00:00John, Bruno, a big announcement today, a major acquisition, just tell us a little bit about it and what's happening.
00:07Okay, so Bruno will talk a little bit about NTT Data in a moment because he's my new boss.
00:12He runs global insurance for NTT Data, but we started partnering together for a while now to win some deals.
00:20And it's very exciting because we've been looking for a partner so we could go global at Alchemy.
00:26You know, we've done very well in the UK and Europe, but we really want to accelerate our relationship with clients.
00:33And that's where NTT Data and their global presence steps in.
00:37Yeah, Bruno, NTT Data, it's a $30 billion plus company.
00:43It's probably the biggest company that nobody's heard of, like you hear, outside the insurance industry.
00:47Tell us a little bit more about it.
00:49So NTT was founded back in 1869 in Japan.
00:53We still maintain our cultural heritage from Japanese culture.
00:58And the company has grown a lot lately.
01:00And the global industries we're just launching is another driver for growth.
01:04This is where myself, leading insurance, we saw a big opportunity to partner with Alchemy at the first stage.
01:10First, because of the cultural fit.
01:12Second, because of the capabilities they have grown, the values we see in the day-to-day,
01:16and the recognition they have in the local markets.
01:18Through NTT Data, we think we can bring a driver to further accelerate Alchemy's growth going forward.
01:26And we think the international play John was referring to is a huge opportunity for us.
01:30One of the things, John, it was mentioned that you're both down to the London market.
01:36And the Guidewire, my understanding is Guidewire is a software company.
01:42It's kind of integrally providing services and tech within this niche industry.
01:46But you guys are experts on it, and that's why you use your interest on it.
01:50Is that correct?
01:50Correct.
01:52Guidewire are the market leader by a long stretch.
01:56You've got to put five or six of the competition together to catch up with them.
02:00So that was the obvious company to partner with when we wanted to create meaningful, high-value jobs here in the Northwest.
02:12Let's be clear, this is a legacy play for me.
02:15I'll be with NTT Data now for the rest of my career as we drive the growth here.
02:21And Guidewire is the perfect vehicle because they are such a large player, such an outstanding player.
02:28And, of course, by acquiring Alchemy, NTT Data are now a major partner with Guidewire and can become and take us to the next global partnership level.
02:40In fact, part of the conversation we had with Guidewire prior to the acquisition gave us a very positive feedback on the relationship they are already standing with with Alchemy for the last years.
02:49And this was a major confirmation of the interest we had.
02:52But it's not only the Guidewire, if I may, it's also about the London market and the specialty lines, where the consulting capabilities of Alchemy also allow NTT Data to further accelerate and help our clients facing their huge transformations.
03:05And are you liberty to say what value this deal is at at this stage, or is that something that you can't speak about?
03:10Excuse the vulgarity of the question.
03:12No, no, I know, and everyone wants to know that, but unfortunately, because it's a commercial company in a very commercial market, that's information we just can't release.
03:26An NTT being a listed company, we cannot release this information.
03:29Fair enough.
03:31John, I mind you speaking to us in the tech in 2018 when we were starting this all up, and a boy who left there, after doing his A-levels in the tech, travelled the world, came back and got into this industry.
03:43It must be very gratifying for you to be sort of creating employment here, as you said, a legacy.
03:48Are you from the water side originally?
03:50I'm top of the hill.
03:50So you're a 10-minute walk away, look?
03:52That's right, you can see my old street up there.
03:55So that must be gratifying for you, is it?
03:57Look, I'm delighted, you know, it was a big gamble, really.
04:01I put everything I had into this organisation with a small group of other investors who I've known for years.
04:09So to do that back here in Northern Ireland, and to get the sort of support we have from the local community to help us make this impact on the economy, you know, this is absolutely the next step change to get a powerhouse like NTT Data into this region.
04:26It's beyond my wildest dreams, to be honest.
04:28Yeah, and what's the headcount now at Alchemy here locally?
04:31We're 160.
04:34Obviously, each year, this year we hired 30 new grads on top of experienced hires.
04:40So, you know, we are growing rapidly, but we want to accelerate that with these guys.
04:44Yeah, and do you think there could be more investments, more recruitment?
04:47There is a huge opportunity.
04:49There is a huge growth.
04:50This is a growth play for NTT Data.
04:51So we want to seize the seed model that has been created and the strong foundations to further grow our business.
04:58And not only our business globally, but also our business here locally.
05:02And a lot of what NTT is saying is that we're coming into a new sort of technological revolution with AI.
05:08I think you spotted gaps in the market when the old legacy systems with insurance, and you had to move on probably through the course of the last technological revolution.
05:17But there's going to be other opportunities coming up now.
05:20Is that correct?
05:21The level of investment in research and development that these guys do, what's the number, Bruno?
05:263.6 billion yearly investments, dollars.
05:293.6 billion.
05:30In R&D.
05:31And AI is, of course, a big thing.
05:32Not only AI, because AI produces some value chain transformation when it comes to communications, data centers, energy consumption, and so on.
05:40And NTT Data is fully focused on all the value chain.
05:43But Bruno and his team have been fully briefed about the focus in this region on developing an AI capability.
05:51And obviously, that's tweaked their interest in how that could benefit NTT Data.
05:57And there's a bit of an ecosystem now with what you've got over in McGee with the robotics analytical computing that's over there.
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