Ipsos unveils €1.2 billion AI and acquisition push to revive growth

Ipsos announced a five-year, €1.2 billion investment program designed to accelerate artificial intelligence, technology capabilities and targeted acquisitions as the French market-research firm seeks to restore growth and expand margins. The plan, approved by CEO Jean‑Laurent Poitou and the board, aims to reorient the firm toward higher-value, AI-enabled commercial research and to scale internal analytics capacity.

Company materials and interviews describe the allocation as split between acquisitions to buy specific technologies and internal investments to strengthen platforms and talent. Some media coverage paraphrased the commitment as “more than €1 billion,” and a few outlets cited an equivalent figure of €1.4 billion, but Ipsos’ disclosure consistently states €1.2 billion. Ipsos said it currently employs “over 1,000 data scientists and AI engineers.” Hiring and upskilling programs will expand that pool to support model development, data integration and productisation of analytics services.

The initiative focuses primarily on commercial research, which drives the bulk of Ipsos’ revenue, rather than on political polling. Ipsos intends to develop or acquire most core technologies while remaining open to partnerships where that approach would accelerate progress or meet financial objectives more efficiently. The company emphasised that it will preferentially train AI models on data it owns, such as syndicated studies sold to multiple clients; proprietary client-commissioned studies are subject to contractual terms that may limit internal use for model training.

Ipsos says the program will be mainly funded from free cash flow, with acquisitions expected to speed capability integration and broaden data assets. The investment sits against a backdrop of missed growth targets: a June 2022 Investor Day projected revenues above €3 billion by 2025 and medium-term organic growth of 5-7% for 2023-25. More recent company guidance cited total 2025 revenue of about €2,525 million, organic growth of 0.6%, and an operating margin at constant scope of 12.8% (12.3% after accounting for the temporary dilutive effects of recent deals such as The BVA Family and infas). Ipsos' stated medium-term objectives include average organic growth of 3-4% in 2026-28 with a 13.5% operating margin in 2028, and thereafter average organic growth above 5% with operating margin above 14% in 2029-30.

The proposed capital mix echoes earlier investor communications that allocated significant weight to acquisitions. Ipsos’ Investor Day slides cited acquisitions contributing more than 13% of growth historically, average acquisition spending of €100-200 million per year, incremental CAPEX of roughly €50 million per year, a dividend policy of 25-30% of adjusted EPS, and prior share buyback programs including €115 million for employee free shares and an up-to-€185 million buyback authorization.

Market implications are clear: the plan signals renewed consolidation and productisation in market research as firms chase scale in data integration and AI-delivered insights. Success would depend on Ipsos’ ability to convert technology investments into pricing power and operational leverage while managing client contractual limits on data use. Key open questions for investors include the precise euro split between M&A and internal spend, the annual deployment cadence, and whether acquisitions will materially accelerate the company’s path back to the higher growth and margin targets it has outlined.