The Reference Rebrands as Empathy Lab by EPAM to Usher in a New Era of Human-Centered, AI-Native Digital Experiences

The Reference Rebrands as Empathy Lab by EPAM to Usher in a New Era of Human-Centered, AI-Native Digital Experiences

Belgium's first digital agency unites with the former Emakina team under the Empathy Lab umbrella to deliver AI-powered, customer-centric innovation across Europe

NEWTOWN, PA, USA and Ghent, Belgium, September 12, 2025 - EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE: EPAM), a leading digital transformation services and product engineering company, today announced the rebranding of The Reference, Belgium's first digital agency, as Empathy Lab by EPAM. After 32 years of pioneering digital innovation, The Reference is entering its next chapter, merging with the former Emakina Belgium as one unified team under Empathy Lab to deliver future-ready customer experiences at the intersection of technology, creativity and human insight.

"The rapid rise of AI is triggering a wave of marketing innovation, offering CMOs unprecedented opportunities to harness data and new technologies that not only reduce cost and complexity but drive ever more personal and compelling digital experiences," said Alex van Gestel, Vice President of Consumer Products and Head of the Benelux Region, EPAM. "By bringing together the creative and digital heritage of The Reference and Emakina under Empathy Lab, we're strengthening our mission to help senior marketing and digital leaders design and scale AI-driven content and commerce, and in doing so, delivering new customer value and tangible business growth."

Founded in 1993 as Belgium's first digital agency, The Reference has played a defining role in shaping digital experiences in the Belgian market for three decades. Celebrated for its innovative yet pragmatic customer-centric approach, the agency has guided its clients through every wave of digital innovation by combining strategic thinking, design ingenuity, digital marketing and technical excellence to achieve measurable business impact for its clients.

The announcement follows EPAM's launch of Empathy Lab across Europe earlier this year, which included the rebranding of its Emakina digital and marketing agencies in Belgium and the Netherlands. Having joined the Emakina Group in 2007, and later EPAM through its acquisition of the Emakina Group in 2021, The Reference has evolved into a trusted partner for some of the best-known brands in the Benelux region.

With this brand transition, Empathy Lab by EPAM brings together the Ghent-based team of The Reference and the Brussels-based team of former Emakina Belgium to serve clients across Belgium under a single brand. This unified team combines data scientists, AI experts, technologists, strategists and creatives to deliver client services that drive growth through the integration of creativity, digital expertise and data intelligence.

"Empathy Lab in Belgium is more than the sum of two strong agencies coming together. It's a launchpad for the future of marketing, amplifying creativity and enabling more personal and enduring customer relationships for our clients," said Maarten Bosmans, Managing Director, The Reference. "By blending our creative and digital heritage with AI-native capabilities, we can help brands unlock opportunities they might not yet see and build the kind of customer relationships that will define the next era of business growth."

About Empathy Lab, An EPAM Company

Empathy Lab is an Al-native agency launched by EPAM, a leading global provider of digital strategy, engineering, cloud and AI-enabled transformation services. This foundation gives us something rare: world-class creativity paired with true technology mastery.

Our passionate and curious team of data scientists, technologists, Al experts, strategists, and creatives are driven by the belief that technology should be used to make experiences more human, not less.

We enable brands to listen to their customers at every touchpoint, understand their context, behaviors and preferences, adapt to the individual, and engage with them in the moment through next-gen marketing, omni-modal experiences, total commerce, generative loyalty and intelligent products.

Our goal is to help brands understand and serve consumers like never before, by building of genuine empathy at scale.

Learn more at https://www.empathylab.com and follow us on LinkedIn

About EPAM Systems

Since 1993, EPAM Systems, Inc. has used its software engineering expertise to become a leading global provider of digital engineering, cloud and AI-enabled transformation services, and a leading business and experience consulting partner for global enterprises and ambitious startups. We address our clients' transformation challenges by focusing EPAM Continuum's integrated strategy, experience and technology consulting with our 30+ years of engineering execution to speed our clients' time to market and drive greater value from their innovations and digital investments.

We leverage AI and GenAI to deliver transformative solutions that accelerate our clients' digital innovation and enhance their competitive edge. Through platforms like EPAM AI/RUN™ and initiatives like DIALX Lab, we integrate advanced AI technologies into tailored business strategies, driving significant industry impact and fostering continuous innovation.

We deliver globally but engage locally with our expert teams of consultants, architects, designers and engineers, making the future real for our clients, our partners, and our people around the world. We believe the right solutions are the ones that improve people's lives and fuel competitive advantage for our clients across diverse industries. Our thinking comes to life in the experiences, products and platforms we design and bring to market.

Added to the S&P 500 and the Forbes Global 2000 in 2021 and recognized by Glassdoor and Newsweek as Most Loved Workplace, our multidisciplinary teams serve customers across six continents. We are proud to be among the top 15 companies in Information Technology Services in the Fortune 1000 and to be recognized as a leader in the IDC MarketScapes for Worldwide Experience Build Services, Worldwide Experience Design Services and Worldwide Software Engineering Services.

Learn more at https://www.epam.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statements

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