And again one of the many daily examples that investors are not deterred from investing in and buying Israeli companies because of the Netanyahu government and the urgently needed judicial reform: The markets trust Bibi.
This is McKinsey’s first acquisition in Israel. As part of McKinsey’s commitment the acquisition will serve clients globally, and Iguazio – a ‘Deep-Artificial Intelligence’ start-up from Tel Aviv – will serve as the foundation for a new QuantumBlack location, which McKinsey plans to grow and expand in the coming years, according to the press release.
In other words: Not buying and then cannibalizing, but investing and creating jobs in Israel. No talk of exodus of IT professionals abroad in protest against the Netanyahu government. Rather, the opposite seems to be true.
And after the market liberalization announced today to facilitate imports and exports, a relieved sigh went through the entrepreneurial world. All in all, left wing propaganda. It is just a pity that Israeli business magazines cum grano salis go with them and fuel this left wing propaganda against the government.
So, back to McKinsey. The press release explains: “McKinsey & Company today (23rd January) announced that it has acquired Iguazio, a Tel-Aviv-based leader in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. McKinsey will be able to accelerate and scale AI deployments dramatically with the addition of Iguazio’s technology and a team of 70+ data and AI experts.”
More than $490B was invested in AI by organizations around the globe from 2012-2021. And the lion’s share went to Israeli start-ups. Does anyone really think that investors will now write off and destroy their investments because of a little excitement from the left? Most likely not.
QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey has been working with clients to address these challenges head-on and embed AI into real time decision-making. The final element we have been working on is a technology solution that will accelerate AI deployment, embedding it in real-time and in any environment.
“After analysing more than 1000 AI companies worldwide, Iguazio was identified as the best fit to help us significantly accelerate our AI offering – from the initial concept to production, in a simplified, scalable and automated manner,” said Ben Ellencweig, McKinsey senior partner and QuantumBlack global leader of alliances and acquisitions.
A bright future is ahead for Israel’s economy. But and of course, the world is in heavy water, but that is not the fault of the new Netanyahu government which seeks to strengthen democracy in Israel.