EPAM Systems launches Empathy Lab to rewire marketing with agentic, human-centered AI

EPAM brings empathy to AI-driven marketing

EPAM Systems announces the North American launch of Empathy Lab by EPAM from Newtown, Pennsylvania, expanding an AI-native agency model that the company pilots in Europe. The unit aims to help chief marketing officers unify marketing, product and technology by building agentic, human-centered platforms that combine EPAM’s engineering depth with creative and commercial objectives.

Empathy Lab's North America push aims to rewire marketing with 'agentic' platforms

EPAM positions Empathy Lab as a response to mounting CMO pressure to move beyond incremental automation and toward orchestration of creativity, data and technology as a single connected system. The company frames 2026 as the year marketing must be re-architected for orchestration rather than mere efficiency, and says the lab already partners with global brands and leading agency groups to pilot next-generation marketing capabilities.

Senior executives stress that the lab is not a traditional agency. Elaina Shekhter, EPAM’s SVP and Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer, says Empathy Lab reconnects siloed functions and places empathy at the center of AI-powered experiences. David Billings, Chief Strategy Officer of Empathy Lab, emphasizes that the bigger opportunity beyond automation is using AI to link insight, creativity and execution so teams can make faster decisions, produce stronger creative work and connect marketing more directly to commercial outcomes.

The Empathy Lab model is built around "agentic" platforms that EPAM says enable agile, precise responses to consumer journeys reshaped by AI. The company highlights measurable commercial impact, faster time-to-market, operational scalability and improved cross-functional governance as primary outcomes, and offers a practical toolkit to pilot, iterate and scale while maintaining ethical, human-centered design and preserving brand equity.

Earnings and execution to illuminate strategy

EPAM is scheduled to report quarterly results on Feb. 19, 2026, and market participants expect commentary on how investments in AI capabilities and offerings like Empathy Lab translate into client demand, utilization rates, new engagements and margin dynamics. Management discussion on how the Empathy Lab model feeds into commercial delivery and revenue recognition could clarify the unit’s role in EPAM’s broader services strategy.

Industry implications and governance challenges

The launch comes as consultancies and agencies race to embed AI across marketing stacks, creating opportunities for engineering-led firms to redefine agency services. EPAM highlights governance, ethical design and brand preservation as selling points, signalling that clients increasingly want both technical orchestration and oversight as they adopt agentic marketing systems.