EPAM Systems, a leading digital and AI transformation company, has announced the launch of Empathy Lab by EPAM in North America. This AI-focused agency is designed to help brands build smart, human-centered growth systems in a world increasingly shaped by AI.
As AI changes how people search for, compare, as well as buy products, Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) are feeling more pressure to move past basic automation and find new ways for creativity, data, and technology to work together. Empathy Lab aids marketing as well as digital leaders who combine these elements into one connected system, supporting brands to stay unique, increase demand, as well as build strong customer relationships.
The launch in North America follows a successful first year in Europe, where Empathy Lab has partnered with global brands and top agency groups. These companies need a new kind of partner to create advanced marketing platforms that mix EPAM’s engineering skills with a focus on human-centered growth and decision-making.
Marketing is entering a crucial stage. As AI-driven search and automated shopping speed up consumer decisions, brands risk focusing too much on speed and cost, losing emotional connection and long-term demand. While 2025 was the year brands began utilizing AI, 2026 is expected to be the year when marketing leaders rebuild their strategies for better coordination, not just effectiveness.
Empathy Lab combines top-notch creativity along with deep technology expertise to aid brands succeed in this evolving landscape.
Executive Statement
According to Elaina Shekhter, Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer, EPAM, CMOs are now expected to use AI to bring product, technology, data and customer experience together in ways that simply they are not part of the job before, and many marketing organizations they are not built for that challenging shift. They launched Empathy Lab to help CMOs navigate this change, reconnecting siloed functions and putting empathy at the center of every AI-powered experience. Bringing this proven approach to North America gives marketing technology leaders a practical model to scale impact in an AI-driven economy.
