Author: Ayman A.

Generative AI Accuracy: Science or Art?

by Ayman A.

Seed any talented, experienced Founder with $1Billion at day zero of their mission, and they’re likely to deliver something seismically impressive 7 years later.

And so it goes with Sam Altman. When ChatGPT dropped, it went viral. Spellbinding 100 million people in less than 2 months.

Looking past the headlines, what I find fascinating is the direction OpenAI took in allowing ChatGPT’s Users free-form prompt entry.

Free-form entry is when your computer interface allows you to write (or draw) inputs freely.

In a Generative AI input context, it’s equivalent to handing over the keys of every car in your dealership to prospective buyers for a test drive without a shred of identification or collateral from them, and hoping they return.

It’s a big risk. Because you simply don’t know what they’re going to do.

Sam & Co. took that risk. Letting their users write anything that occurred to them, and trusting that the system they’d built would be able to generate some kind of response. Kudos to them.

Truth Be Damned.

But there’s a little secret that swooning media headlines don’t speak of.

Aside from enormous capital resources, Sam had another luxury afforded to him. That the degree of accuracy of ChatGPT’s responses, wasn’t a priority.

Safe in the knowledge that improvement in accuracy would come with later iterations of their GPT framework, what mattered more was that ChatGPT generate a response. Any response would do, so long as it were contextually and syntactically correct. Even if it weren’t entirely true.

In other words the priority for ChatGPT was to be output-oriented, and that accuracy would be improved down the line.

Software As A Service. Accuracy As An Obsession.

There are less funded Founders that do not have such resources and the learning curve it affords.

I’m one of them.

Having set out in 2019 to develop a themed language model, we were cognisant of the need to deliver accurate output, or else we’d fail to launch.

Our entire focus became outcome-oriented. We needed to ensure that our Generative AI would deliver content of value specific to our target Users’ use case.

Overwrite.ai is a real estate themed language model.

Written in a combination of languages, overwrite is trained through reinforcement learning and rule-based action, using a proprietary corpus of over 2Billion scale parameters to generate syntactically, contextually and factually correct real estate marketing content.

Used by the real estate industry to instantly generate unique and engaging property listings. Content that can neither be generic nor factually misleading, for search optimisation and legal reasons respectively.

People are increasingly understanding the value of Generative AI accuracy.

Input First. Output After. Sounds Easy Enough.

To deliver that absolute accuracy, we needed to guide our Users through the input process. We couldn’t expect them to know what to prompt the system with. How could they? Before ChatGPT’s release the very concepts of Generative AI and Prompt Engineering were known only to those within the industry. Certainly not to our real estate marketing audience.

So we developed a prompt input system of our own. One that takes Users through a dynamically responsive journey. Meandering. Adapting prompts and predicting inputs as it goes. Never risking human error, insufficient inputs or hallucinatory outcomes.

We knew at the time that consumer-friendly prompt engineering would one day become critical to the widespread adoption of AI tools. (Fun Fact: Today Prompt Engineer. salaries are reaching $400K)

That meant finding the Goldilocks Zone between the AI science, and the very human art of communication.

Designed for specific use cases, Themed Language Models like overwrite do not need to be all things for all people. They can be fit-for-purpose more cost-effectively, and user-efficiently than their large language model cousins. Now that frameworks make generative AI model development easy and fast for enterprises; developers must remember to strike that UX balance between what’s good enough for them, and what’s expected from their Users.

Ayman is recognised as one of MENA’s leading Generative AI pioneers.

He is the Founder and CEO of overwrite.ai, the MENA region’s pioneering Real Estate Themed Generative AI, an NVIDIA Inception Program partner.

With +20years of corporate and entrepreneurial experience, he regularly features on thought leadership panels, blogs, vlogs and radio segments, sharing his often inspirational opinions about Artificial Intelligence and entrepreneurship.

overwrite.ai is a pioneering Themed Generative AI, creating engagement-oriented content for the real estate industry. 

We create the marketing content that powers the real estate industries of the UAE, KSA, Egypt and Lebanon.

For informative news and views on the world of real estate, proptech and AI, follow overwrite on Instagram and LinkedIn, and keep up-to-date with our weekly NewsBites blog.

overwrite | real estate content creation, reimagined.

Startup Founders Should Learn From Captain Marvel

by Ayman A.

I love the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

I didn’t at first. Mass-market Hollywood Blockbuster cheese, I thought.

I was more into the hi-brow stuff (Yes Sir…🤨).

But now I’m 43 with 2 kids. Family movie nights are a thing for us at this stage in our lives. Marvel’s hit that spot.

The wife loves #DrStrange.

My son is all in on #Spidey.

My daughter is pre-teening, so none of it is cool enough.

Me…I’ve been enjoying #Thor‘s escapades.

But there’s one moment in the entire MCU that, in my humble opinion, defines the #entrepreneur‘s journey better than any #influencer or #MBA course ever can.

Try. Fail. Rise. Unleash.

It’s that scene in #CaptainMarvel. When she realises that she’s been blocking herself from unleashing her full potential. Fighting with one hand tied behind her back.

She changes her psychology. Sets her mind free.

And in so doing, she unlocks the full awesomeness of her raw power.

At that point, even #chrishemsworth will probably agree that #CaptainMarvel is the most powerful of all the MCU characters.

#Founders and #Entrepreneurs; you are no different to #CaptainMarvel. Your power is raw and unlimited.

You are where you are, doing what you are doing, because you dared.

Many of the people in your universe, haven’t dared to go it alone. To do what you’re doing. They don’t understand what it’s like. Every…single…day.

So block out the social media noise and all the social constraints.

Don’t hold back. Don’t mute yourself. Don’t doubt or deny yourself.

Don’t seek to please or to be understood.

Just get #raw! Do it as you see it. Say it as you mean it.

Unleash the truest version of yourself. Your success will follow.

NB: No cheese 🧀 was harmed in the making of this post

Ayman Alashkar is a real estate economist and AI strategist, with +20years’ experience as real estate asset manager, investor, developer and banker.

Prior to beginning his entrepreneurial journey, Ayman was Head of Real Estate for Emirates NBD’s Private Bank, where he was responsible for $2.2 Billion in UHNWI customer Assets Under Advisory. Before this, Ayman was a MENA Director of Real Estate Advisory at Global consultancy Colliers International.

Ayman has transacted and financed over US$1.5 Billion in real estate and FX investments.

For informative and light-hearted news and views on the world of real estate, follow overwrite.ai on Instagram and LinkedIn, and keep up-to-date with our weekly NewsBites blog.

overwrite.ai | the AI writing assistant for estate agents | Sign up for your Free 7 Day Trial.

Revealed: 4 Reasons why DUBAI house prices can soften in 2022

by Ayman A.

Your cab driver’s got one. So does your mother-in-law. Your best friend too. Everyone has an opinion on Dubai house prices.

Here’s mine: I see Dubai house prices softening this year. And here are 4 signals that are flashing red.

#1: Quantitative Tightening

Over a decade of quantitative easing has finally come home to roost. Printing money ad infinitum led to excess liquidity, and plenty of free lunch. But we all know there’s no such thing.

At a recent event JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, the world’s #1 banking CEO, said “Several aspects of quantitative easing programs “backfired,” including negative rates, which he called a “huge mistake.”

Central banks “don’t have a choice because there’s too much liquidity in the system,” Dimon said, referring to the tightening actions. “They have to remove some of the liquidity to stop the speculation, reduce home prices and stuff like that.”

#2: Interest Rate Increases

If by now you haven’t got the message that the Federal Reserve bank of the United States is increasing interest rates by at least another 2% this year, what rock have you been hiding under?

Anyone thinking the impact of this will simply be a few additional hundred dollars a month on a mortgage repayment, might want to reconsider; Car loans. Personal loans. And credit card debt. It all adds up.

The argument that prices are shielded by cash purchases in Dubai’s luxury residential real estate segment, isn’t good enough. The majority of middle-income homeowners have mortgage financed their property purchases.

How long can the average family contend with the increased costs of consumer goods, loans and fuel?

Expect a chunk of middle-income households to be tipped into debt burdens they can’t comfortably keep up with. To reduce their monthly obligations, they’ll sell properties.

That will introduce more supply to the market at a time when developers are in full swing, putting downward pressure on prices up and down the price spectrum.

#3: Replacement Costs

When the cost of buying a secondary market home is equal to or less than the cost of building the same home from the ground up; don’t think. Buy the home that’s ready to move into. Immediate utility. No-brainer.

China’s zero-covid tolerance policy. Inflated costs of labour and materials. Broken supply chains. All have compounded the cost of building, causing the price of new homes to increase. That’s lifted demand for ready homes. Values have risen.

What happens as those costs ease? US President Joe Biden’s plan to fix supply chain issues and reduce trade tariffs with China are designed to tackle inflation run amok. And with China finally reopening, raw material prices are going to drop.

Expect the cost of construction to ease, dragging down the value of ready homes.

#4: King Dollar and Prince Dirham

I’ve said it time and again.

As US interest rates increase, so too do the values of the US Dollar and the Dirham. Causing demand for Dubai housing to ease, and prices to soften.

The contention that many investors aren’t deterred by higher purchase costs, ignores fundamental economic rules of thumb. That investors behave rationally.

Bubbles Be Poppin’

Those who know me, know that I’ve had skin in the Dubai real estate game for the past 20 years. I believe in Dubai. Its resilience. Its leadership. The proactive nature of its residents. And it’s X-Factor. That Wild Card that continues to pull demand.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about property investment, and Dubai in particular; you make your money when you buy. It’s all in the timing.

This week I closed my Dubai property portfolio. Sold my investment properties and equities.

Volatile, speculative asset classes like Cryptos and NFTs are already collapsing. Equity markets are being challenged. Real estate isn’t immune. It’s merely a matter of time.

I expect values to soften as we exit 2022, or by early 2023. But rather than a hard crash, we can look forward to a soft landing. I’ll be ready to dive back in when buy signals flash green again. Then I’ll buy a very specific property at Serenia Living on the Palm Island Jumeirah, where demand is inelastic.

An AI Implementation Strategist accredited by the prestigious MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Ayman Alashkar also has a BSc in Mathematics from the world-renowned Queen Mary College, University of London, and an MSc in Real Estate Investment and Development from the University of Reading (UK). With +20 years’ experience working in real estate, banking and artificial intelligence, Ayman is the founder and CEO of overwrite.ai.

For informative and light-hearted news and views on the world of real estate, follow overwrite.ai on Instagram and LinkedIn, and keep up-to-date with our weekly NewsBites blog.

overwrite.ai | the AI writing assistant for estate agents | Sign up for your Free 7 Day Trial.

World #1 Bank CEO says ‘brace yourself’ for an Economic Hurricane

by Ayman A.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon says he is preparing the biggest U.S. bank for an economic hurricane on the horizon and advised investors to do the same.

“You know, I said there’s storm clouds but I’m going to change it … it’s a hurricane,” 

Jamie Dimon – CEO JPMorgan Chase

Dimon, speaking at a financial conference in New York on Wednesday, says that while conditions seem “fine” at the moment, nobody knows if the hurricane is “a minor one or Superstorm Sandy”.

“You’d better brace yourself,” Dimon told the roomful of analysts and investors. “JPMorgan is bracing ourselves and we’re going to be very conservative with our balance sheet.”

Stocks have been hammered as investors prepare for the end of the Federal Reserve’s cheap money era. Inflation at multidecade highs, exacerbated by supply chain disruptions and the coronavirus pandemic, has sown fear that the Fed will inadvertently tip the economy into recession as it combats price increases.  

KEY POINTS

  • There are two main factors that has Dimon worried: So-called quantitative tightening, or QT, is scheduled to begin this month and will ramp up to $95 billion a month in reduced bond holdings.
  • The other large factor worrying Dimon is the Ukraine war and its impact on commodities, including food and fuel. Oil could hit $150 or $175 a barrel, he said.
  • “You’d better brace yourself,” Dimon told the roomful of analysts and investors. “JPMorgan is bracing ourselves and we’re going to be very conservative with our balance sheet.”

While stocks bounced from a precipitous decline in recent weeks on optimism that inflation may be easing, Dimon seemed to dash hopes that the bottom is in.

“Right now, it’s kind of sunny, things are doing fine, everyone thinks the Fed can handle this,” Dimon said. “That hurricane is right out there, down the road, coming our way.”

There are two main factors that has Dimon worried: First, the Federal Reserve has signaled it will reverse its emergency bond-buying programs and shrink its balance sheet. The so-called quantitative tightening, or QT, is scheduled to begin this month and will ramp up to $95 billion a month in reduced bond holdings.

“We’ve never had QT like this, so you’re looking at something you could be writing history books on for 50 years,” Dimon said. Several aspects of quantitative easing programs “backfired,” including negative rates, which he called a “huge mistake.”

Central banks “don’t have a choice because there’s too much liquidity in the system,” Dimon said, referring to the tightening actions. “They have to remove some of the liquidity to stop the speculation, reduce home prices and stuff like that.”

The other large factor worrying Dimon is the Ukraine war and its impact on commodities, including food and fuel. Oil “almost has to go up in price” because of disruptions caused by the worst European conflict since World War II, potentially hitting $150 or $175 a barrel, Dimon said.

“Wars go bad, [they] go south in unintended consequences,” Dimon said. “We’re not taking the proper actions to protect Europe from what’s going to happen to oil in the short run.”

‘Huge Volatility’

Last week, during an investor conference for his bank, Dimon referred to his economic concerns as “storm clouds” that could dissipate. Presentations from Dimon and his deputies at the all-day meeting have bolstered JPMorgan shares by giving greater detail on investments and updated figures on interest revenue.

But his concerns seem to have deepened since then.

During the response to the 2008 financial crisis, central banks, commercial banks and foreign exchange trading firms were the three major buyers of U.S. Treasurys, Dimon said Wednesday. The players won’t have the capacity or desire to soak up as many U.S. bonds this time, he warned.

“That’s a huge change in the flow of funds around the world,” Dimon said. “I don’t know what the effect of that is, but I’m prepared for, at a minimum, huge volatility.”

One step the bank could take to gird itself for a coming hurricane is to push clients to move a type of lower-quality deposit called “non-operating deposits” into other places, such as money market funds, for example. That would help the bank manage its capital requirements under international rules, potentially helping it absorb a surge in bad loans.

“With all this capital uncertainty, we’re going to have to take actions,” Dimon said. “I kind of want to shed nonoperating deposits again, which we can do in size, to protect ourselves so we can serve clients in bad times. That’s the environment we’re dealing with.”

Banks having a “fortress balance sheet” and conservative accounting are the best protections for a downturn, Dimon said.

The bank has shied away from servicing a lot of federal FHA loans, he said, because delinquencies could hit 5% or 10% there, “which is guaranteed to happen in a downturn,” Dimon said.

‘Shame on you’

Dimon went on a tear during the hourlong session, barreling through topics like a “greatest hits” of his observations and gripes, often letting loose with profanity.

He lambasted investors for voting along with proxy advisors like Glass Lewis, which has disagreed with JPMorgan’s board on recent matters including executive compensation and whether the bank should separate the chairman and CEO roles in the future.

“Shame on you if that’s how you vote,” Dimon said. “Seriously, you should be embarrassed. Do your own homework.”

Companies are being driven out of public markets “because of litigation, regulation, press, cookie-cutter governance,” he added.  

Meanwhile, other critics often conflate stakeholder capitalism for being “woke,” Dimon said.  “I am a red-blooded, free market capitalist and I’m not woke,” he said.

“All we’re saying is when we wake up in the morning, we give a s— about serving customers, earning their respect, earning their repeat business.”

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of overwrite.ai and its owners.

Hugh Son writes for CNBC

This story has been published from an article on Wednesday 1st June 2022, without modifications to the text. Only the headline and has been changed.

For informative and light-hearted news and views on the world of real estate, follow overwrite.ai on Instagram and LinkedIn, and keep up-to-date with our weekly NewsBites blog.

overwrite.ai | the AI writing assistant for estate agents | Sign up for your Free 7 Day Trial.

New Portal Partnership Packs a Punch

by Ayman A.

A little over two years ago, when Covid-19 first struck, businesses everywhere scrambled to respond to the enormous uncertainties that suddenly appeared ahead.

For real estate agents, survival became the highest priority. Social Distancing meant they were unable to show homes in person. Buyers and tenants slammed the brakes on any plans they had. Business collapsed. The very existence of the estate agent was being questioned.

Many real estate agencies appealed for understanding from the marketplace portals they list on. Hoping for some respite. Fee discounts. Payment moratoria. Anything that could help.

Unhappy with the responses they got, a group of Captains of Industry decided to create their own marketplace portal.

One that was intended to meet their needs. And the needs of others like them.

Perhaps inspired at the time by a series of OpEds from our CEO Ayman Alashkar 😉, this brave band of business minds clubbed together and created Houza; Dubai’s only Agency-backed real estate marketplace. (read Open Revolt and All Hail The King!)

Fast forward to the present day. The overwrite.ai and Houza teams got together and thought; “You don’t print, sign and scan your documents anymore. There’s Docusign for that. So why would you still write your listing descriptions manually, when you’ve got overwrite.ai?”

And just like that, here we are. Tickled pink to announce our partnership with Houza and its network of leading real estate agencies.

Sharing the Love

And here’s the best part.

For a limited time only, we’re giving Houza customers a monumental 50% off* their first monthly overwrite.ai feature plan subscription. That’s hot!

Whether you’re posting your property listing on your website or Houza.com for the world to see, overwrite.ai is the AI writing assistant you need.

Use overwrite.ai to save time and increase your customer engagement.

Contact your Houza account manager to claim your overwrite.ai promo code.

*Applies to monthly plans only. Limited time offer. No minimum contract period required. Code valid for single use only.

For informative and light-hearted news and views on the world of real estate, follow overwrite.ai on Instagram and LinkedIn, and keep up-to-date with our weekly NewsBites blog.

overwrite.ai | the AI writing assistant for estate agents | Sign up for your Free 7 Day Trial.

THIS ARTICLE WILL SAVE YOU $$$’s.

by Ayman A.

Three weeks ago I commented on the Dollar Index breaking past the psychological 100 resistance level on an unchallenged path to 101.

Less than a month later, King 👑 Dollar’s now reached 20 year highs. Most major currencies have been crushed in its path. Such is the current scale of market risk-off sentiment. 

Besides soaring mortgage rates, treasury rates and high volatility; comes the drain on “perceived” wealth and trading income from the stock markets. A combined formula with significant slowdown effect on the economy. All this with only 2 hikes of 75bps total (so far).

Nael Mustafa – CIO Real Estate at GFH Financial Group

What’s this all mean?

Forget the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Forget the peak-fear of Covid in early 2020. 

The Dollar’s now at levels not seen since the systemic uncertainty that took hold in the aftermath of 9/11. 

How’s this relevant to Dubai Real Estate?

In simple terms, the more expensive the dollar, (and therefore the Dirham), the less attractive Dubai Real Estate as an asset class. Demand…decreases.

To put this in perspective, at the time of writing, UK #Sterling and Indian #Rupee denominated investors had to respectively pay nearly 7% and 2% more to buy Dirhams, than they did 3 weeks prior.

That means the same property, asking the same price, now costs more for a buyer from Manchester or Mumbai.

How long the dollar stays high is unclear. It’s taking a breather, having been heavily overbought.

But its path of least resistance is north. Expect it to re-attack 105. 

Pro Tips:

For short term traders. If you have any Dollar or Dirham liquidity, wait for 105 and sell your assets. Repatriate the proceeds into your native currencies, banking the capital appreciation and FX upsides. Double-whammy! 

For long term Dubai Real Estate landlords. Expect the market to switch, from seller’s favour to buyer’s favour. But don’t panic. Jerome Powell & Co are doing a great job at managing market expectations. And locally; Dubai’s policy makers are doing everything to make the Dubai Real Estate market more resilient. There is a price correction in the short-term future. But unlike our previous cycles, this time we can expect a soft-landing.

An AI Implementation Strategist accredited by the prestigious MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Ayman Alashkar also has a Bachelors Degree in Mathematics from the world-renowned Queen Mary College, University of London, and a Masters in Real Estate Investment and Development from the University of Reading (UK). With +20 years’ experience working in real estate, banking and artificial intelligence, Ayman is the founder and CEO of overwrite.ai.

For informative and light-hearted news and views on the world of real estate, follow overwrite.ai on Instagram and LinkedIn, and keep up-to-date with our weekly NewsBites blog.

overwrite.ai | the AI writing assistant for estate agents | Sign up for your Free 7 Day Trial.

Explained: The Pros & Cons of Real Estate Crowdfunding

by Ayman A.

Hark the (re)emergence of the Real Estate Crowdfunding Platform.

Real Estate Crowdfunding isn’t new. The concept’s been around for over a decade. Although now it’s enjoying a re-birth during this age of post-pandemic excess liquidity.

Let’s start at the beginning.

What is Real Estate Crowfunding? It’s the ability for retail investors (Mr or Mrs Smith) to invest nominal sums towards a direct real estate asset acquisition, via a platform that manages the transaction, the financing, and the asset, in exchange for a fee.

In plain English, ‘Invest in property for as little as $500‘.

These soundbites may sound sexy, but they’re often misleading. So together let’s take a closer look at the Pros and Cons of real estate crowdfunding:

The Pros – Why to crowdfund a real estate investment?

Access All Areas

The biggest benefit of real estate crowdfunding is access to dealflow.

Some years back I participated in a crowdfunded acquisition of a commercial property on London’s Oxford Street. The deal proposed that investors would earn an income yield of 2.15% (net of fees) and an IRR of 13% from the value uplift that was explained within the investment pitch. It was a 4-hear hold. I’ll tell you how it went, further down this article.

Point is, the deal was fully subscribed. Investors like me, who’d have never otherwise had the chance to participate in an Oxford Street commercial property acquisition, piled in. Access.

Small Tickets to Big Plays

Real estate is traditionally a very lumpy asset class. It takes a large amount of capital to buy a property, and ties up that money for the duration of your holding period.

Crowdfunding real estate can be done with small tickets. Enabling investors to participate in big real estate investment plays, without needing to have, or indeed lock-up, large sums of equity for long periods of time.

Liquidity – Getting your money out.

Direct real estate ownership is when you directly own a property in your name. Like your house.

Crowdfunding real estate is not direct asset ownership. It’s indirect. You will own shares in companies that are set up to buy and own the properties directly. Those shares can be sold to the other shareholders of the company, or to third party investors, via the crowdfunding platform’s internal marketplace, without the need to sell the property. Making your ability to get your money out, easier. More liquid.

Diversification

Crowdfunding investors can distribute their capital across an array of property types and sectors. That’s investment theory 101. Spread risk out strategically, across a diversified range of properties. Instead of putting equity into a residential rental investment.

Invest across a basket of residential, commercial, and retail properties. Each with their own economic and tactical opportunities.

The Cons – Why not to real estate crowdfund?

Fees

Where direct real estate investment puts you in the driver’s seat. Indirect crowdfunded investment leaves you, the retail investor, reliant on the platform you’re investing through, to manage your investment and the property. They’re putting this deal together from beginning to end. And they’re going to charge a fee.

Whether they charge a stack of them; like a sourcing fee, an admin fee, an early-exit fee, or a carry… Or they roll their remuneration into a single, seemingly innocuous ‘Administrative’ fee. The platform you’re investing through is clipping a slice of your investment for themselves, before you see a penny.

Illiquidity

Promoting crowdfunded real estate platforms on the basis of their liquidity sounds nice in theory. You’ll be told you can sell your shares in the company that owns the property, fast. And get your money out with little administrative hassle. But read the fine print.

  1. There might be a minimum lock-in period during which you can’t exit your capital.
  2. It’s not uncommon for a crowdfunding platform to demand the right of first refusal to buy your shares. Not a bad thing, but it won’t pay full value for them.
  3. Often the platform will give themselves the authority to approve (or reject) any buyer for your shares that you might find on the secondary market.

Any one of these conditions, creates illiquidity. So read up on your chosen platform’s T&C’s. Know your rights.

The Unspoken Upside

Here’s the dirty little secret that crowdfunding platforms don’t want you to hear.

Before it can offer a property to its crowd of investors, a platform needs to source and secure it.

To do that, the platform either buys the property outright and flips it to the crowd. Or locks in the right to buy it at a price, then secures the crowd funding for it, at a higher price.

In both cases there’s a markup. A delta, between the price the platform secures the property for, and the price it pitches it to its crowd at.

That difference is an upfront upside, that the platform keeps for itself. It’s an immediate profit that’s coming out of your investment’s bottom line. An ethical crowdfunding platform should declare the property’s true acquisition price, source a deal for its crowd at no profit, and justifiably charge a sourcing fee for its troubles.

Beware of any platform that does not declare the true purchase price of its properties to its crowd. Especially if they’re also charging a sourcing fee. Big red flag. 🟥

The Waterfall

Remember that deal on London’s Oxford Street that I invested in years back? The one that promised a 13% IRR? Guess what ended up happening with it.

The distribution of returns didn’t play out as the platform had proposed in their pitch.

The pitch was based on a rental income uplift to be gained, from a lease renewal that was due during the investment holding period. That renewal ran into trouble. Negotiations between the property manager and tenant dragged out. Lawyers got involved. Legal fees skyrocketed. The platform didn’t distribute dividends as they’d promised. After 4 years, what was supposed to have been an IRR of 13% ended up closer to 7%.

This despite all the ‘professional’ opinions (from lawyers, property professionals etc..) that the pitch had cited at the start.

The sting in the tail is that when you’re a retail investor, sh*t falls down. It’s not the platform that’s at the bottom of the totem pole. It’s you.

The platform’s banked its upfront upside. It’s been paid all its administrative fees. All it’s got to lose is its carry fee. That’s the fee they get if things go as well as, or even better than planned. Think of it like a performance bonus.

The platform’s banked its upfront upside. It’s been paid all its administrative fees. All it’s got to lose is its carry fee. That’s the fee they get if things go as well as, or even better than planned. Think of it like a performance bonus.

But let’s face it. Things don’t always go to plan. And when it hits the fan, the only one losing…is you. Because here’s the thing about being an indirect, retail investor. You’re too small to matter. In the cascading waterfall of profit distribution, you’re last in the queue.

Let’s Wrap This Up

So, is real estate crowdfunding a good investment?

If you want to diversify your portfolio. Get in on property deals you otherwise can’t access. Put smalls sums of capital to work. Then sure. Give it a go.

BUT…read up. Know who you’re investing through and the conditions of your investment. Be aware that the platform you’re investing through is carrying little or no risk on the trade. And that they will make more profit from your money, than you will.

overwrite.ai | the AI writing assistant for estate agents | Sign up for your Free 7 Day Trial.

For informative and light-hearted news and views on the world of real estate, follow overwrite.ai on Instagram and LinkedIn, and keep up-to-date with our weekly NewsBites blog.

This Negotiation Tactic Will Fail You

by Ayman A.

Every business person knows that feeling of putting time into negotiating deals. The art of convincing a counterparty. The excitement of getting a deal to its final stage. The elation of success. The celebration.

But success isn’t always the outcome. In fact, more often than not, deals fall flat in a heap of disappointment and wasted time.

And this one negotiating tactic that many people mistakenly use, is almost always guaranteed to throw their deal from the outset.

See More

London’s smallest microflat sells for 80% above asking price

by Ayman A.

LONDON. Love it or hate it. It’s the world’s Capital city, and everyone knows it.

Last week a 7-square metre (75-sqft) microflat in a Victorian Conversion in Lower Clapton, east London, sold at auction for 80% above it’s minimum listing price.

The property packs in a bed, storage cupboard, a wash basin, a microwave under the pillow, and a wet-room with a showerhead above the toilet.

It’s believed to be the capital’s smallest ever property. Smaller than most domestic helper’s rooms in the average Dubai home.

The space between the bed and the wall is wide-enough for an average arm-span, and it comes with a foldout table for eating or working on.

But you can forget about cooking. There’s no stove included.

Just don’t say ‘mould’

This bolthole in a box, has been rented for £800/month (US$ 1,080) to a tenant who lives elsewhere and uses it as their London pied-a-terre for one or two nights a week.

It went to auction listed at £50,000, and yet it sold for a whopping £90,000 (US$ 121,000). That’s nearly half a million Dirhams!

Despite an 80% excess bid, the investor that bagged it is banking a +10% gross yield, meaning they can expect payback within 10 years.

Microproperties like this represent a growing trend of tiny homes in dense metropolises, where space constraints and labour shortages are tightening supply, forcing rents and prices to increase.

Typically London’s developers would convert flats into rooms. Now the socioeconomics of demand have pulled a 180. Developers, ever in tune, are transforming rooms, however small, into flats.

Is this a red flag, marking an asset price bubble that’s about to pop?

Share your opinion in the comments below.

Mi casa su casa

overwrite.ai is an AI-assisted content creator that helps real estate agents instantly curate unique and search-optimised property marketing descriptions. 

For informative and light-hearted news and views on the world of real estate, follow overwrite.ai on Instagram and LinkedIn, and keep up-to-date with our weekly NewsBites blog.

Top 100 A.I. Startups to look out for from 2021

by Ayman A.

Analytics Insight has listed the top 100 artificial intelligence startups that are driving the next-generation development in technology. Keep reading.

Sooner or later, the concept of digitization will completely take over all repetitive tasks. Today, with the help of big data, advanced technologies like automation, artificial intelligence, IoT, and machine learning are leveraging unimaginable amounts and types of information to work from. It is streamlining tedious, repetitive, and difficult tasks, which tend to slow down production and also increases the cost of operation. Owing to the evolution of technology, artificial intelligence startups are mushrooming like never before. The companies are driving the world into a new phase of digitization with a mixture of disruptive statistical methods, computational intelligence, soft computing, and traditional symbolic AI.

Artificial intelligence is the combination of two amazing concepts namely science and engineering. With the infusion of disruptive trends and human intelligence, intelligent machines and intelligent computing programs are emerging. Slowly, the flare of innovations moved away from IT and entered into diverse industries including healthcare, education, finance, marketing, business, telecommunication, etc. Organizations realized that by digitizing repetitive tasks, an enterprise can cut the cost of paperwork and labor which further eliminates human error, thus boosting efficiency. Automating processes involve employing artificial intelligence solutions that can support digitization and deliver data-driven insights. Artificial intelligence startups emerge as a ready-made solution provider that supports every company’s individual needs. AI startups in 2021 use big data to sophisticated AI models and leverage new solutions that could better serve customers.

1. 8topuz

Headquarter(s): Limassol, Cyprus

Founded: 2010

Focus Area: AI Trading Software, Automated AI Software

Sector: Fintech

Website: https://8topuz.com/

8topuz is a disruptive fintech company that offers an easy-to-access AI-based automated investment system to effectively help customers grow their wealth regardless of their knowledge in trading. 8topuz’s application is designed to work both for investors and non-investors who want to increase their wealth with a fully automated AI-based trading system that is easy to set up and requires no management. It democratizes the way investments are done by bringing sophisticated elite trading technology to laymen. 8topuz’s uses the blend of artificial intelligence and machine learning to leverage next-generation trading software that follows risk management principles.

2. Accrad

Headquarter(s): 2020

Founded: Cape Town, South Africa

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning, Medical AI Software

Sector: Healthcare

Website: http://accrad.com/

Accrad is a health tech company that assists radiologists to reduce their workload with the precision of artificial intelligence. Radiologists work under different circumstances and deadlines and might find diagnosis through x-rays a bit difficult. Therefore, Accrad has come up with a futuristic solution to help with accurate and fast image diagnosis. The company has made x-ray processing more convincing and simpler. Its signature product CheXRad, a deep learning algorithm that identifies locations in the chest radiograph has the capability to predict 15 different diseases including Covid-19.

3. Affable.ai 

Headquarter(s): Suntec Tower One, Singapore

Founded: 2017

Focus Area: Influencer Marketing, Data-driven Marketing Solution, Big Data

Sector: Marketing

Website: https://www.affable.ai/

Affable.ai is a data-driven influencer marketing platform where customers can find relevant and authentic influencers and manage marketing operations. By using cutting-edge computer vision algorithms on social media posts, the company delivers actionable insights about micro-influencers and their audience. Similar to how Google has sophisticated its search and promote relative ads to users, Affable.ai has also built one-click marketing at a shorter scale. Recently, the company has raised US$2 million from Prime Venture Partners, Decacorn Capital, and SGInnovate. Affable.ai was planning to use the funding to expand its international presence into markets such as the US.

4. Affirm

Headquarter(s): San Francisco, California

Founded: 2012

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science

Sector: Fintech

Website: https://www.affirm.com/

If you are thinking of buying a new product or shop for a necessary dress, or go on a trip, but has funding issues, then affirm can help you with installment loans. Affirm is a futuristic fintech company that offers loans to customers at the point of sale. The company aims to revolutionize the banking industry to be more accountable and accessible to consumers. Affirm has partnered with over 2,000 merchants including familiar brands across travel, personal fitness, electronics, apparel and beauty, and more to give shoppers a wide range of options. When the customers check out, they can get a load facility from the company. Affirm has closed a US$500 million securitization of its point-of-sale (POS) installment lands, which will help boost its growth in the future.

5. AI. Reverie

Headquarter(s): New York

Founded: 2017

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Machine Learning

Sector: Diverse Industries

Website: https://aireverie.com/

Reverie is one of the few companies that are working with synthetic data to leverage privacy-preserving data applications. It is an innovative platform that leverages data to train machine learning algorithms, which could eventually enhance machines’ understanding of the world. The company offers a suite of synthetic data and vision APIs to help businesses across different industries improve their AI applications. As an overall move, the solutions help in the creation of smart cities, sustainable farms, safer homes, etc. AI. Reverie has recently appointed Aayush Prakash, a former Nvidia Deep Learning expert as the Head of its Machine Learning team.

6. Aidoc

Headquarter(s): Tel Aviv, Israel

Founded: 2016

Focus Area: Image Analysis, Artificial Intelligence

Sector: Healthcare

Website: https://www.aidoc.com/

Aidoc is a health tech company that innovates to serve physicians’ needs and to create a measured impact on the imaging workflow. Founded in 2016, the company supports and enhances the impact of radiologist diagnostic power by helping physicians expedite patient treatment and improve the quality of care. To leverage the perfect solution, Aidoc’s leadership team has worked together on operation AI with the unprecedented healthcare market in mind. A month ago, Aidoc has raised US$65 million in Series C funding, which will help the company enhance its medical imaging platform.

7. Aira

Headquarter(s): California, United States

Founded: 2015

Focus Area: Wearable, Software, Assistive Technology

Sector: Computer Software

Website: https://aira.io/

Aira provides tech-enabled services for over 300 million visually impaired people around the globe. The company is aiming to deliver instant access to visual information from anyone, anytime, and anywhere. Aira’s assistive services blend wearable technology, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality to empower a network of trained, professional agents to remotely assist people who are blind or have low vision. Aira has raised US$12 million in a funding round led by private investors including Jawad Ahsan, Lori Greiner, and Robert Herjavec. The company said that it would use the funding to accelerate its capacity for innovation.

8. Airobotics

Headquarter(s): Tel Aviv, Israel

Founded: 2014

Focus Area: Automated Drones

Sector: Mining, Seaports, Oil & Gas, Industrial Facilities

Website: https://www.airoboticsdrones.com

Airobotics is an automated drone platform that develops pilotless drone solutions and offers an end-to-end, fully automated platform for collecting aerial data and gaining valuable insights. The industry-grade platform is available on-site and on-demand, enabling industrial facilities to access premium aerial data in a faster, safer, and more efficient way. With a merger of aerospace hardware design, robust electronic systems, and leading software engineers, Airobotics is leveraging sophisticated commercial drone operations.

9. Aisera

Headquarter(s): Palo Alto, California, United States

Founded: 2017

Focus Area: AI Service Desk, AI Customer Service, Conversational AI, Conversational RPA, AIOps

Sector: Call Centers, Customer Service, HR, IT, Sales & Marketing

Website: https://aisera.com/

Aisera is an AI services company providing an AI-driven solution to change the daily routines of employees and customers. Aisera aims to help users with greater self-service by automating common to complex actions, tasks, ad workflow. This enables users to focus on high-value work, while those requesting help can resolve their issues with self-service resolutions. The company recently announced that it would be partnering with Microsoft to deliver next-generation AI service desk solutions to automate requests. Besides, Aisera has also secured US$40 million in a recent Series C funding.

10. Alation

Headquarter(s): Redwood City, California, United States

Founded: 2012

Focus Area: Data Governance, Analytics, Cloud Transformation, Digital Transformation, DataOps, Business Analytics, Data Science

Sector: Finance, Healthcare, Insurance, Manufacturing, Retail, Technology, Public

Website: https://www.alation.com/

Alation is pioneering in providing a machine learning data catalog that helps people find, understand, and trust data across a certain organization. The company is leading the evolution into a platform for a broad range of data intelligence solutions including data search and discovery, data governance, data stewardship, analytics, and digital transformation. Alation goes a step beyond in delivering self-service analytics that allows everyone to explore and find insights into their data. The company has recently raised US$110 million in a Series D round led by Riverwood Capital with participation from new investors like Sanabil Investments and Snowflake Ventures.

11. Ananova Tech 

Headquarter(s): UK

Founded: 2000

Focus Area: Web Hosting Reviews, Web Hosting Service Directory, Saving Money Tips and Gathering web and tech news

Sector: Web-oriented News Service

Website: https://ananova.com/

Ananova is a research-based project that provides the basis for decision-making in the hosting industry to empower businesses, individuals, web developers, designers, and many more. With SiteGeek Ananova is developing software with the objective of analysis and data gathering to educate users in making buying decisions. The system is proving to be more on the user perspective side as it enables reviews and provides real-time reports. Ananova Technology uses media blend technology expertise to implant innovative information, articles, interviews, reviews, regular columns, and also covers most aspects of computer science, current research, developments, hosting products & issues.

12. AnyVision

Headquarter(s): Holon, Israel

Founded: 2015

Focus Area: Software technology

Sector: Information technology and Services

Website: https://www.anyvision.co/

AnyVision, the world’s leading designer and developer for recognition platforms. It has created a software technology that learns on the feed, is customizable, and runs on multiple platforms including existing CCTV infrastructure. AnyVision provides instant and accurate visual AI for the real world. It is a world-leading visual AI platform company that enterprises across the globe use to create trusted, seamless experiences in their physical spaces. AnyVision has joined NVIDIA’s Metropolis Software Partner Program (MSPP) to combine. Its goal is to create a safer and more secure environment for a better tomorrow. By working with NVIDIA and applying its technology, enabling them to employ AI algorithms into its software.

13. Argo AI

Headquarter(s): Kyiv, UA

Founded: 2020

Focus Area: IT, Farming, and Research

Sector: Research company

Website: https://www.argo.ai/

Argo AI is a self-driving technology platform company. It builds the software, hardware, maps, and cloud-support infrastructure that power self-driving vehicles. The company is partnering with leading automakers to integrate its technology into their vehicles so that those vehicles can enable new ride-sharing and delivery services that do not require the aid of a human driver. The company has created 360-degree awareness of its self-driving technology that never gets distracted or tired.

14. Arize AI

Headquarter(s): Berkeley, CA

Founded: 2019

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Sector: Media and Information Services

Website: https://arize.com/

Arize is a machine learning observability platform that helps unpack the proverbial AI black box. Its solutions provide ML teams the tools they need to understand whether their models are performing as expected in production and quickly get to the cause behind issues that emerge. The company has teamed up with industry experts, researchers, and ethicists across the ecosystem to advance the use of responsible AI. By connecting datasets across the training, validation, and production environments in a central evaluation store, Arize enables ML teams to quickly detect where issues emerge and deeply troubleshoot the reasons behind them.

15. AutoX

Headquarter(s): San Jose, California

Founded: 2016

Focus Area: Autonomous driving vehicles

Sector: Computer Software

Website: https://www.autox.ai/en/index.html

AutoX is a leading tech company that develops AI drivers for autonomous driving vehicles, with the mission of ‘Democratizing Autonomy’ to provide universal access to transportation of people and goods. The company is committed to building a driver with safety as the highest priority. Its integrated approach to AI algorithms and large-scale simulation enables the company to achieve a safety level beyond human drivers. AutoX’s innovative AI travels beyond the lab because it is affordable for real-world applications.

16. BensonHill

Headquarter(s): St Louis, Missouri

Founded: 2012

Focus Area: Agriculture technology, Sustainable agriculture, Crop improvement, Cloud biology, Food tech, Gene editing, CRISPR, Breed, AI, technology, Crops, and Science and Environment

Sector: Food Production

Website: https://bensonhill.com/

Benson Hill moves food forward with the CropOS platform, a cutting-edge food innovation engine that combines data science and machine learning with biology and genetics. Benson Hill empowers innovators to unlock nature’s genetic diversity from plant to plate, with the purpose of creating healthier, great-tasting food and ingredient options that are both widely accessible and sustainable. The company is currently commercializing Ultra High Protein soybean varieties (UHP) which is capable of reducing processing steps and natural resource use in the production of soy-based ingredients. To better serve the pet and human food plant-based markets, the company has expanded and upgraded Dakota Ingredients, an upper Midwest-based yellow pea processor.

17. BigML

Headquarter(s): Corvallis, OR

Founded: 2011

Focus Area: Machine Learning, Big Data, Cloud, and Predictive analytics

Sector: Computer Software

Website: https://bigml.com/

BigML is a leading machine learning company that makes ML easy, beautiful, and understandable for everybody. It helps thousands of businesses around the world make highly automated, data-driven decisions using (MLASS) machine learning as a service. The company offers a wide variety of basic machine learning resources that can be composed together to solve complex machine learning tasks. In addition to commercial activities, it is also playing an active role in promoting machine learning in education around the world through its education program.

18. Black Sesame Technologies

Headquarter(s): Santa Clara, CA

Founded: 2016

Focus Area: Image processing, perception Algorithm, SOC design

Sector: Enterprise AI

Website: https://bst.ai/home.html

Black Sesame is experiencing rapid development in the technologies for imaging sensors, machine vision, and vision-based deep learning.  Different types of sensor systems appear, and related applications are in high demand in these markets. The flagship products of Black Sesame are its mobile device imaging solution, AI perception solution for ADAS, and autonomous driving; cost-effective, robust, high-performance face anti-spoofing system; driver verification and monitoring system; automotive vision system.

19. Blaize

Headquarter(s): El Dorado Hills, California

Founded: 2010

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence

Sector: Enterprise AI

Website: https://www.blaize.com/

Blaize has created a transformative new compute solution that unites silicon and software to optimize AI from the edge to the core. The company is partnering with customers to transform its products so that they can deliver better experiences and better lives.

Its first products, the Blaize Pathfinder and Xplorer platforms and the Blaize AI Software Suite are now available. An infrastructure for high-volume production is in place and ready to scale, enabling the company to engage with any size enterprise.

20. Blue Hexagon

Headquarter(s): Sunnyvale, CA

Founded: 2017

Focus Area: Cloud Security, Network Security, Deep Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Ransomware, Malware, Network Detection and Response, and Cloud Detection and Response

Sector: Enterprise AI

Website: https://bluehexagon.ai/

Blue Hexagon is a deep learning innovator of Cyber AI “You Can Trust ™” to stop cyber adversaries and malware at sub-second speed. Blue Hexagon Agentless Cloud-Native AI Security deploys within minutes and delivers actionable visibility, real-time threat defense, and continuous compliance across all cloud workloads, networks, and storage, at runtime.

21. Bluedot

Headquarter(s): California

Founded: 2019

Focus Area: Automotive

Sector: Enterprise AI

Website: https://bluedot.global/

Bluedot is dedicated to providing smart electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions for smart cities and SME owners. The company redefined the EV driver experience and reshaped the way private and corporate fleet companies join the e-mobility movement. Currently, the company is introducing an innovative and profitable charging infrastructure for businesses of all sizes and engaging EV drivers with service providers.

22. BrainQ

Headquarter(s): Israel

Founded: 2011

Focus Area: Machine learning algorithms

Sector: Digital Therapeutics and Medical Device

Website: https://brainqtech.com/

BrainQ is focused on developing a cloud-based platform to map brain network activity using explanatory machine learning algorithms to extract biological insights that translate into precision therapies. The therapies are delivered via an investigational non-invasive portable medical device that creates a frequency-tuned low-intensity electromagnetic field. The company holds its vision on developing an accessible treatment for neuro disorder patients that allows for continuous care throughout their entire recovery path.

23. Butterfly Network

Headquarter(s): Guilford, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States

Founded: 2011

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence

Sector: Healthcare

Website: https://www.butterflynetwork.com/

With a mission to democratize healthcare by making medical imaging accessible to everyone around the world, the Butterfly network has made an effective impact in the healthcare sector. Their product Butterfly iQ+ (single probe delivers a 2D array of 9000 micro-machined sensors and is capable of performing all indicated clinical applications) is a breakthrough software solution that can be integrated into hospital networks to help clinicians transform care delivery and improve efficiencies. In 2019, Butterfly network won Apple Design Awards and Healthcare Breakthrough Award. Recently, Butterfly Network and Caption Health have announced an exclusive strategic partnership to enable earlier disease detection and management with AI-based guidance and diagnostics.

24. Cambridge Quantum Computing

Headquarter(s): Cambridge, England

Founded: 2014

Focus Area: Quantum computing, Blockchain

Sector: N/A

Website: https://cambridgequantum.com/home/

Cambridge Quantum Computing is a global leader in quantum software and quantum algorithms that help their clients to get the best out of existing and developing quantum computers. CQC has specialist teams across domains like quantum chemistry, quantum machine learning, and quantum augmented cybersecurity, that has developed and continue to innovate quantum computing products and solutions to tackle complex scientific and business challenges across a diverse range of sectors. Joining hands with IDB and Tec de Monterrey, Cambridge Quantum has developed blockchain resistant to quantum computing.

25. Capacity

Headquarter(s): St. Louis

Founded: 2017

Focus Area: AI, ChatBots, Cloud storage, etc.

Sector: Banking, Education, and more

Website: https://capacity.com/

Capacity is an AI-powered support automation platform that connects your entire tech stack to answer questions, automate repetitive support tasks, and build solutions to any business challenge. The best thing about Capacity is that they believe “one size does not fit all” so if you want to become their partner you have four different programs (The Referral Partner program, The Alliance Partner program, The Marketing Affiliate program, and The Technology Partner program) to choose from. Capacity has joined hands withCiteline Connect to deliver ai-powered clinical trial recruitment.

26. Clarifai

Headquarter(s): Wilmington, DE, U.S

Founded: 2013

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence

Sector: Public Sector

Website: https://www.clarifai.com/

Clarifai has been a market leader since winning the top five places in image classification at the ImageNet 2013 competition. In the year 2021, they won awards like Stevie® Awards for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Top image recognition startup, Easiest Admin Spring, and more. Clarifai has a world-class network of partners to enable organizations to deploy, manage, and advance the use of computer vision and AI across their enterprises. At the Project Convergence 21 (PC21) event at Yuma Proving Grounds, AZ, Clarifai demonstrated Aided Target Recognition (AiTR) Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning capabilities to the U.S. Army.

27. CloudMinds

Headquarter(s): Beijing, China

Founded: 2015

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Robotics

Sector: Healthcare, manufacturing facilities, etc.

Website: https://www.en.cloudminds.com/

To operate smart robots for people, currently, CloudMinds build and operate an open end-to-end cloud robot system, and offer it as a service to the world. Their pioneering world-class architecture connects robots and smart devices over secure Virtual Backbone Networks (VBNs) to Cloud AI. Recently, the US Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), has announced that it will add CloudMinds affiliated Cayman Island, Beijing, and Hong Kong companies to the entity list.

28. DeepMap

Headquarter(s): Palo Alto, California, United States

Founded: 2016

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence

Sector: Automotive

Website: https://www.deepmap.ai/

DeepMap provides the world’s best high-definition mapping solutions and delivers the technology necessary for self-driving vehicles to navigate in a complex and unpredictable environment. Their estimated annual revenue is currently $19.4M per year. They received $60.0M in venture funding back in November 2018. DeepMapnamed to 2021 CB insights AI 100 list of most innovative artificial intelligence startups. The company recently announced RoadMemory, a highly scalable and economical mapping service, enabling hands-off driving everywhere.

29. C3.AI

Headquarter(s): Redwood City, California, United States

Founded: 2009

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence

Sector: Healthcare, Finance, etc.

Website: https://c3.ai/

C3.AI runs AI models at scale for powerful predictions across the most complex organizations and offers more than 20, pre-built, industry-specific AI applications to optimize critical processes. Their estimated revenue is 13.09 crores USD (nine months ended January 31, 2021). IDC MarketScape names C3.AI a leader of solutions for industrial platforms and applications in energy. In June 2021, C3.AI industry partner shell named a winner in IDC’s Inaugural Future of Digital Innovation Excellence Awards.

30. Cresta

Headquarter(s): San Francisco, California

Founded: N/A

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence

Sector: Automotive and Retail

Website: https://cresta.com/

Cresta was founded with the goal of using AI to help people learn high-value skills and by doing so, make business radically more productive. Cresta’s team of world-renowned AI thought leaders, industry experts, and top-tier investors lean on experience from scaling companies like Google, Facebook, and Open AI on our march towards helping professionals become experts on day one. Cresta was named on Forbes AI 50 2021: America’s Most Promising Artificial Intelligence Companies. They have 1B neural network parameters in production.

31. Cruise Automation

Headquarter(s): San Francisco, California

Founded:2013

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence

Sector: Automotive

Website: https://www.getcruise.com/

Cruise’s mission is to build the world’s most advanced autonomous vehicles to safely connect people to the places, things, and experiences they care about. As of the end of 2019, GM reported owning 82.7% of Cruise, excluding shares SoftBank will receive in exchange for providing $1.35 billion of additional funding when Cruise is ready to commercialize its technology. Microsoft has entered into a long-term strategic relationship with GM and Cruise to accelerate the commercialization of self-driving vehicles. It is joining GM, Honda Motor, and other institutional investors in a combined new equity investment of more than $2 billion in Cruise.

32. Data Prophet

Headquarter(s): Cape Town, South Africa

Founded:2014

Focus Area: AI and Machine Learning

Sector: Automotive, Rubber, etc.

Website: https://dataprophet.com/

The mission for DataProphet is the creation of guaranteed value for their manufacturing clients and partners. As a company, they realized early on that to predict whether a unit produced would pass or fail quality is invaluable for a manufacturer’s quality control team. They have also found that for advanced manufacturers – of semiconductors, automotive equipment, rubber, glass, plastic, gray iron, and minerals – AI-driven solutions are an underutilized game-changer in the race towards autonomous manufacturing. DataProphet has won awards like Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation Leadership Award, The Alconics Best Innovation in Deep learning, and many more.

33. Deeplite

Headquarter(s): Montreal, Canada

Founded:2018

Focus Area: AI and Machine Learning

Sector: Automotive

Website: https://www.deeplite.ai/

Deeplite combined breakthrough AI technology with years of research at the world’s top universities to create Deeplite Neutrino™, a powerful and scalable hardware-agnostic software accelerator. They are creating new possibilities by bringing AI and machine learning computation to everyday devices such as cars, drones, and cameras. Deeplite raised a $6-million series seed to enable AI for everyday life. Recently, Deeplite has announced its partnership with IMT-Atlantique to make deep learning more efficient.

34. DISCO

Headquarter(s): Austin

Founded: 2013

Focus Area: Automating law-related tasks, Software for practicing law, Ediscovery

Sector: Big Law, Government, Corporations, Enterprise, Lit Boutiques

Website: https://www.csdisco.com/

DISCO is focused on delivering Cloud-native and AI-based technology to power legal practices of law firms and corporate legal departments. The company is known as the fastest-growing discovery solution in North America as well as the leading provider of software as service solutions to automate error-free regular tasks for over 400 law firms. Law firms prefer DISCO for its easy-to-use, fast, and accurate as well as transparent pricing for a wide range of products such as DISCO Ediscovery, DISCO AI, DISCO Review, and DISCO Case Builder.

35. Discover.ai

Headquarter(s): Oxshott, Surrey

Founded: 2017

Focus Area: Market Research in AI, Machine Learning, Brand strategy, Insight, and Business consulting

Sector: Culture

Website: https://www.discover.ai/

Discover.ai helps to combine machine learning with human expertise to provide in-depth insights through text, images as well as online content. It discovers rich cultural spaces for innovative ideas at a faster pace. The Discover.ai platform boosts the speed of creativity to explore human culture and opportunities on a global scale. It follows 16 human drivers of opportunity for better growth in self-service products such as discover. open and discover. pro that includes AI analytics and rich online sources respectively.

36. Diwo

Headquarter(s): Northville, MI

Founded: 2014

Focus Area: Cognitive Computing, AI, Neural Networks, Semantics, Machine Learning, Augmented Intelligence, NLP, NLG, Natural Language Generation, Predictive Analytics, Data Mining, and Text Mining

Sector: IT and Services

Website: https://diwo.ai/

Being an AI company, Diwo is focused on transforming decision experience through a cognitive decision-making platform that works on cognitive computing and augmented analytics. It helps to solve complex challenges and bridges the gap between insights and actions through the successful consumption of analytics. The platform helps to maximize the investment value in AI by recommending multiple strategies to drive growth efficiently. The patented technology identifies business opportunities automatically.

37. DocuSign

Headquarter(s): San Francisco

Founded: 2003

Focus Area: Digital transaction management, Workflow automation, Electronic signature solutions, Contract lifecycle management, System of agreement, Real estate tech, Fintech, HRTech, LegalTech, AI, etc.

Sector: Computer software— IT and Services

Website: http://www.docusign.com

DocuSign is one of the AI companies providing eSignatures and fast approvals to ease the time-consuming processes for multiple industries at any time at any place. Reputed companies such as Microsoft, Apple, Google, and many more have utilized the efficient services of DocuSign with more than 85 million users across the world. It serves individuals, small and medium businesses, educational institutes as well as enterprises. The platform automates agreement workflows and management as well as analyzes and negotiates agreements by leveraging AI.

38. Dorabot

Headquarter(s): Peachtree Corners, Georgia

Founded: 2014

Focus Area: Computer vision, Motion planning, Manipulation, Multi-robot systems, Logistics solutions, Robotics, Autonomous warehouse, Express & e-commerce, International culture, Airport & seaport, Manufacturing, Machine vision, Mobile robots, Autonomous guided vehicles, Logistics, AI, and solutions

Sector: Heavy industries

Website: http://www.dorabot.com/

Dorabot is known as the AI-based robotic solution provider focused on express delivery, smart manufacturing, express delivery, and many more. It is popular for developing fully automatic warehouse solutions, autonomous robotic loading, induction solutions, etc. with AI, computer vision, deep learning, robotics, and many more. It also offers products known as DoraHand, DoraSorter, DoraLiDAR, mobile robots, and other software and services. Dorabot provides its services to ten different countries and has been successful in making significant breakthroughs in cutting-edge technologies.

39. Eightfold.ai

Headquarter(s): Santa Clara, California

Founded: 2016

Focus Area: Talent management, Talent Acquisition, Talent Intelligence, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Recruiting software, Subscription-based software, and Diversity, etc.

Sector: Computer software— IT and Services

Website: https://eightfold.ai

Eightfold.ai is known as a leading and first-ever talent intelligence platform to address talent acquisition and management efficiently. This platform leverages deep learning and AI to provide a better understanding of career potentials and workforce potentials to more than one billion profiles. It manages billions of data points with over one million unique skills to provide data-driven in-depth insights for effective talent acquisition. The Eightfold capability dashboard allows employers to benchmark the workforce to initiate and identify suitable candidates with sufficient potentials. It consists of equal opportunity algorithms to ensure there is no biasness in the processes.

40. Element AI

Headquarter(s): Montreal, Canada

Founded: 2016

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Software, Operations research, Consulting, Strategic consulting, Incubator, Accelerator, Startup factory, Natural Language Processing, and Neural network

Sector: Computer Software— IT and Services

Website: http://elementai.com

Element AI is an AI solutions provider to organizations that need access to cutting-edge technologies for efficient workflow. The researchers are focused on pursuing AI research areas such as computer vision, NLP, and machine learning for testing prototypes in robotics and human-computer interaction. It helps to build an AI-first world to increase the collective wisdom about major disruptive technologies. Element AI is on a mission to harness AI for making it accessible to enterprises to work smarter within a short period of time.

41. Emotix

Headquarter(s): Mumbai, Maharashtra

Founded: 2015

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Electronics hardware, Human-computer interaction, and Emotional intelligence

Sector: Consumer Electronics

Website: http://www.miko.ai

Emotix is focused on educating and providing entertainment to children while maintaining a balance between knowledge and fun to retain their interests. It produces child-safe and interactive personal robots to make children smarter and open up ample opportunities. These robots are determined to offer educational concepts with a curriculum and conversational learning session. Being an advanced robotics company, Emotix wants children to have fun while listening to exciting stories with parental dashboards by leveraging AI, robotics, and IoT.

42. Exometrics

Headquarter(s): London, the UK

Founded: 2016

Focus Area: Analytics, AI, Business Intelligence, Consulting and Machine Learning, AI Software of Business

Sector: Real Estate

Website: https://exo-metrics.com/

Exometrics is a popular AI company focused on the real estate sector— residential property, commercial property, retail property, social housing, urban planning, exobase, and municipalities. It helps to provide in-depth insights from 15 different in-house developed databases to transform future real estate actions of both consumers and businesses. The database includes historical data, statistical predictions, and market interviews. Data science consultants utilize machine learning solutions, business intelligence dashboards, and advanced data analytics with artificial intelligence to generate useful insights while reducing potential errors.

43. Eyeware tech

Headquarter(s): Martigny, Valais

Founded: 2016

Focus Area: Computer Vision, Software, Robotics, Machine Learning, IoT, Smart Home, Eye Tracking, Eye Tracking Technology, and Head Tracking

Sector: Computer software— IT and Services

Website: http://www.eyeware.tech

Eyeware tech is known for offering solutions that utilize eye-tracking software with robust real-time data through real-time environmental interactions. The AI company develops software for webcams and 3D sensors like Intel Realsnse and Orbecc Astra with remote head pose and gaze tracking for consumer device integrations. This platform is focused on discovering a more immersive experience while playing next-gen games. It also helps to enhance virtual assistants for a better understanding of a driver’s attention in a car. There can be an eye-to-eye interaction between humans and robots while using gaze as an indicator of engagement.

44. Five AI

Headquarter(s): Cambridge, Cambridgeshire

Founded: 2015

Focus Area: Autonomous Vehicles, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Safety-Critical Software, Computer Vision, Software Engineering, Self-Driving, C++, Deep Learning, Robotics, Assurance, and Safety

Sector: Computer Software— IT and Services

Website: http://www.five.ai

FiveAI is named after Level 5 of the self-driving systems to fully transform into autonomous. It is developing self-driving software components and platforms to solve complex challenges efficiently. It wants to achieve faster development with quicker coverage and better analysis for the utmost safety assurance. The platform can create different scenarios intelligently, run multiple simulations, evaluate performances and refine stacks. FiveAI is focused on helping customers cross level 3 and level 4 autonomy challenges— traffic jam chauffeur, motorway chauffeur, and urban chauffeur.

45. Frame.ai

Headquarter(s): New York

Founded: 2016

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Enterprise, Vertical ai, Productivity, Customer Support, Customer Success, Voice of Customer, Customer Experience, Natural Language Understanding, Customer Feedback, Unstructured Data, Sentiment Analysis, and Intelligent Infrastructure

Sector: Internet

Website: https://frame.ai/

Frame AI is the customer feedback intelligence engine with an early warning system. The platform uses data to eradicate indecisions, identify interactive themes, and different solutions like account health, automatic routing, customer voice, and intelligent KPIs. It helps companies understand customers across different channels by leveraging AI and machine learning. The Frame AI tool connects with help desk software, call center tooling, customer relationship management systems to communicate with customers. This AI company utilizes NLP to create new themes for customer0 experience leaders to prioritize taking actions to enhance customer engagement.

46. Icertis

Headquarter(s): Bellevue, Washington, US

Founded: 2009

Focus Area: Contract Intelligence

Sector: Software IT

Website: http://www.icertis.com/

With unmatched technology and category-defining innovation, Icertis pushes the boundaries of what’s possible with contract lifecycle management (CLM). The AI-powered, analyst-validated Icertis Contract Intelligence (ICI) platform turns contracts from static documents into strategic advantage by structuring and connecting the critical contract information that defines how an organization runs. Today, the world’s most iconic brands and disruptive innovators trust Icertis to fully realize the intent of their combined 10 million+ contracts worth more than $1 trillion, in 40+ languages and 90+ countries. Contracts are the foundation of commerce, and for the first time in history, they are being digitized. Applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) to this new pool of digitized data transforms contracts from static documents into live contracts which can interact with humans, surrounding systems, and ultimately even other contracts. The Icertis AI apps enable companies to solve previously intractable enterprise contract management challenges that are uniquely suited to an AI-powered solution.

47. Instreamatic

Headquarter(s): San Francisco, California, US

Founded: 2014

Focus Area: Voice AI

Sector: Voice Assistant Solutions

Website: https://instreamatic.com

Developer a voice AI platform designed to revolutionize the advertising industry. The company’s platform offers tools to serve, manage, measure, and monetize digital audio ads programmatically as well as permits users to speak with ads skip irrelevant ads, and drive curiosity to learn in a hands-free environment, enabling clients to learn and predict consumer intents when they engage with voice ads. They are using natural language understanding (NLU) for training Voice AI Core. All user commands are heard and understood by constantly enhancing the ad experience and ad relevance by leveraging AI and voice data.

Programmatic Audio Ad Platform is their Latest Product where:

You can manage your inventory with Instreamatic Audio Ad Platform

  • Integrating with the most effective DSPs, Ad Networks, Trading Desks, Ad Exchanges, etc.
  • Global sales team and programmatic platform covering most major countries.
  • Utilize our SSP option for audio ads to boost revenue from all sales channels.

48. Intello Labs

Headquarter(s): Gurugram

Founded: 2016

Focus Area: Digitizing Supply Chain

Sector: AgriTech

Website: https://www.intellolabs.com/

Intello Labs taps the power of AI, ML, and computer vision to solve one of the biggest problems our world faces – cutting down food loss. They do so by digitizing the quality assessment of fresh fruits and vegetables. Their technology transforms quality processes, making them objective, efficient, and less wasteful. From growers to packers, from exporters to food services, anyone can use Intello’s smart, scalable solutions to digitize food quality, achieve fair pricing and reduce food wastage. Intello Labs gives you the edge you need to make a food
business thrive. It provides two products namely; ‘Intello Pack’ and ‘Intello Track’ that uses computer vision and AI to leverage digital supply chains.

49. Intuition Robotics

Headquarter(s): California, US

Founded: 2016

Focus Area: Fusing technology with psychology

Sector: HealthTech

Website: https://www.intuitionrobotics.com/

Their technology establishes long-term relationships between people and technology, unlocking unprecedented continuous engagement. Intuition Robotics uses this breakthrough to help people live better, starting with older adults. ElliQ, by Intuition Robotics, is a personalized care companion that extends the clinical team’s presence into older adults’ homes — helping improve their experience and increase patient engagement, while offering actionable data, notifications, and insights for early detection and intervention. ElliQ, by Intuition Robotics, is a personalized care companion that extends the clinical team’s presence into older adults’ homes — helping improve their experience and increase patient engagement, while offering actionable data, notifications, and insights for early detection and intervention.

50. K Health

Headquarter(s): New York, US

Founded: 2016

Focus Area: Health application

Sector: HealthTech

Website: https://www.khealth.com/

Compare your symptoms with millions- The app brings together millions of medical records to help quickly figure out what’s wrong. Their partners include the Mayo Clinic Platform, Maccabi Healthcare Services, and Anthem.

Chat with a clinician—no insurance needed- Get 24/7 access to doctors for less than a co-pay or urgent care visit, plus prescriptions, refills, free care for your kids, and more. Pay $23 each visit, or $12 a month for unlimited visits.

Find trusted info for your family for free- Their symptom checker is completely free and anonymous—100% of your information is private and protected. If you want to chat with a clinician, your results will help them get you to care fast.

51. Loginext

Headquarter(s): New York, US

Founded: 2014

Focus Area: Analytics and Logistics Automation

Sector: Software IT

Website: https://www.loginextsolutions.com/

A Highly configurable last-mile delivery and dispatch management software, LogiNext Mile™ is the most ideal solution which offers automated delivery route planning and route optimization, automated real-time resource allocation, cash and proof of delivery, delivery associate management, and real-time tracking, all this in one power-packed last-mile delivery and dispatch management software solution.

52. Luminovo

Headquarter(s): European Union

Founded: 2017

Focus Area: SaaS Providers

Sector: Electronics

Website: https://luminovo.ai/

Luminovo is a SaaS provider for the electronics industry. The company’s vision is to bring innovations faster to everyone by reducing the time and resources needed to go from an idea to a market-ready electronic product. Their software rethinks processes for OEMs, EMS, and distributors in order to accelerate technological progress. Their electronics operating system is designed to make these processes more collaborative, data-driven, and automated enabling clients to benefit from streamlined workflows. With every RfQ (their product) comes back and forth communication, negotiation, consultation, and updated agreements with the OEM. Having to do this via email, Excel, phone, and various mixed channels can be inefficient and tedious. LumiQuote enables direct communication, real-time status updates, and live collaboration on online BOMs to make part approvals and solving issues smoother, leaving clients more delighted than ever.

53. MixMode

Headquarter(s): Santa Barbara, CA

Founded: 2012

Focus Area: Autonomous Cybersecurity

Sector: Cybersecurity

Website: https://mixmode.ai/

A major problem exists in the cybersecurity industry today. Tools adopted by large enterprises like traditional SIEM systems are actually decreasing the efficiency of security teams rather than delivering on their promises. SOC’s leverage 4 or 5 security platforms to defend their enterprise but costs continue to rise and attacks happen more frequently. The reason for this is that traditional tools require thousands of hours of human training and tuning to attempt detection of previously known threats while constantly displaying unnecessary alerts. Solutions like SIEM, NDR, NTA, and UEBA ultimately have become “additive” in terms of overall cost, infrastructure, and human labor while contributing to an unnecessary increase in data migration, redundancy, and latency. Leveraging a tool like MixMode that provides an AI layer that is self-supervised, learns and adapts over time on its own without human input, and is aware of context is the solution. By enabling real-time and accurate anomaly detection, MixMode provides the same functional benefits of all of the traditional tools combined at a fraction of the cost, without the extra noise, and allows security teams to focus, see the entire attack surface, and catch attacks before damage is done.

54. Mobvoi

Headquarter(s): Beijing, China

Founded: 2012

Focus Area: Smart Watches

Sector: Information Technology

Website: https://www.mobvoi.com/

Mobvoi Information Technology Company Limited is a technology company headquartered in Beijing, China that sells and develops consumer electronics and Chinese voice recognition, natural language processing, and vertical search technology in-house. Mobvoi’s aim is to define the next generation of human-machine interaction, creating a more natural and intuitive way for people to interact with machines. As a technology company driven by innovation, Mobvoi has developed a series of proprietary AI technologies that establish an “end-to-end” human-computer interaction system architecture, including speech signal processing, wake words, speech recognition, natural language understanding, dialogue management, vertical search, speech synthesis, knowledge graph and more.

55. Model Op

Headquarter(s): Chicago, Illinois

Founded: 2016

Focus Area: Machine Learning, AI Governance

Sector: IT services

Website: https://www.modelop.com/

ModelOp, the pioneer of ModelOps software, enables large enterprises to address the critical governance and scale challenges necessary to fully unlock the transformational value of enterprise AI and Machine Learning investments. G2000 companies use ModelOpCenter to govern, monitor, and orchestrate all models across the enterprise and deliver reliable, compliant, and scalable AI initiatives. ModelOpCenter: Core to any AI Orchestration Platform. Enforce Risk and Compliance Controls by Its Product:

  • Maintain a comprehensive production model inventory
  • Enforce conditional approvals and compliance controls
  • Reproduce training, evaluation, and scoring of each model version
  • Integrate with your MRM systems and automate governance workflows
  • Track and manage each step in the model’s life cycle for full audibility

56. Myelin Foundry

Headquarter(s): Bengaluru, India

Founded: 2019

Focus Area: AI, Deep learning, Wellness

Sector: Information Technology

Website: https://www.myelinfoundry.com/

Myelin Foundry is a deep tech product start-up transforming human experiences and industry outcomes by building Artificial Intelligence algorithms on video, voice, and sensor data, for consumer edge devices. Founded by Gopichand Katragadda, Ganesh Suryanarayanan, and Aditi Olemann in January 2019, Myelin Foundry aims to transform human experiences and industry outcomes, by building AI algorithms on video, voice, and sensor data, for edge devices. Myelin’s first product in the market, Fovea Stream, enables HD viewing with SD transmission.

57. Nauto

Headquarter(s): Palo Alto, California, United States

Founded: Mar 3, 2015

Focus Area: artificial intelligence, Automotive, Autonomous vehicle

Sector: Technology

Website: http://www.nauto.com/

Nauto is an AI-technology company that’s improving the safety of commercial fleets today and the autonomous fleets of tomorrow. Nauto’s intelligent driver safety system assesses how drivers interact with the vehicle and the road ahead to reduce distracted driving and prevent collisions. Nauto’s intelligent driver safety system assesses how drivers interact with the vehicle and the road ahead to reduce distracted driving and prevent collisions. With this knowledge, Nauto is powering the development of self-driving technology that brings the best of human driving to autonomy.

58. Nektar.ai

Headquarter(s): Singapore, Central Region, Singapore

Founded: Jan 2020

Focus Area: Artificial intelligence, B2B, CRM

Sector: Sales

Website: https://nektar.ai/

Nektar.ai is reimagining the Future of modern B2B Sales. The company believes that the tools should work for humans and not the other way round. Currently, in stealth mode, we are building a first of its kind, multichannel GTM data platform that breaks the digital Go-To market silos that exist in today’s digital world and becomes your system of growth that drives your sales teams to close more deals faster.

59. Nextbillion AI

Headquarter(s): Singapore, Central Region, Singapore

Founded: Jan 31, 2020

Focus Area:

Sector: Business

Website: http://nextbillion.ai/

Nextbillion.ai aims to deliver a wide range of AI-powered hyperlocal solutions starting with the area of mapping. Nb.ai is working on building the geospatial infrastructure needed for enabling location-based experiences for the next billion users. The complexities in markets like India, Indonesia, and Nigeria are far greater than the traditional

developed countries and we are building the future of location technology. Underdeveloped infrastructure, the rise of megacities, complex addresses, and an ever-changing road network make things even more challenging and we are trying to solve these extremely complex problems using a combination of data, AI, platform, and people.

60. Noodle AI

Headquarter(s): San Francisco Bay Area, West Coast, Western US

Founded: Mar 14, 2016

Focus Area: Artificial intelligence, Big Data

Sector: Business

Website: http://noodle.ai/

Noodle.ai offers pioneering business solutions in Enterprise Artificial Intelligence, a unique collaboration among business executives, process experts, and artificial intelligence technologies (e.g., machine learning, predictive data analytics, data science). The company creates and implements these solutions to solve complex business challenges and drive dramatic improvements in customer, product, and enterprise operations.

61. Observe.AI

Headquarter(s): San Francisco, California, United States

Founded: Jul 19, 2017

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Call Center, SaaS

Sector: Software

Website: https://observe.ai/

Observe.AI transforms customer experiences and improves agent performance by helping top brands analyze 100% of interactions, extract actionable sentiment and interaction insights, and streamline workflows. With Observe.AI, businesses transcribe every interaction with high accuracy and coach agents while gaining full visibility into their customer service operations. Observe.AI brings the power of agent assistance, automatic speech recognition, and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to modern contact centers and their frontline teams. Observe.AI is trusted by more than 160 customers and partners, including National Debt Relief, Root Insurance, Alcon Laboratories, and Pearson. Backed by Menlo Ventures, Next47, NGP Capital, Emergent Ventures, Scale Ventures, Nexus Ventures, and Y-Combinator, Observe.AI’s headquarters is in San Francisco with an office in Bangalore, India.

62. Obviously.ai

Headquarter(s): 

Founded: Jan 1, 2019

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Coding

Sector: Software

Website: https://www.obviously.ai/

The company believes that making AI accessible represents the greatest opportunity to empower the lives of everyday business users. That’s why it has built a tool that enables non-technical business users to rapidly run predictions on their historical data, with just a few clicks. Allowing them to make better business decisions, fast. Obviously, AI is a no-code AI startup based in San Francisco, CA.

63. OctoML

Headquarter(s): Seattle, Washington, United States

Founded: Jul 24, 2019

Focus Area: Artificial intelligence, Computer

Sector: Engineering

Website: https://octoml.ai/

OctoML is a startup that offers an acceleration platform that helps engineering teams deploy machine learning models on any hardware, cloud provider, or edge device quickly. The platform, Octomizer, is built on top of the open-source Apache TVM compiler framework project. It supports a wide variety of machine learning frameworks like PyTorch, TensorFlow, and ONNX serialized models as well as hardware backends like NVIDIA/CUDA, x86, AMD, ARM, Intel, MIPS, and more. It changes how developers optimize and deploy machine learning models for their AI needs. The company’s investors include Addition, Madrona Venture Group, and Amplify Partners. OctoML was founded by creators of open-source Apache TVM Luis Ceze, Tianqi Chen, Jason Knight, Jared Roesch, and Thierry Moreau.

64. Olive

Headquarter(s): Columbus, Ohio, United States

Founded: Jun 5, 2012

Focus Area: Artificial intelligence, Healthcare

Sector: Healthcare

Website: https://www.oliveai.com/

Olive deploys the AI workforce built specifically for healthcare, delivering hospitals and health systems increased revenue, reduced costs, and increased capacity. Olive automates repetitive, high-volume tasks and workflows, monitoring their performance, identifying improvements, and finding opportunities for new work. Olive gives power back to providers through her ever-growing, unparalleled intelligence made up of shared memories, collective wisdom, and global awareness, learning like a network so hospitals never have to solve the same problem twice. Olive was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

65. OneTrust

Headquarter(s): Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Founded: 2016

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Risk Management

Sector: Cybersecurity

Website: http://www.onetrust.com/

OneTrust is a provider of privacy management and marketing compliance technology that helps organizations comply with global regulations. It automates privacy impact assessments and data inventory mapping, enforces risk remediation actions, and triggers recurring audits for continuous compliance monitoring across customer, employee, and vendor data transfers. Its web-based software can be accessed on any device and provides a single place for a private office to collaborate with business groups, vendors, and trusted advisors managing privacy risks. The result is the ability to demonstrate privacy by design and ongoing compliance with policies, data privacy laws (GDPR, BCR, Privacy Shield), and other privacy frameworks (HITECH, ISO, GAPP, APEC). The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

66. Onfido

Headquarter(s): London, England, United Kingdom

Founded: 2012

Focus Area: Information technology, Identity management

Sector: Fintech

Website: http://www.onfido.com/

Onfido digitally proves a user’s real identity using AI technology, by verifying their photo ID and comparing it to their facial biometrics. It means users and businesses can verify their online identities anywhere and anytime, without compromising on experience, inclusion, privacy, or security. Onfido powers over 1,500 fintech, banking, and marketplace clients globally—helping them onboard more users while reducing risk. Identity underpins all transactions, and over the coming years, access to everything will be based on every user’s ability to easily and securely prove their legal identity. This will change how we think of access—everything from opening a bank account to self-checking into a hotel and ultimately voting.

67. Otter

Headquarter(s): Mountain View, California, United States

Founded: Feb 2016

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Consumer Software, Enterprise Software

Sector: Software

Website: https://otter.ai/

Otter.ai offers a collaborative note-taking app that makes important information from voice conversations including meetings, interviews, and lectures instantly accessible and actionable. The company’s award-winning product, Otter Voice Notes, is used by business professionals, journalists, and students to generate rich notes that can be easily searched and shared. Otter is based on proprietary technologies for speech recognition, speaker separation, speaker ID, and keyword/topic extraction. The company was founded by successful repeat entrepreneur Sam Liang and fellow engineering Ph.D. Yun Fu. Investors. The company is proud to be supported by some of Silicon Valley’s top venture capitalists who were early investors in Tesla, SpaceX, Slack, and Twitter. Additionally, it is backed by legendary angel investor David Cheriton, who provided the initial capital to Larry Page and Sergey Brin to start Google.

68. Outreach

Headquarter(s): Seattle, Washington, United States

Founded: 2014

Focus Area: Analytics, CRM, SaaS

Sector: Sales

Website: https://www.outreach.io/

Outreach is a sales engagement platform that accelerates revenue growth by optimizing every interaction throughout the customer lifecycle. The platform manages all customer interactions across email, voice, and social, and leverages machine learning to guide reps to take the right actions. Thousands of customers, including Cloudera, Glassdoor, Pandora, and Zillow, rely on Outreach to drive predictable and measurable growth, increase efficiency and effectiveness of customer-facing teams, and improve visibility into sales activity and performance. Outreach was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

69. overwrite.ai

Headquarter: Dubai, UAE

Founded: Ayman Alashkar

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning

Sector: Real-Estate

Website: https://overwrite.ai/

OVERWRITE.ai is an instant, AI auto-written content that lends its hand to the real estate agents to save time, close more deals, and get more leads. It has user-friendly AI that gives you billions of varied, unique, and search-optimized descriptions for your businesses. OVERWRITE saves time and cost by intelligently automating boring, manual, and error-prone tasks. It also generates more leads optimizing SEO ranking and customer engagement with eye-catching descriptions. The company’s features include error-free descriptions, refresh listings, instant translations, image enhancement, image optimization, image watermarking, character count, rich-text editing dashboard, and CRM integration API.

70. People.ai 

Headquarter: Redwood City

Founded: Oleg Rogynskyy

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Revenue Operations, and Intelligence

Sector: Sales and Marketing

Website: https://people.ai/

People.ai is the industry’s leading revenue operations and intelligence (ROI) platform. Using AI technology transforms business activities such as meetings, emails, and contacts into account and opportunity management solutions that increase sales rep productivity, maximize marketing ROI and accelerate revenue growth. Major companies such as AppDynamics, DataRobot, Ivanti, Okta, and Zoom depend on People.ai to unlock growth. The company has backed nearly 49 awarded patents and other 50+ patents under review in its list.

71. Quantexa

Headquarter: London, United Kingdom

Founded: Vishal Marria

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence and Analytics

Sector: Banking, Insurance, Government

Website: https://www.quantexa.com/

Quantexa is software that connects data at scale into true single views. The company helps in uncovering hidden risks and reveals new opportunities with graph analytics across the customer lifecycle. Quantexa’s services include anti-money laundering, fraud, credit risk, knowing customers, and customer intelligence. It helps companies to improve the operationalization of the data with context, putting network analytics at the center of the financial crime approach, and to deepen customer relationships with a contextual view.

72. Qure.ai

Headquarter: Mumbai, India

Founded: Prashant Warier

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning

Sector: Healthcare

Website: https://www.qure.ai/

Qure.ai is an artificial intelligence company used to make healthcare more accessible and affordable. The team combines deep learning specialization with clinical, scientific, and regulatory knowledge. The company’s advisory panel includes radiologists and other doctors and public experts who design real-world solutions. Qure.ai’s products are chest x-rays, head CT scans, POQUS, chest CT scans, and public health solutions. The recent highlights of the company are interpretable AI, natural language processing for radiology reports, and validation study open datasets.

73. Reekon

Headquarters: London

Founded: Christian Reed

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Automation

Sector: Fintech & Banking

Website: https://www.reekon.tools/

Reekon is an autonomous system that helps B2B/Companies automatically analyze and resolve customer inquiries via all communication channels and automate daily customer service tasks while communicating with the back-office systems. The company’s key product features include ticket analysis, ticket resolution, task automation, categorization, and other features email automation, live chat, and social networks automation, self-hosting, multi-language support, and performance analysis. Reekon resolves customer inquiries with AI and reduces high ticket volume without agent interaction via email, live chat, or phone.

74. Replika

Headquarters: San Francisco, California

Founded: Eugenia Kuyda

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence

Sector: Computer Software

Website: https://replika.ai/

Replika is an artificial intelligence company that designed AI companions who can always hear, listen and talk to. This can improve emotional well-being and can help you learn new coping skills. This provides a space to share your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs comfortably. Replika has been helping many who want a bot to accompany them. With the help of machine learning, Replika also offers a smartphone chatbot that can chat as a kind of personal confidante.

75. Roborace 

Headquarters: London

Founded: Denis Sverdlov

Focus Area: Technologies, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Self Driving

Sector: Entertainment

Website: https://roborace.com/

Roborace is a competition driving, electrically powered vehicle. It is the first global championship for autonomous cars with humans. It is a platform for organizations, brands, and individuals to test the development of their automated driving systems. The DevBot 2.0 is the vehicle that has been used for season beta. It is the bespoke racing platform that is developed by Roborace. It is a cultural phenomenon that forms the whole universe with its character, and aesthetics.

76. Rosetta.ai

Headquarters: Taiwan

Founded: Daniel Huang and Alice Li

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, FashionTech

Sector: Information Technology and Services

Website: https://www.rosetta.ai/

Rosetta.ai is helping e-commerce increase conversion and enlarge order value with deep learning-based technology to analyze the individual consumer’s hidden preferences and behaviors, predict future sales, and provide personalized recommendations for online and offline during the consumer’s shopping journey. It helps businesses to personalize stores, make fashion-centered image-based recommendations, and launch smart personalized eCommerce marketing campaigns. Rosetta.ai enables automated conservations, increases engagement, and helps businesses build customer loyalty.

77. Run.AI

Headquarter: Israel

Founded: Omri Geller and Dr. Ronen Dar

Focus Area: Cloud, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning,

Sector: Computer Software

Website: https://www.run.ai/

Run.AI has built the world’s first computer-management platform for orchestrating and accelerating AI. The company is a virtualization layer for deep learning and optimizes AI infrastructure, enabling full utilization of GPU resources. It helps companies execute on their AI initiatives quickly while considering budgets under control, by virtualizing expensive hardware resources in order to pool, share and allocate resources efficiently. With the help of this company’s software AI initiatives quickly, while keeping budgets under control, by visualizing expensive hardware.

78. Scale AI

Headquarter(s): San Francisco, California, United States

Founded: Alex Wang, lucy Guo

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Computer Vision, Robotics, Deep Learning.

Sector: Retail & Ecommerce and Autonomous Vehicles

Website: https://scale.com/

ScaleAI improves the development of AI applications by assisting machine learning teams to generate high-quality ground truth data. The company’s LiDAR, image, video, and NPL annotation API allow machine learning teams at companies like OpenAI, Lyft, Pinterest, and Airbnb to concentrate more on building varied models vs labeling data.  The products of ScaleAI include Scale 3D Sensor Fusion, Scale Image, Scale Text, Scale Mapping, Scale Nucleus, Scale Collect, and many more.

79. Sherpa.ai

Headquarters: Erandio, Silicon Valley

Founded: Xabi Uribe-Etxebarria

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence

Sector: Technology and Services

Website: https://sherpa.ai/

Sherpa is a Spanish artificial intelligence company that is an expert in predictive conversational digital assistants. It offers advanced artificial intelligence technology to empower organizations, improve efficiency and automation, optimize costs and boost customer satisfaction through better decision-making. The company’s topmost use cases are to improve diagnostics and care using secure and private patient data, improve user’s experience with personalized TV content recommendations, and keep funds secure without sharing customer data.

80. Soul Machines

Headquarter(s): Auckland, New Zealand

Founded: 2016

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence

Sector: Healthcare, Retail and E-commerce, Financial Services, Public Sector, Higher Education, entertainment, Consumer Goods, Real Estate

Website: https://www.soulmachines.com/

Soul Machines is an incredible AGI business whose unrivaled Human OS platform enables the world to tap into the full potential and goodness of human-machine collaboration in a way that is responsive, relevant, and unmatched. Soul Machines is the only business with a proprietary digital brain that produces the most lifelike and dynamically interacting digital people. Soul Machines collaborates with some of the world’s most well-known companies to rethink and accelerate AI as a platform for transforming consumer experience.

81. Spacemaker

Headquarter(s): Oslo, Norway

Founded: 2016

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Data Science

Sector: Real Estate

Website: https://www.spacemakerai.com/

Spacemaker is a technology business built on the premise that there is a better way to build cities, and that this is something that must be done as the world’s population continues to rise to unprecedented heights. From the start of a project, the firm enables architects, real estate developers, and other players in the AEC sector to make data-driven decisions. Iterate on designs regularly and push the boundaries of what is feasible on a website. It is hoped that by combining these talents, the sector would be able to create better cities for more people.

82. Streem

Headquarter(s): Portland, Oregon

Founded: 2017

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Machine Learning, Computer Vision

Sector: Computer Software

Website: https://www.streem.com/

The Streem platform uses remote video, AR, and AI technologies to enable real-time client engagement. This enables your team to assist consumers by linking companies with unrivaled insights, resulting in improved experiences. Streem enables businesses to prioritize consumers by offering faster estimates, greater first-time resolutions, and shorter wait times, all while integrating with the technologies they already use.

83. Suki AI

Headquarter(s): Redwood City, California

Founded: 2017

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning

Sector: Healthcare

Website: https://www.suki.ai/

Suki AI is a voice-enabled, AI-powered digital assistant for doctors that relieves them of paperwork, allowing them to focus on what they do best: treating patients. Suki can be tailored to each doctor, grows wiser as they use it, and is expandable quickly and cheaply thanks to artificial intelligence. Furthermore, it is simple to construct and much simpler to use, obstructing neither the physician nor the patient. Suki is like having an assistant in the exam room who understands how a doctor works and so makes the day go more smoothly.

84. SupportLogic

Headquarter(s): San Jose, California

Founded: 2016

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing (NLP)

Sector: Information Technology & Services

Website: https://www.supportlogic.io/

SupportLogic is the world’s first continuous service experience (SX) management platform, allowing businesses to understand and act on the ‘Voice of the Customer’ in real-time to enhance service delivery and create healthy and lucrative customer relationships.

85. SurveyAuto

Headquarter(s): Boston, Massachusetts

Founded: 2019

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Machine Learning

Sector: Information Technology & Services

Website: https://surveyauto.com/

SurveyAuto is a data democratization online survey platform that aids with the analysis of data collected using a machine learning mobile app. SurveyAuto creates a platform for gathering data in the field, particularly in poor nations. The platform collects data by combining current developments in artificial intelligence (AI) with smartphone applications. SurveyAuto utilizes machine learning on satellite images to identify survey targets and uses smartphone apps to follow and monitor enumerators in real-time.

86. Symbl AI

Headquarter(s): Seattle, Washington

Founded: 2018

Focus Area: Machine Learning, Artificial intelligence, Deep Learning, Data Science, Natural language processing

Sector: Business

Website: https://symbl.ai/

Symbl.ai is democratizing conversational technology to make large-scale cooperation simple. The firm established a new category of conversational tech infrastructure – contextual speech and text analytics applied to human interactions such as those found in your average sales, meeting, support, education, or other business conversation – and was financed by Amazon, VC, and Techstars’19. Without the need for prior training, wake words, or bespoke classifiers, the firm enables developers and companies to implement conversation intelligence at scale.

87. Thought Machine

Headquarter(s): London, United Kingdom

Founded: 2014

Focus Area: Fintech

Sector: Banking Sector

Website: https://thoughtmachine.net/

Thought Machine is a top financial company in the United Kingdom that is rapidly expanding. The company’s goal is to solve one of the banking industry’s most serious issues: its reliance on antiquated IT infrastructure. Almost every bank is trapped on a legacy IT platform, which limits their capacity to innovate and provide the level of service that their clients need.

88. Trax

Headquarter(s): Singapore

Founded: 2010

Focus Area: Computer Vision

Sector: Retail

Website: https://traxretail.com/

Trax is the world’s leading provider of retail computer vision systems. Trax provides best-in-class in-store execution tools, market measurement services, and data science solutions that are revolutionizing the way in-store retail data is gathered, displayed, and analyzed. Consumer products producers and retailers may use Trax to enhance product availability, close distribution gaps, uncover new categories, and boost sales right away.

89. TuSimple

Headquarter(s): San Diego, CA

Founded: 2015

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence

Sector: Automobile

Website: https://www.tusimple.com/

TuSimple is a San Diego-based self-driving truck business with offices in Tucson, Arizona, and Dallas, Texas. TuSimple, which was founded in 2015, is working on a Level 4 (SAE) completely autonomous driving solution for the logistics business. TuSimple’s trucks are the first and only self-driving trucks on the market, and they do so every day for their clients. The company aims to improve safety, lower transportation costs, and lower carbon emissions.

90. Uniphore

Headquarter(s): Palo Alto, California

Founded: 2008

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning

Sector: Conversational Service Automation

Website: https://www.uniphore.com/

Uniphore is the global leader in Conversational Service Automation (CSA), a system that integrates artificial intelligence, automation, and machine learning. Uniphore is concentrating on dialogues to disrupt an outmoded customer service paradigm and bridge the gap between humans and robots.

91. Unisound

Headquarter(s): Beijing

Founded: 2012

Focus Area: Voice Recognition, Deep Neural Network

Sector: Business

Website: https://www.unisound.com/

Unisound is a Beijing-based AI startup that makes IoT devices smarter by adding AI capabilities like voice recognition, language processing, knowledge computing, and big data solutions. Its product line focuses on smart home appliances, vehicles, and healthcare devices. In 2020, the Shanghai Stock Exchange accepted the company’s IPO application but in February 2021, Unisound decided to halt its IPO application to raise RMB 912 million (US$14 million) for R&D development. Unisound aims to shift research focus on IoT edge computing chips, intelligence hospital solutions, and other crucial areas of business.

92. Vacasa

Headquarter(s): Portland, OR

Founded: 2009

Focus Area: Leisure, Travel & Tourism

Sector: Vacation Rental Management, Property Management, Marketing, Technology, Vacation Rentals, Travel, Vacation Real Estate, Travel Accommodations, Hospitality, Vacation Rental Marketing & Booking, Traveler Support & Reservations, destination-based Travel, Vacation Rental Bookings, Customer Experience, Software Engineering, Data Analytics, Vacation, and Real Estate

Website: http://www.Vacasa.com

Vacasa is a leading full-service vacation rental management company based out of North America. The company uses technology and data to allow local teams to maintain homes and guests while ensuring maximum revenue for homeowners. Vacasa helps aspiring real estate investors find the right vacation homes to enjoy their free time peacefully. At present, Vacasa has its presence in 34 US states, Canada, Mexico, Belize, and Costa Rica. It offers innovative services that scale up its hospitality operations with smart solutions. With features like 3D virtual tours, mobile app, custom smart locks, contactless check-in, and noise detection tech, Vacasa is leading the industry with first-of-its-kind innovation.

93. Vectra AI

Headquarter(s): San Jose, CA

Founded: 2011

Focus Area: Network Threat Detection and Response.

Sector: Computer & Network Security

Website: https://www.vectra.ai

Vectra AI provides a cloud-based service that uses artificial intelligence technology to monitor both on-premise and cloud-based networks. As cyberattacks are becoming a nightmare for businesses across industries, Vectra AI aims to make the business world a safer place with its sophisticated network detection. Its customers are able to immediately detect and respond to cyberattacks in the cloud, data center, IoT, and enterprises with its AI-driven cybersecurity platform, Vectra Cognito. This solution offers high-fidelity alerts without decrypting data to maintain privacy. Vectra AI’s services range from cloud security, ransomware detection, threat hunting and investigations, and risk and compliance.

94. Viz.ai

Headquarter(s): San Francisco, CA

Founded: 2016

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, AI, Deep Learning, Stroke, Healthcare, and Workflow

Sector: Medical Device

Website: http://www.viz.ai

Viz.ai is a medical imaging company that optimizes emergency treatment by combining artificial intelligence, deep learning, and medical imaging. The company’s solutions help doctors diagnose and treat patients quickly by using deep learning to automatically detect and alert the on-call stroke physician. Viz.ai has a product that includes the Viz LVO and VIZ CTP platforms. They are FDA-cleared and commercially available innovative solutions. In April 2020, Viz.ai launched Viz COVID-19 to improve patient management and create a safer hospital workplace during the pandemic.

95. Weltok

Headquarter(s): Denver, CO

Founded: 2009

Focus Area: Healthcare IT and Health Optimization Platform

Sector: Health, Wellness & Fitness

Website: http://www.welltok.com

Weltok aims at proactively improving the user’s physical, mental, social, and financial wellbeing by predicting individuals’ needs, risks, and receptivity. The company’s solutions are powered by data and analytics for unique insights into the population. The solutions hold the ability to precisely target and reach people in a personalized way, to motivate wellbeing. Earlier this year, Weltok introduced The Connect Store, a consumer-facing marketplace that enables users to spend benefits or pay directly for health and wellbeing programs and products for immediate needs.

96. WhiteboxHR

Headquarter(s): Abu Dhabi

Founded: 2020

Focus Area: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Predictive Analysis, Human Resources

Sector: Human Resources

Website: https://www.whiteboxhr.com

WhiteBoxHR helps employers find the right talent with predictive insights and bias-free solutions. The company uses machine learning, organization network analysis, people science, and advanced algorithms to suit various companies. WhiteBoxHR prides itself in using AI and analytics to augment the employee and candidate experience. Its algorithmic models ensure smarter and more predictive decisions with monitored techniques to eliminate bias.

97. Wysa

Headquarter(s): Boston, Massachusetts

Founded: 2015

Focus Area: mHealth, AI, Mental Health, Healthcare, Depression, Anxiety, Emotional wellness, Therapy, CBT, Mindfulness, Meditation, Calm, Coach, Stress, Sleep, and Online Therapy

Sector: Health, Wellness & Fitness

Website: http://www.wysa.io

Wysa is an AI-powered mental health app with headquarters in Bangalore, Boston, and London. Wysa is a chatbot that can respond with words of affirmation and guides a user through one of their 150 different therapeutic techniques. Wysa uses emotionally intelligent artificial intelligence technology to relieve people of their pent-up feelings. In March 2021, Wusa became one of the 17 applications in the Google Assistant Investment Program and closed a Series A funding round of US$5.5 million in May.

98. Zebra

Headquarter(s): Tel Aviv

Founded: 2014

Focus Area: Big Data, Computer Vision, Healthcare, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Medical Device, Medical Imaging, Radiology, Population Health, and AI

Sector: Hospital & Health Care

Website: http://www.zebra-med.com/

Zebra Medical Vision is a medical image AI startup that strives to save lives and advance value-based population healthcare management. The company uses patient imaging data that is already available in the healthcare system to find previously undetected common chronic diseases. Its proven solutions enable a further medical assessment to establish new preventive care strategies for patients. Artificial intelligence solutions like AdjusṭifAI, neuro solution, cardiac solution, and chest solution provide accurate and timely intervention for quality healthcare at reduced costs. Integrated via the cloud, Zebra’s reliable technology makes for longer, healthier, and active lives.

99. Ziptrax Cleantech

Headquarter(s): New Delhi

Founded: 2016

Focus Area: 

Lithium-ion batteries, Recycling, Lithium, Nickel, Cobalt, Green Economy, Zero Landfill, Metal Recovery, Battery 2nd Use, Manufacturing, Make in India, and Li-ion cell manufacturing

Sector: Renewables & Environment

Website: http://ziptrax.in

Ziptrax Cleantech aims to transform India’s EV sector for a greener tomorrow. Ziptrax extends the life of Li-ion batteries by combining it with its AI-based technology. Ziptrax boasts an artificial intelligence engine and IoT-enabled hardware that makes Lithium-ion batteries last for up to 40% longer. Ziptrax Cleantech provides cell auditing which involves the segregation of cells with the help of machine learning algorithms, post quality check, repurposing of various cells using artificial intelligence in its determination app, refabricate that relates to the construction of superior designs for batteries, and sales and battery swapping.

100. Zoox

Headquarter(s): California

Founded: 2014

Focus Area: Automotive

Sector: Autonomous vehicles

Website: https://zoox.com

Taking autonomous industry, a step further, Zoox provides mobility-as-a-service in dense urban environments. With a mission to make personal transportation safer, cleaner, and more enjoyable, Zoox vouches to manage the driving, charging, maintenance, and upgrades of its fleet of vehicles. In 2020, Zoox partnered with Amazon to mark its place in the autonomous vehicle industry. At present, Zoox is testing its ride-hailing service on private and public roads. The company uses unique sensor architecture that includes cameras, lidars, and radars to see the surroundings. The sensor placement provides 360-degree coverage along with built-in powerful compute systems and redundant backups for extremely safe driving.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of overwrite.ai and its owners.

Analytics Insight is the world’s First Print and Digital Publication focused on Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Analytics.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.

overwrite.ai is an AI-assisted content creator that helps real estate agents instantly curate unique and search-optimised property marketing descriptions.

For informative and light-hearted news and views on the world of real estate, follow overwrite.ai on Instagram and LinkedIn, and keep up-to-date with our weekly NewsBites blog.

Neckties and Ice Cream

by Ayman A.

Once upon a time there was a rookie salesman who, like many others, was preoccupied with the brand of car he drove. How crisp his shirt was. How straight the cut of his suit. How spotless his shoes. And how perfect the knot on his necktie.

One day he was running late for a client meeting. So he stopped to buy ice creams for the client’s children.

100,000 hours later, he met the same client again.

“You bought us ice creams” the now teenage children recalled, as their parents looked on, smiling.

There was no mention of the necktie he’d worn.

100,000 hours of more sales experience, didn’t create that client connection. Nor did all the neat shirts, shiny shoes and tailored suits.

That impulse of grabbing ice creams for a pair of children he hardly knew, did.

More Mileage Please

Your career gets more mileage from your genuine acts of kindness, than from all the Teslas you can buy.

overwrite.ai is an AI-assisted content creator that helps real estate agents instantly curate unique and search-optimised property marketing descriptions. 

For informative and light-hearted news and views on the world of real estate, follow overwrite.ai on Instagram and LinkedIn, and keep up-to-date with our weekly NewsBites blog.

The Mad Reality of Metaverse Realty

by Ayman A.

I’ve been busy buying real estate. One day back in mid-December, I acquired four prime residential downtown Manhattan plots of land. Since then I’ve made two unsuccessful bids to acquire an adjoining fifth plot. Together they would complete a super-prime land parcel.

Continue reading “The Mad Reality of Metaverse Realty”

Family Offices take to direct Start-up investing, bypassing VC funds

by Ayman A.

Investors that may have previously confined themselves to public markets are now clomping all over the venture capital landscape.

“The creative spirits. The underdogs. The resolute.” This ethos describes precisely the people who read this column, I have no doubt, putting us in alignment with Sequoia, the US venture capital firm that began a much talked-about blog post recently by addressing just such groups. Also “the independent thinkers”, “the fighters” and the “true believers”. Sequoia has a relentless drive to help them succeed, too, and naturally so does this column.

Continue reading “Family Offices take to direct Start-up investing, bypassing VC funds”

The Evolution of the Social Media Influencer

by Ayman A.

Love them or hate them, social media influencers are very much part of today’s mainstream marketing mix. When Facebook suffered their hours long outage last week, it was widely reported to have cost the social network upwards of $100 million dollars in lost revenue. The service disruption impacted the company’s stock price, which fell by 4.9 percent last Monday – that’s a whopping $47.3 billion in lost market cap.

The pain didn’t end at Mark Zuckerberg. As a result of what has been named the “Great Social Outage of 2021”, the business of thousands of others haemorrhaged at the hands of Mark’s monumental technical “glitch”. Social media influencers worldwide were rendered helpless for the entire time that FB’s universe was offline, their hands literally tied at the mercy of the technical boffins at Facebook HQ.

So how do influencers, brands and marketers future proof their sales strategy? And what’s next for Influencer Marketing?

Continue reading “The Evolution of the Social Media Influencer”

The Four-Day Working Week – Does it work for you?

by Ayman A.

We’ve all heard of it by now. The merits of the Four-Day work week. Promising results are emerging from trials and studies conducted by progressive companies and governments around the world. From morale boosting to enhancing loyalty, you just have to Google the benefits of a Four-Day working week and you’ll be swamped by articles playing up the overwhelming benefits, quoting the need for employers to adapt to the challenges of modern-day society.

There are those business managers who love the idea. Some have even embraced it. Others dread it, wishing it would go away before their employees clamour for it or labour laws mandate it. I like to think of OVERWRITE.ai as a progressive employer…That’s why I find myself asking, is it for us?

The Woods from The Trees

Let’s keep in mind one thing. Underlying the very concept of the Four-Day work week is a singular objective. Productivity.

Having spent nearly the past 20 years in the UAE, I remember a time when the weekends were Thursday and Friday. Then, I think sometime back in 2004, the UAE’s leaders adopted a Friday/Saturday weekend format, to better align with the rest of the world. Now there are even rumours that policy makers will shift yet again to a hybrid Friday/Saturday/Sunday format, to further align with global markets and peers.

Be under no illusion that the only reason businesses and governments anywhere in the world, are looking at adopting a four day week, is to optimise productivity.

It’s not altruism. It’s about increasing efficiency. Employee happiness is a means to that end, rather than the ultimate goal. One that’s mutually beneficial to all parties in the equation. I’m not a cynic. I just like to cut through the noise and say it how I see it.

Needs Must

When the pandemic obliterated conventional 9-to-6 office work, the debate about employee wellbeing and the work-life balance shifted into high-gear. As economies now emerge from the trauma of 2020, many, like that of the UAE, are roaring. But nobody wants to return to pre-pandemic working models as we knew them. That’s old-school. Done. Dusted. Covid-19 has forced us not just to think, but finally to act, differently.

So it’s out with the old, and in with the new. But what is the new working model?

Novelty Knows No Bounds

US based streaming giant Netflix, has taken a novel approach to holiday protocol. It’s called “No Rules Netflix,” where staff get unlimited holidays. No doubt T&C’s apply.

One of my personal favourite unicorn stories, Australian online graphic design platform Canva.com, last week told employees they only need to come to the office 8 times a year. 

Elsewhere, Four-Day working week pilot schemes have actually revealed some inspiring results. In some trials, by reducing working hours, without a reduction in salary, businesses can actually drive greater long-term profitability.  Microsoft Japan tried the schedule out with positive results. Staff noted an increase in the pace of their day and were able to get more done in the same timeframe. The governments of Spain and Scotland are planning trials that would give workers an additional day off.

All these progressive employee initiatives are great, especially when you’re a multi-billion dollar tech giant or a nation state. But as I said before, let’s not forget that it’s all about achieving greater productivity.

To those touting the Four-Day working week, cases such as these would seem a vindication. But does one size fit us all?

Cindarella’s Slippers

For many industries such as healthcare, hospitality and retail, profit margins are already squeezed tight. Paying staff the same for less working hours in the hope that it yields greater long-term productivity is a risk many would rather not take. Likewise for the millions of small and medium businesses that struggle with survival as it is. The shoe simply may not fit.

Even those businesses that can financially afford to trial a Four-Day work week, how successful can its roll-out really be? It’s one thing for Microsoft Japan, where cultural nuances are understood by all, and everyone’s time-zone is the same. It’s a completely different story getting Microsoft’s 200,000 global employees to achieve greater productivity with so many practical differences getting in the way.

What about those businesses that already offer a flat corporate structure? Where flexible working hours, even days, are the norm. Does the Four-Day week make sense?

Concordia res parvae crescent

Work together to accomplish more

That’s our space. OVERWRITE.ai’s never been a conventional 9-to-6 workplace. We’ve never had an office.

On any given Monday morning members of our team are just as likely to be behind their proverbial desk as they are to be at their local supermarket.

We’ve grown our team and our business with remote-working baked into the very dough of our company DNA. I like to joke that we were remote-working way back before the pandemic, when it wasn’t cool.

When the ability to adopt technologies that genuinely increase efficiency is so widely available to us, why would we not?

Everyone in our team knows what they have to do. We trust each other, as professionals, to get the job done in the time required, and to the best of our abilities. A core pillar of that trust is clear and respectful communication. We know who’s working on what, or who’s off where, because we communicate clearly to each other, respecting the fact that we are a team, and our overall success depends on every member in it, pulling their weight. Concordia res parvae crescent.

Hold My Stake

If the end goal is to optimise productivity, then how we get there isn’t going to hinge on a buzzword or whatever’s trending.

It’s easy to understand how the Four-Day working week carries such popular appeal. So many people are living under the pressure of so much to do with so little time. Finding those that are against the idea of a 3-day weekend would be harder than keeping ice from melting in the mid-summer sun.

As a business owner, I appreciate the argument that productivity isn’t dependent on the number of hours worked.  The view that there’s a direct, positive correlation between hours worked and output quality, or quantity, is ludicrous to me.

I know exactly how busy our 21st century lives are, and I respect that nobody is more or less busy than anybody else. We all have the balancing act of our professional and personal lives, and the myriad (often chaotic) curveballs that are thrown at us. That’s why I don’t expect our people to be 9-to-6er’s. That’s not how to get the best out of them.

“People don’t perform to the best of their ability because they’re told or paid to. I’ve seen too many slave-drivers who think that way. They were all doomed.”

I like to think I’ve an open-minded view on many aspects of our business. I encourage constructive criticism and open communication. I get excited when even the newest or most junior member of our team shares feedback and ideas.

People perform, even outperform, when they are empowered with a sense of ownership in their work. When they’re allowed to infuse their work with their personality, stamp their unique fingerprint on it, people take pride in their output. They’ll never rest on their laurels. They will constantly aim to be the best version of themselves, better than they were yesterday. They achieve optimal productivity in a much more powerful, sustainable way. Their accomplishments and contribution to the business become exponentially valuable. And the business becomes truly, organically dynamic.

What’s Your Flava?

We’re witnessing a moment in history where the future of work is being decided. It’s a process. An exciting one. And you rarely find in life that “one size” really “fits all”.

One thing is for sure. OVERWRITE.ai will never be a cookie-cut business. Vanilla’s not our flavour. The day we stop wanting to be better, I’ll resign.

An AI Implementation Strategist accredited by the prestigious MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Ayman also has a Bachelors Degree in Mathematics from the world-renowned Queen Mary College, University of London, and a Masters in Real Estate Investment and Development from the University of Reading (UK). With 20 years’ experience working in real estate, banking and artificial intelligence, Ayman is the founder and CEO of PropTech platform OVERWRITE.ai.

OVERWRITE.ai is a world first, user-friendly marketing solution that allows estate agents to instantly autowrite unique, search-optimised property descriptions, taking the boring out of the daily grind.

For informative and light-hearted news and views on the world of real estate, follow OVERWRITE.ai on  Instagram and LinkedIn, and be one of the first to read our weekly NewsBites blog.