EXL acquires physical AI model developer iMerit

A major business services company completed its acquisition of an AI data annotation specialist that helps train artificial intelligence models used in robotics and autonomous systems. The acquisition combines the data annotation company's expertise in preparing training data with the larger company's enterprise experience and industry knowledge, creating what they describe as an end-to-end platform for developing AI systems. The deal reflects a broader shift in enterprise AI where competitive advantage comes not from having the most powerful model alone, but from integrating proprietary data, domain expertise, rigorous evaluation, and safety validation throughout the entire AI development process. This approach is particularly important for physical AI applications like robotics and autonomous vehicles, where models must safely interpret real-world conditions and human experts play a critical role in identifying edge cases and ensuring reliable performance before deployment.