In the rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence (AI), much of the focus has been on unstructured data like text and images. However, a vast amount of valuable information resides in structured data, often organized in tables, spreadsheets, and databases. This is where Neuralk-AI comes in, a French startup developing AI models specifically designed to unlock the potential of this often-overlooked data goldmine.
The Challenge of Tabular Data
While large language models (LLMs) have made significant strides in processing unstructured data, they are not ideally suited for handling structured, tabular data. LLMs are inherently fuzzy, designed to generate coherent output without necessarily adhering to a rigid structure. This makes them less effective for tasks that require precise analysis and manipulation of structured data.
Moreover, existing LLMs can be expensive to access or deploy, putting them out of reach for many businesses. This leaves a gap in the market for AI solutions that can effectively and affordably address the unique challenges of tabular data.
Neuralk-AI's Solution
Neuralk-AI is developing AI models specifically optimized for tabular data. These models are designed to be more precise and efficient than traditional LLMs when dealing with structured information. The company believes this focus on tabular data represents a significant opportunity to improve business processes and decision-making.
"Data with real value for companies is data that was identified a long time ago, structured in the form of a table, and used by the data scientists of these companies to create all their machine learning algorithms," says Alexandre Pasquiou, co-founder and Chief Scientist Officer of Neuralk-AI.
Targeting the Commerce Sector
Initially, Neuralk-AI plans to offer its AI models as an API to data scientists working in the commerce industry. This sector is particularly data-rich, with vast amounts of information on products, customers, sales, and more. Neuralk-AI's models can help retailers automate complex data workflows, improve data quality, and gain deeper insights into their business.
"Today, LLMs are great for search, natural user interaction, and answering questions based on unstructured documents. But it has some limitations the moment we go back to classic machine learning, which is really based on classic tabular data," Pasquiou explains.
Use Cases in Commerce
Neuralk-AI's models can be used for a wide range of applications in the commerce sector, including:
- Smart Deduplication and Enrichment: Automatically identify and merge duplicate records, and enrich existing data with external sources.
- Fraud Detection: Identify suspicious patterns and anomalies to prevent fraudulent transactions.
- Product Recommendation Optimization: Improve the accuracy and relevance of product recommendations to increase sales.
- Sales Forecasting: Generate accurate sales forecasts to optimize inventory management and pricing strategies.
Funding and Future Plans
Neuralk-AI recently secured $4 million in funding led by Fly Ventures, with participation from SteamAI and several angel investors, including Thomas Wolf from Hugging Face and Charles Gorintin from Alan.
The company is currently testing its models with a group of leading French retailers and commerce startups, such as E.Leclerc, Auchan, Mirakl, and Lucky Cart. They plan to release the first version of their model and a public benchmark in the coming months.
"Within three or four months, we'll release the first version of our model and the public benchmark on which we'll be able to rank our model compared to the state-of-the-art in this space," Pasquiou says. "And in September, the idea is to be the best tabular foundation model in everything related to representation learning."
The Future of Tabular Data
Neuralk-AI is at the forefront of a growing movement to apply AI to structured data. As businesses increasingly recognize the value of this data, the demand for AI solutions like Neuralk-AI's is likely to grow. With its focus on precision, efficiency, and affordability, Neuralk-AI is well-positioned to become a leader in this emerging field.
Neuralk-AI's innovative approach to AI for tabular data has the potential to revolutionize how businesses leverage their structured data assets. By providing accessible and powerful AI solutions, Neuralk-AI is empowering businesses to make better decisions, improve efficiency, and gain a competitive edge. As the company continues to develop and refine its models, it is poised to make a significant impact on the future of AI and data-driven decision-making.
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