Nick Therkelsen-Terry (Max Kelsen)
Max Kelsen’s consulting and managed services divisions have been
acquired by the US-based Bain & Company to push out artificial intelligence
(AI) and machine learning (ML) solutions on a global scale.
The AI and ML consultancy was founded in 2015 and the consulting and managed service divisions will now operate as an integrated team under Bain’s Advanced Analytics Group.
Previously, Max Kelsen has provided services for the University of Queensland and Domino’s Pizza, both of which were announced in 2020.
Most of Max Kelsen's leadership will make the move over to the new ownership as part of the deal, which includes cofounder and CEO Nicholas Therkelsen-Terry, head of engineering Michael Blake, engineering leads Holly Hutson, Jessica Davis, Kelly Baxendale and Ali Maan, ML and MLOps practice lead Jacob O'Farrell and head of delivery Jade Chopping. In total, 30 employees will move to Bain.
After a transition period, the Max Kelsen brand in relation to these divisions will be retired.
Its leftover divisions, which include the products-based SAVI Surgical and PROPeL Health AI as well as a research division, are not included as part of the deal. These arms will operate independently under individual brand names going forward, with Darren Gaunt, Max Kelsen COO, being CEO of SAVI and Navid Toosi Saidy, Max Kelsen digital health lead, taking up the mantle of CEO of Propel Health.
Therkelsen-Terry said these divisions were incubated inside Max Kelsen and are focused on building business-to-business (B2B) software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions, which "is not a space Bain are as active in".
"Given their maturity, we decided to spin them out and build dedicated leadership teams for each of them. Post-acquisition, these two businesses will be able to double down the focus on their respective strategies in driving patient focused AI and related breakthroughs for healthcare in Australia and around the world," he said.
"This transaction gives us an opportunity to do that at the same time. The Max Kelsen shareholders are very excited about the trajectory of both businesses."
Meanwhile, Bain & Company is a global consulting firm that operates in 40 countries and is currently on a 10-year commitment to provide $1 billion worth of pro bono services.
“We are excited to join Bain at a time when businesses are starting to navigate the disruptions brought on by generative AI,” said Therkelsen-Terry.
“In a rapidly evolving business climate, companies that understand how to use these tools to their advantage will come out on top. By joining Bain, we are thrilled to be working with an even larger pool of global clients and supporting Bain to build a robust global centre of excellence for ML.”
Additionally, Richard Fleming, leader of Bain’s Advanced Analytics Group in Asia Pacific, said the acquisition would strengthen the company’s suite of AI and ML capabilities both regionally and globally.
