EPAM Systems Launches North American Empathy Lab to Re-Architect Marketing with Agentic Platforms

EPAM Unveils Empathy Lab in North America

Agentic Platforms Aim to Re-Architect Marketing

EPAM Systems announces the North American launch of Empathy Lab, an AI-native agency based in Newtown, Pennsylvania, designed to unify marketing, product and technology into connected, agentic platforms. The offering combines EPAM’s engineering capabilities with a human-centered design approach to help chief marketing officers move beyond incremental automation toward systems that orchestrate creativity, data and technology as one connected business function. Elaina Shekhter, EPAM’s SVP and chief marketing and strategy officer, says Empathy Lab reconnects siloed functions and “puts empathy at the center of every AI-powered experience.”

The lab focuses on building platforms that enable faster decision-making, stronger creative output and a clearer link between marketing activity and commercial results, EPAM says. David Billings, chief strategy officer of Empathy Lab, emphasizes that the bigger opportunity is using AI to connect insight, creativity and execution so teams can produce work that preserves brand differentiation while scaling demand and emotional connection. EPAM positions the service to deliver measurable commercial impact through faster time-to-market, operational scalability and improved cross-functional governance.

EPAM frames 2026 as the year marketing must be re-architected for orchestration rather than mere efficiency, arguing that brands need agentic solutions to respond to consumer journeys reshaped by AI. The lab provides a practical model and toolkit for marketing and technology leaders to pilot, iterate and scale agentic solutions while maintaining ethical, human-centered design and protecting brand equity amid rapid AI-driven change.

Proven European roots

Empathy Lab follows a successful inaugural year in Europe and already partners with global brands and leading agency groups, EPAM says. The North American launch aims to scale that model, translating lessons from European engagements into playbooks and engineering patterns for U.S. and Canadian clients.

CMO pressure and industry implications

The launch comes as CMOs face mounting pressure to link creative work directly to commercial outcomes and to govern AI deployments responsibly. EPAM positions Empathy Lab as a response to those demands, offering engineering-led, empathy-driven platforms that seek to balance automation, creativity and ethical considerations.