Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning are quickly becoming highly sought-after technologies. However, Quan Pham, founder of PI.EXCHANGE feels that most companies that provide AI solutions focus more on enterprises –leaving little room for small business owners to keep up.

Compared to a few years ago when AI solutions could only be utilised by the likes of Google and Microsoft, there has now been a significant shift where AI is much more accessible. Yet still, at US$6,000 to over US$300,000 for custom AI solution, the costs of integrating AI is still not affordable enough for individuals and small businesses.

In addition to cost, there is also a barrier in the form of time and technical expertise that can prevent small businesses and individuals to implement the use of AI in their businesses.

Based in Melbourne with offices in Vietnam, Singapore, and India, PI.EXCHANGE is determined to solve this problem. The company provides a platform that enables businesses of all sizes and technical capabilities to build and operate machine learning applications quickly and cost-effectively.

After creating an account a user can simply upload or connect to a data source and The AI and Analytics Engine provides smart recommendations on how to wrangle and prepare the data for modelling.

The Engine then uses the prepared data set to provide smart model recommendations. These recommendations empower users to save time so user train only the recommended models. Users can achieve their tasks through the user interface or alternatively, tasks can be done via APIs to suit their requirements.

This is in line with the recent trend of low-code and no-code movement that has become popular today, where startups are providing platforms for users with minimum or even no coding skills to develop products.

PI.EXCHANGE claims that it is one of the few in the world that offers an affordable solution for AI deployment with only US$129 per month of signup cost for an individual. It also offers a free trial on its website for anyone interested.

Also Read: How Shopee uses AI, data to build a marketing strategy that suits changes in user behaviour

Pham tells e27 in an interview that the platform was built based on R&D efforts initiated by the company itself in Melbourne without any external help.

He shares that the technology is protected by Intellectual Property (IP) rights.

“Our IP is on how we are driving the computational costs for data preparation. If you think about it, its kind of like an AI agent which helps to compute and pick the right kind of data for each client. We maintain a very strong focus on IP and focus on perfecting our technology,” he says.

Meet the founder

Before kickstarting PI.EXCHANGE, Pham worked as the Chief Security Officer of Melbourne Water, a government-owned statutory authority which controls the water system in the city and the state of Victoria. He terms himself a “corporate dropout” after spending nearly over 10 years in the corporate world.

Aside from having an extensive formal background in cybersecurity, mathematics and science, Pham says that he learnt how to build data science and AI solutions through industrial experience –not by some school or university.

“My background in data science came from my previous life experience where I worked as a technology manager and a software developer. I came across different exercises and opportunities where I had to build a machine learning application all by myself with my team … so that’s how I got into the whole AI business,” Pham says.

Due to his prior roles in cybersecurity. Pham says that he takes privacy concerns very seriously. This is why the company has something called the “privacy by design and security by design principle”. He further stresses that the data is encrypted at all level in-transit address.

Also Read: AI-empowered data platform Sentient.io secures Series A funding led by Digital Garage Group

What is next

The company says that it will officially have a commercial launch in the next two to three months; it also has secured partnerships with Amazon Web Services and NVIDIA.

In terms of investment, Pham also says that PI.EXCHANGE is currently in funding talks with reputable VCs across the APAC region.

On the flip side, it is important to note that AI is highly complex and some may argue that making use of a packaged AI tool has a limited reward, and may not offer the disruptive competitive advantage that AI has the potential to deliver.

But, for the target audience that PI.EXCHANGE is aiming for, this could be the way to go.

–

Image Credit: PI.EXCHANGE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post How PI.EXCHANGE helps freelancers and small businesses have easier access to AI solutions appeared first on e27.