By Arsheeya Bajwa

May 6 (Reuters) - Data analytics firm Palantir

Technologies ( PLTR ) raised its annual revenue and profit

forecast and beat first-quarter sales estimates on Monday,

riding on strong demand for its services that help businesses

deploy artificial intelligence applications.

The company has emerged as a winner of the generative AI

boom thanks to its artificial intelligence platform, which is

used to test and debug code and help evaluate AI-related

scenarios, among other uses.

"AIP is driving a huge part of both our new customers and

growth within existing customers and its having a huge impact on

our business," chief revenue officer Ryan Taylor told Reuters.

Taylor said businesses were signing "seven-figure deals

shortly" after completing its AI bootcamps, which give potential

clients access to its platform for up to five days and have been

credited with driving rapid customer additions.

Palantir ( PLTR ) said it conducted 660 boot camps in the first

quarter and closed 87 deals worth $1 million or more across the

business, with its customer count increasing by 42%. It did not

specify how many customers were converted through the boot camp.

The company, co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel, raised

the mid-point of its 2024 revenue forecast to $2.68 billion from

its earlier mid-point of about $2.66 billion.

Palantir ( PLTR ) works closely with governments, providing

software for visualizing army positions, among other things.

However, the company has been trying to diversify its

revenue to reduce its reliance on government spending.

Its government revenue rose 16% in the quarter ended March

31, while commercial revenue jumped 27% as U.S. commercial

customer count in the segment increased 69%.

The company also raised its 2024 U.S. commercial revenue

forecast to above $661 million from its earlier expectations of

about $640 million.

Palantir ( PLTR ) reported first-quarter revenue of $634.3

million and its largest quarterly profit according to a CEO

letter. Four analysts polled by LSEG had expected revenue of

$625.4 million.