Mid-Course Review at Artificial Life
Cooperation with PricewaterhouseCoopers off to a
successful start
FRANKFURT, November 24, 1999—Artificial Life Deutschland AG, a subsidiary of
Boston-based Artificial Life, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALIF), has been on the German
market for roughly six months and has started a global e-commerce partnership
with PricewaterhouseCoopers Unternehmensberatung GmbH Deutschland. The
first joint product concentrates on the interaction between ALife-PortfolioManager™
and OTMS (Order Transportation and Management System).
Worldwide marketing of e-business solutions planned
In the future, e-business solutions are to be offered worldwide in cooperative
agreements with international partners such as PricewaterhouseCoopers. "Our
experience and technology are the ideal complement to the extensive consulting
services offered by PricewaterhouseCoopers. With PricewaterhouseCoopers as a
partner, we will offer e-business products on a worldwide basis," said Eberhard
Schöneburg, president and CEO of Artificial Life at a press conference in Frankfurt.
In the joint project, PricewaterhouseCoopers will be responsible for management
consultation while Artificial Life will provide the technology, the products and
implementation. In Germany, the company will concentrate on the development of
Internet solutions for banks and financial services providers as well as the
marketing of the products in the German-speaking area. "Since we primarily want
to appeal to financial services providers with our products, we have chosen
Frankfurt as our base in Germany," continued Schöneburg.
Four products in use - new products planned
Currently, Artificial Life has completed four products based on its SmartEngine™
technology. This multi-use technology makes Internet software robots (smart bots)
capable of behaving intelligently and communicating with Internet users in natural
language. ALife-WebGuide™ resides on companies' Web pages and helps the
visitor with navigation. ALife-Messenger™ can be used in e-mail customer service
and support and automates replies to e-mail messages. To support Internet direct
marketing, the Boston-based company developed ALife-Smart Text Analyzer™
which analyzes human-to-bot communications. The newest product,
ALife-PortfolioManager, assists financial analysts in managing and optimizing
portfolios. Three additional products (Personal Tutor, Knowledge Manager and Call
Center Agent) are currently being developed.
Business trend exceedingly positive
Since its market introduction on NASDAQ in December 1998, Artificial Life has
trended very strongly. In the meantime, Artificial Life has opened offices in Boston,
New York, St. Petersburg, Lucerne, and Frankfurt. Corporate headquarters are
located in Boston, research and development takes place in St. Petersburg, and
the international sales office is based in New York.
In the last 12 months, the number of employees has soared from approximately 13
to 250. In the third quarter results, the income from licenses - at roughly one
million U.S. dollars for this quarter alone - was much higher than the revenues from
services for the first time since the initial public offering. "Artificial Life is a fast
growing Internet company, explained Schöneburg. As far as the organization for
the remainder of the company, the bot technology is broken down into four solution
areas: bot-supported customer relationship management (eCRM), e-commerce,
Internet-based financial services applications, and knowledge management. This
differentiates these service areas and as a result of the customer orientation
developed in this manner, they can quickly position themselves in the respective
markets.
MobilCom Deutschland AG, an Artificial Life customer, has a bot named Kim who
assists interested persons with the purchase of mobile telephones. Artificial Life is
building Web sites, equipped with SmartEngine technology, for Liechtenstein
Global Trust (LGT). An additional Artificial Life project has resulted in net-tissimo,
the first bot-based e-commerce shopping application in Switzerland, developed
under a joint venture with Bon appetit.
Artificial Life Deutschland AG
The activities of the German subsidiary are concentrated on the marketing of the
products and the development of e-business applications based on ALife products.
"There is currently a great need for intelligent automated solutions for new
business models on the Internet," Uwe Noelke, senior vice president for sales and
marketing of Artificial Life Deutschland AG, described the present market situation.
"In order to satisfy demand, we will hire a total of 80-100 new employees as
Internet specialists, Java programmers, banking consultants, project managers,
technology consultants, and management engineers by the end of the year 2000.
In addition, we will enter into cooperative agreements with new media agencies and
OEM partners who will integrate our software into their own products in order to
improve their own solutions," continued Noelke. OEM partners are software houses
that offer Internet applications or infrastructure software for the Internet.
Cooperation with PricewaterhouseCoopers
For PricewaterhouseCoopers Unternehmensberatung GmbH, the cooperation with
Artificial Life is the logical consequence of the consideration that the widespread
use of smart bots is automating the human - e-business interface and thus offers
competitive advantages. "One goal of the global partnership is the joint
development and implementation of smart bot-based customer solutions," said Dr.
Kurt Glasner, member of management / e-business partner of
PricewaterhouseCoopers Unternehmensberatung GmbH Deutschland.
Concomitant with this step, PricewaterhouseCoopers has secured the right of use
to all Artificial Life products.
The first product under the cooperation is the interaction of ALife-PortfolioManager
and OTMS as a solution for financial services providers. PortfolioManager manages
the model portfolio and optimizes it with regard to its risk/yield profile. The model
portfolio is then handed over to the OTMS Portfolio Management System where the
optimized model portfolios are used for compliance checks with individual
customer portfolios or groups of customer portfolios (automatic rebalancing).
PricewaterhouseCoopers Unternehmensberatung GmbH
PricewaterhouseCoopers Unternehmensberatung GmbH is one of the leading
management consulting firms in Germany. With approximately 1,800 employees, it
consults with business enterprises in all sectors as well as public and private
organizations in all issues relating to corporate strategy and planning,
reengineering, change management, and information technology. Within the
worldwide network of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the firm operates in over 150
countries and in all important financial centers.
PricewaterhouseCoopers Unternehmensberatung is part of the PwC Deutsche
Revision group. With current revenues of roughly DM 1.8 billion, the group is one of
the leading firms in the areas of auditing, management consulting, tax and legal
consulting, corporate finance, and human resource consulting.
Artificial Life, Inc.
Founded in 1994, Artificial Life, Inc., (NASDAQ: ALIF), develops and markets
intelligent software robots for the Internet. ALife technology is typically used in
CRM (customer relationship management, KM (knowledge management),
e-commerce and Internet-based financial services applications such as portfolio
management. Artificial Life is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
and maintains subsidiaries in Germany, Switzerland, and Russia.
Additional information can be found on the World Wide Web at
www.artificial-life.com.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding Artificial Life, Inc.'s business
which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks
and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could
cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking
statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report or Form 10-K for
the most recently ended fiscal year.
For further information please contact:
Rhonda Cook Public Relations Manager
Artificial Life, Inc. U.S.A.
Tel: (+1) - 617-266-5542
Fax: (+1) - 617-266-5779
E-mail: rhonda.cook@artificial-life.com
Uwe Noelke
Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing
Artificial Life Deutschland AG
Tel: +49 - 69 - 79 30 08-0
Fax: +49 - 69 - 79 30 08-33
E-mail: uwe.noelke@artificial-life.com
Sandra Werning
Trimedia Communications Deutschland GmbH
Tel: +49 - 69 - 9622 19-0
Fax: +49 - 69 - 9622 19-96
E-mail: sandrawerning@fra.trimedia.de
Cooperation with PricewaterhouseCoopers off to a
successful start
FRANKFURT, November 24, 1999—Artificial Life Deutschland AG, a subsidiary of
Boston-based Artificial Life, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALIF), has been on the German
market for roughly six months and has started a global e-commerce partnership
with PricewaterhouseCoopers Unternehmensberatung GmbH Deutschland. The
first joint product concentrates on the interaction between ALife-PortfolioManager™
and OTMS (Order Transportation and Management System).
Worldwide marketing of e-business solutions planned
In the future, e-business solutions are to be offered worldwide in cooperative
agreements with international partners such as PricewaterhouseCoopers. "Our
experience and technology are the ideal complement to the extensive consulting
services offered by PricewaterhouseCoopers. With PricewaterhouseCoopers as a
partner, we will offer e-business products on a worldwide basis," said Eberhard
Schöneburg, president and CEO of Artificial Life at a press conference in Frankfurt.
In the joint project, PricewaterhouseCoopers will be responsible for management
consultation while Artificial Life will provide the technology, the products and
implementation. In Germany, the company will concentrate on the development of
Internet solutions for banks and financial services providers as well as the
marketing of the products in the German-speaking area. "Since we primarily want
to appeal to financial services providers with our products, we have chosen
Frankfurt as our base in Germany," continued Schöneburg.
Four products in use - new products planned
Currently, Artificial Life has completed four products based on its SmartEngine™
technology. This multi-use technology makes Internet software robots (smart bots)
capable of behaving intelligently and communicating with Internet users in natural
language. ALife-WebGuide™ resides on companies' Web pages and helps the
visitor with navigation. ALife-Messenger™ can be used in e-mail customer service
and support and automates replies to e-mail messages. To support Internet direct
marketing, the Boston-based company developed ALife-Smart Text Analyzer™
which analyzes human-to-bot communications. The newest product,
ALife-PortfolioManager, assists financial analysts in managing and optimizing
portfolios. Three additional products (Personal Tutor, Knowledge Manager and Call
Center Agent) are currently being developed.
Business trend exceedingly positive
Since its market introduction on NASDAQ in December 1998, Artificial Life has
trended very strongly. In the meantime, Artificial Life has opened offices in Boston,
New York, St. Petersburg, Lucerne, and Frankfurt. Corporate headquarters are
located in Boston, research and development takes place in St. Petersburg, and
the international sales office is based in New York.
In the last 12 months, the number of employees has soared from approximately 13
to 250. In the third quarter results, the income from licenses - at roughly one
million U.S. dollars for this quarter alone - was much higher than the revenues from
services for the first time since the initial public offering. "Artificial Life is a fast
growing Internet company, explained Schöneburg. As far as the organization for
the remainder of the company, the bot technology is broken down into four solution
areas: bot-supported customer relationship management (eCRM), e-commerce,
Internet-based financial services applications, and knowledge management. This
differentiates these service areas and as a result of the customer orientation
developed in this manner, they can quickly position themselves in the respective
markets.
MobilCom Deutschland AG, an Artificial Life customer, has a bot named Kim who
assists interested persons with the purchase of mobile telephones. Artificial Life is
building Web sites, equipped with SmartEngine technology, for Liechtenstein
Global Trust (LGT). An additional Artificial Life project has resulted in net-tissimo,
the first bot-based e-commerce shopping application in Switzerland, developed
under a joint venture with Bon appetit.
Artificial Life Deutschland AG
The activities of the German subsidiary are concentrated on the marketing of the
products and the development of e-business applications based on ALife products.
"There is currently a great need for intelligent automated solutions for new
business models on the Internet," Uwe Noelke, senior vice president for sales and
marketing of Artificial Life Deutschland AG, described the present market situation.
"In order to satisfy demand, we will hire a total of 80-100 new employees as
Internet specialists, Java programmers, banking consultants, project managers,
technology consultants, and management engineers by the end of the year 2000.
In addition, we will enter into cooperative agreements with new media agencies and
OEM partners who will integrate our software into their own products in order to
improve their own solutions," continued Noelke. OEM partners are software houses
that offer Internet applications or infrastructure software for the Internet.
Cooperation with PricewaterhouseCoopers
For PricewaterhouseCoopers Unternehmensberatung GmbH, the cooperation with
Artificial Life is the logical consequence of the consideration that the widespread
use of smart bots is automating the human - e-business interface and thus offers
competitive advantages. "One goal of the global partnership is the joint
development and implementation of smart bot-based customer solutions," said Dr.
Kurt Glasner, member of management / e-business partner of
PricewaterhouseCoopers Unternehmensberatung GmbH Deutschland.
Concomitant with this step, PricewaterhouseCoopers has secured the right of use
to all Artificial Life products.
The first product under the cooperation is the interaction of ALife-PortfolioManager
and OTMS as a solution for financial services providers. PortfolioManager manages
the model portfolio and optimizes it with regard to its risk/yield profile. The model
portfolio is then handed over to the OTMS Portfolio Management System where the
optimized model portfolios are used for compliance checks with individual
customer portfolios or groups of customer portfolios (automatic rebalancing).
PricewaterhouseCoopers Unternehmensberatung GmbH
PricewaterhouseCoopers Unternehmensberatung GmbH is one of the leading
management consulting firms in Germany. With approximately 1,800 employees, it
consults with business enterprises in all sectors as well as public and private
organizations in all issues relating to corporate strategy and planning,
reengineering, change management, and information technology. Within the
worldwide network of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the firm operates in over 150
countries and in all important financial centers.
PricewaterhouseCoopers Unternehmensberatung is part of the PwC Deutsche
Revision group. With current revenues of roughly DM 1.8 billion, the group is one of
the leading firms in the areas of auditing, management consulting, tax and legal
consulting, corporate finance, and human resource consulting.
Artificial Life, Inc.
Founded in 1994, Artificial Life, Inc., (NASDAQ: ALIF), develops and markets
intelligent software robots for the Internet. ALife technology is typically used in
CRM (customer relationship management, KM (knowledge management),
e-commerce and Internet-based financial services applications such as portfolio
management. Artificial Life is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
and maintains subsidiaries in Germany, Switzerland, and Russia.
Additional information can be found on the World Wide Web at
www.artificial-life.com.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding Artificial Life, Inc.'s business
which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks
and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could
cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking
statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report or Form 10-K for
the most recently ended fiscal year.
For further information please contact:
Rhonda Cook Public Relations Manager
Artificial Life, Inc. U.S.A.
Tel: (+1) - 617-266-5542
Fax: (+1) - 617-266-5779
E-mail: rhonda.cook@artificial-life.com
Uwe Noelke
Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing
Artificial Life Deutschland AG
Tel: +49 - 69 - 79 30 08-0
Fax: +49 - 69 - 79 30 08-33
E-mail: uwe.noelke@artificial-life.com
Sandra Werning
Trimedia Communications Deutschland GmbH
Tel: +49 - 69 - 9622 19-0
Fax: +49 - 69 - 9622 19-96
E-mail: sandrawerning@fra.trimedia.de
