On a mission to allow non-software businesses to compete on a par with tech natives, the Augmented Intelligence Foundation aims to provide companies with knowledge and tools that can help them make sense of technology and artificial intelligence.
“When it comes to innovation, there is no one-size-fits-all approach,” said Uljan Sharka, Founder and CEO of iGenius.
“Technology moves fast, and investing in AI projects can be a make or break. Businesses however travel at different speeds. Enterprise AI is still somewhat unchartered territory, and decisions on where to concentrate investments, and more importantly on where to deploy AI projects, are anything but universal.”
AI is high on companies’ agendas, with investments at an unprecedented peak.
A 2019 study of Fortune 1000 companies by advisory firm New Vantage Partners revealed that almost 92% of businesses surveyed are increasing the pace of their big data and AI investments.
The most frequently cited reason behind these investments being “fear of disruption from data-driven digital competitors”.
AI investments that lack vertical specification and fail to address clear use cases risk however turning into bolted-on, “vanity projects” that run parallel to a business’s core and fail to add value from within.
“Investing in AI projects for the sake of having AI projects does not automatically translate into a competitive advantage in the race for innovation,” added Sharka.
“Starting from the idea of applying AI to a business is the wrong approach — businesses should start by looking at their main challenges to understand practical use cases: that will define where AI should be applied, and how.”
AI is for Augmented Intelligence
AI has become such an abused buzzword lately that it somewhat lost meaning along the way.
The concept of augmented intelligence, which the Augmented Intelligence Foundation rests on, stems from the application of AI to the workplace: whilst AI is expected to increasingly automate repetitive tasks, the key change brought by widespread adoption of AI projects will be a close collaboration between humans and machines.
In other words, the idea is that human intelligence and skills will not be replaced by technology, but augmented by it.
The Augmented Intelligence Foundation will bring together a network of partners, associations, academia and other stakeholders to provide companies with tools, inside knowledge and 1o1 advice aimed at devising bespoke AI projects that are built from the inside out.
“We are proud to be the driving force of the Augmented Intelligence Foundation,” said Sharka. “We realize however we have an ambitious project on our hands, and we need all the help we can get to turn our vision into reality.”
“We are delighted to kick off the Augmented Intelligence Foundation with MIND as our very first partner — our values and intent being much aligned. At the same time, we are working on building a network of partners — associations, academia and other relevant stakeholders — and we encourage anyone interested in getting involved to get in touch.”
MIND — Milano Innovation District — is the result of a partnership between Arexpo, the area that hosted the 2015 Expo in Milan, and leading international property and infrastructure group Lendlease. MIND is a new innovative district where academia, research and education institutions, enterprises, as well as startups, incubators and accelerators can share resources, knowledge and technology.
Andrea Ruckstuhl, Head of Italy and Continental Europe at Lendlease, said: “We are delighted to welcome the first companies to MIND. This is the starting point of an innovation ecosystem allowing individual players to progress by sharing resources and infrastructures. MIND aims to become a European hub where innovation will help solve some of the big challenges of the future.”
Companies interested in knowing more about the Augmented Intelligence Foundation and receiving advice and know-how on enterprise AI are encouraged to visit augmentedintelligence.foundation.
For press enquiries, please contact foundation@igenius.ai.