Vertesia & Florence Consulting Group strike AI deal

Vertesia and Florence Consulting Group have formed a strategic partnership in Europe focused on rolling out AI systems for large organisations.

The partnership combines Vertesia's AI software with Florence Consulting Group's integration and delivery capabilities to help businesses move AI projects into live operations.

Italy-based Florence Consulting Group works with large organisations in sectors including financial services, infrastructure, manufacturing, automotive, pharmaceuticals, the public sector and retail. It has offices in Florence, Milan, Rome, Cosenza and Madrid, and employs nearly 200 professionals.

Under the agreement, the companies will focus on document-heavy and data-intensive workflows that span core business systems. The work will cover AI strategy, integration and deployment across cloud, on-premise and hybrid environments.

The aim is to address a common problem in corporate AI programmes, where projects remain limited to chatbots or proof-of-concept work rather than being integrated into business processes.

"Organisations have spent years investing in AI, but many initiatives remain stuck at the stage of simple chatbots or proofs of concept," said Niccolò Francini, chief executive of Florence Consulting Group.

"Our partnership with Vertesia allows us to provide enterprises with the best foundation for integrating AI into core processes and decision-making to make agentic AI truly operational," Francini said.

Platform update

The announcement coincides with a product update from Vertesia, which has released more than 50 new skills and more than 50 new tools for its platform.

The additions are intended to expand the range of tasks AI agents can handle within business workflows. Vertesia describes its platform as software for intelligent content processing, context-aware workflows and automated task execution with governance and compliance controls.

In Europe, demand for AI systems that can be deployed within existing regulatory and operational requirements has become a central issue for technology suppliers and their consulting partners. Companies are under pressure to show returns on AI spending while maintaining oversight of data use, security and internal controls.

This has helped drive more partnerships between service providers and software firms. Platform vendors are seeking local delivery partners with established relationships with large enterprise customers, while system integrators want access to specialist AI software that can be embedded into broader transformation programmes.

Tim Hood, senior vice president for EMEA at Vertesia, said the partnership reflects the complexity of deploying AI in large organisations.

"AI transformation in the enterprise is not a product decision; it is a program," Hood said.

"It requires partners who understand complex architectures, long-term client relationships, and what it takes to make technology work in production. FCG is exactly that. Modern enterprises need AI-native solutions built for complexity, not bolted on after the fact, and we are proud to partner with a team that shares that standard," he said.

Florence Consulting Group says it has more than 10 years of experience in enterprise IT consulting and works across cloud and digital transformation, data and AI, digital process automation, cyber security, networking and DevOps.

For Vertesia, the deal adds a European consulting and systems integration partner with an established position in Italy and operations in Spain. For Florence Consulting Group, it provides access to a platform aimed at customers that want AI embedded in core processes rather than used as a standalone assistant.

The joint work will target secure, compliant and governable AI deployments in production environments for enterprise customers across Europe.