEO and managing director Abidali Z Neemuchwala stepped down on account of family commitments. 

A fortnight ago, Wipro partnered with digital customer and employee engagement platform Smart Energy Water (SEW) for its enterprise customers in the utility (energy and water) vertical.