Behavox, a pioneering artificial intelligence data analytics firm, announced today they are opening a research and development center in Montréal, Québec, in August, to capitalize on the wealth of talent the city has to offer.

When at full capacity, the Montréal office will employ 200 individuals, most of whom will be technology professionals working on Behavox’s industry-leading enterprise data analytics platform, currently used by some of the world’s largest banks, broker-dealers and hedge funds.

Behavox’s machine learning software enables firms to search, interrogate, and generate immediate insights from enormous amounts of employee-generated data, including emails, text messages, trade data and voice calls, all tracked in real-time.

“Behavox is first and foremost a machine learning company and we are greatly attracted to the highly diverse technology talent Montréal has to offer,” said Erkin Adylov, Founder and CEO of Behavox. “Montréal is truly an AI development center, with voice and text analytics being particularly strong areas.”

The city’s proximity to North American financial centers will help accelerate Behavox’s growth as a leader in behavioural and people analytics, alongside tapping into the soaring Canadian banking market. “This is a very exciting opportunity to expand staffing and R&D capabilities to further serve Behavox’s client base,” Adylov said.

“Our government is seeking to make Québec and Montréal a hub of expertise recognized in the world over in the realm of artificial intelligence,” said Dominique Anglade, Deputy Premier, Minister of Economy, Science and Innovation and Minister responsible for the Digital Strategy. “We are indeed pleased that a subsidiary of Behavox is to open in Montréal, which will further promote the rapid development of this technological revolution in Québec and create 200 highly skilled jobs. We are proud to witness a genuine ecosystem take shape in the realm of artificial intelligence, both through the establishment of research and development centres such as this one in Montréal and the adoption by Québec firms of innovative technologies.”

Pierre Gabriel Côté, President and CEO of Investissement Québec added, “We welcome Behavox’s decision to open an R&D centre on Québec soil. This move is a testament to the strength and expertise of Montréal’s artificial intelligence ecosystem. AI is a growing industry in this city, and the wealth of our talent pool makes it fertile ground for any company interested in investing here. We are proud to have helped showcase the advantages of choosing Montréal for this key actor in the organizational AI sector.”

“Montréal’s artificial intelligence sector brings together over 250 leading researchers in an exceptional collaborative ecosystem, making it a research hub and one of the world’s most attractive locations for foreign companies,” said Hubert Bolduc, President and CEO of Montréal International. “Last year, almost a quarter of the investments we facilitated were concentrated in the AI sector and the 2018 results are already exceeding our expectations.”

Behavox is a global enterprise headquartered in London, and also has offices in Singapore, New York and San Francisco.