It’s a question that’s surely crossed the minds of more than a few tech leaders who are embedding artificial intelligence into their products: is the corporate world ready to fully embrace AI?
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It’s a question that’s surely crossed the minds of more than a few tech leaders who are embedding artificial intelligence into their products: is the corporate world ready to fully embrace AI?
Kinaxis CEO John Sicard addressed the issue head-on in a call with analysts this week after the Kanata-based producer of supply-chain management software announced its third-quarter financial results.
“I think that is becoming part of the norm … I suspect not only for us but for a lot of software companies that are talking about the potency of AI and the promise of AI,” Sicard said. “Before spending dollars, it’s like, ‘OK, it sounds fantastical. Prove it.’”
A few kilometres north of Kinaxis headquarters on March Road, “prove it” is a familiar refrain to Mike Matta and his team at Solink when it comes to AI.
Founded in 2009, Solink specializes in cloud-based software that allows customers such as restaurants, manufacturers and property managers to quickly search footage from digital security cameras and marry it with point-of-sale data to pinpoint specific events, such as when employees dole out refunds or a coffee shop runs out of baked goods.
The goal is to help operators detect fraud and theft and spot inefficiencies in workflows. Solink sells the software on a subscription basis starting at around $150 a month.
The firm has incorporated AI into its products for years to alert operators to anomalies or suspicious activity at their businesses. Now, Solink is upping the ante with a new suite of AI-powered product upgrades that make it even easier for customers to receive continuous real-time notifications and question the smart-security software about everything from which products are selling best to whether employees are adhering to dress codes.
Launched Thursday, the latest innovation, dubbed Sidekick AI, lets customers receive updates based on natural language queries. For example, a retailer can ask the system to send alerts if a location opens late, a shelf is less than 50 per cent stocked or an employee isn’t wearing the proper uniform, simply by conversing with an AI agent in everyday language.
According to Matta, the latest upgrades will help make businesses safer, more efficient and more profitable.
Cameras are running 24-7, recording countless hours of footage, he notes. “Realistically, you can’t digest it all.”
Sidekick AI streamlines the process, Matta explains, by parsing through the mundane, zeroing in on relevant data and instantly delivering insights to users.
“The beauty of having video is that it is a form of truth,” he says. “The fact that you can then start asking an (AI) agent, ‘I want to know when certain discrepancies are happening,’ you can then start to multiply your eyes and ears across your entire business footprint.
“We think AI will be kind of the next leg of the stool that will help all security practitioners or even operations teams be able to digest more information and have a better understanding of their operations.”
Several clients have been testing the new AI product for the past six months. Matta says the response has been enthusiastic.
“We’ve already seen those customers saying, ‘I need to be able to deploy this right away,’” he says.
