Fico, the leading provider of predictive analytics and decision management technology, today announced that it has relocated its corporate headquarters to San Jose, Calif. from Minneapolis.
The new headquarters will serve as an innovation and development hub in the heart of Silicon Valley, enabling the company to continue to take advantage of technology innovations in Big Data and cloud computing, and draw from the region's deep technology talent pool.
The move brings FICO back to its origins — the company was founded as Fair, Isaac in 1956 by engineer Bill Fair and mathematician Earl Isaac, who met when working on operations research projects at the Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park, Calif. In its early days, the company revolutionized consumer lending through credit scoring, with analytic products such as the FICO® Score, the standard measure of U.S. consumer credit health. Today banks, retailers, insurance companies, government agencies, pharmaceuticals companies, telecommunications firms and many other organizations use FICO analytic software to make better decisions.
"FICO began in Silicon Valley, and we view this move as a homecoming," said Will Lansing, president and CEO of FICO. "Operating from our base in Silicon Valley, we can more readily build upon our company's deep talent pool, collaborate with other big thinkers in the world's premier technology hub, and provide our customers worldwide with powerful innovations that will help them compete more effectively in the era of Big Data."
"I want to thank FICO for choosing to locate its headquarters in San Jose and expanding its presence in Silicon Valley," said San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed. "A leader in the growing field of analytics, FICO exemplifies the type of innovation that makes San Jose the Capital of Silicon Valley. By returning to its roots in Silicon Valley, FICO will have greater access to talent as well as global business and technology partners."
FICO currently employs 90 people in San Jose, and plans to hire additional engineers and analytic scientists throughout the year. The company will continue to maintain regional hubs in San Diego and San Rafael, Calif., London and Birmingham, England, Singapore, Beijing, Sao Paolo, Brazil and at its new offices in Roseville, Minn., which opened last month.