Lucidworks scales up European business for 2020 with an AI powered digital commerce focus

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AI-powered search company Lucidworks enters its fiscal year with several new appointments in Europe. Nick Jones joins as Vice President, Professional Services, Europe, and was previously Managing Director, EMEA, at Cirrus10, prior to the firm’s acquisition by Lucidworks.

This follows past European appointments of Philipp Fuhrmann, as Regional Director, DACH, along with Frazer LaChance as European lead for Client Development. Fuhrmann previously held executive positions at plentyLeads, Tealium and Oracle.  

Last year, the firm delivered positive global and European customer wins, including: ACE Hardware, Lenovo and Mintel, that rely on Lucidworks’ AI-powered search to create more engaging digital experiences to boost the bottom line.  

John Western, Regional Vice President, Europe, Lucidworks, said: "We're delighted to be ramping up the European business and investing locally.  Even in these uncertain economic times, we continue to see growing demand for our Digital Workplace and Digital Commerce AI and ML based Fusion technology and service offerings, so it's imperative that we further extend our expertise in the region to ensure our customers’ success.”  

He continued: “We are pleased with our momentum to date and expect to see further growth this year, as businesses shift even further to digital, so we plan to be fully prepared to support them on their journeys to digital commerce success.” 

Nick Jones will be responsible for ensuring European customers and partners are successful with Lucidworks Fusion, as they expand their digital businesses, providing professional services advice and leadership on eCommerce and Search to customers and leading a growing team of consultants in the region.  Previously as Managing Director Cirrus10, Nick Jones set up the European consultancy arm specialising in eCommerce Search, and advised clients including: John Lewis, Wiggle, Premier Farnell, Arcadia and RS Components. Prior to that, he was Director Professional services at OpenText.

This announcement follows Lucidworks’ acquisition, in January 2020, of Cirrus10, an ecommerce solutions expert with more than 100 ecommerce customers, after a successful two-year partnership. Lucidworks search and AI expertise combined with Cirrus10’s deep domain knowledge allowed the companies to address the specific demands of ecommerce verticals and develop more targeted offerings. Peter Curran, former Cirrus10 co-founder and CEO, was named Lucidworks General Manager, Digital Commerce. 

Lucidworks continues to drive value at companies like Lenovo, a B2C and B2B business spanning over 180 countries in 88 different languages. Marc Desormeau, Lenovo’s global search lead, said: “We don’t have to go in and validate that results are good, our customers are telling us the results are good. We’ve had some dramatic growth. The results that we’ve had with Fusion are nothing short of astounding.”

Best-in-Class Search and AI Solution

In November 2019, Lucidworks Fusion received the highest scores from Gartner, one of the world’s leading independent technology research and advisory firms, in three out of four use cases for the Gartner Critical Capabilities for Insight Engines, 2019 report. The report came on the heels of Gartner naming Lucidworks the only Visionary in the Magic Quadrant for Insight Engines, 2019, and Forrester, one of the world’s leading independent technology research and advisory firms, citing the company as a Leader in its Q2 2019 Forrester Wave.