Innovation Through Partnerships 2021.AI x Edge Technology
Long distance partnerships – a win-win opportunity??
Behind the scenes with Edge Technology and 2021.ai - a conversation on what it takes to create a successful cross-border partnership, in which everyone benefits.?
AI, what’s the big deal???
While its wide-spread implementation is sparking doubt in many, there is absolutely no doubt that AI offers immense benefits to many companies globally, but only if implemented according to regulation.?
Since its incubation, Danish-founded 2021.ai’s GRACE platform has been targeting just this.?
The platform offers advanced tools and efficient workflows for data scientists and engineers to develop, test, and continuously improve regulatorily compliant AI models.?
Currently, 2021.ai works for more than 50 clients across the world, helping them to dramatically reduce time-to-market for AI solutions which lead to optimised cost, increased revenue, and minimised risks.?
A long-distance opportunity between old colleagues?
Japan, 2019 - Yuta Shimada is Director of Japanese pioneer AI development platform Edge Technology.?
A leader within advanced technologies, Edge Technology provides services for artificial intelligence implementations, big data analysis consulting as well as running educational programs for engineers and data scientists in the Japanese market.??
Yuta is looking for ways of staying ahead of the data usage curve that is rapidly increasing in Japan, through a collaboration to improve efficiency in Edge Technology’s development of AI models.?
That’s when Yuta reaches out to former colleague, Mikael Munck, who is now CEO and founder of 2021.ai, with a desire to address this untapped, growing market.?
The opportunity for 2021.ai??
Leveraging the strength of 2021.ai’s GRACE platform in a Japanese version – the Edge Algo Platform – with the ambition to make it the leading AI platform in Japan for data scientists.?
Japan’s leading AI platform for data scientists??
The partnership was set to be a win-win from the start.?
Edge Technology would act as the distributor and local market support centre for 2021.AI in Japan, allowing the Danish company to engage with some of the largest and well-known international brands from Japan, and therefore supporting their implementation of AI.?
Meanwhile, Edge Technology would be able to use the 2021.ai platform to bring new opportunities to its network of data scientists, giving them access to the latest open-source technologies, all of this with an optimal producing and productising model.?
What Yuta and Mikael saw together, was a partnership to shape the future leading AI platform in Japan for data scientists: the Edge Algo Platform.?
Distance, culture, and time-zone?
Whilst working together across borders may raise questions about time-zones, cultural differences, and expectations, the Edge Technology and 2021.ai collaboration is an emerging testimony to the fact that any successful partnership is built on some fundamentals.?
Both parties entered with the non-negotiable belief that the collaboration had to be a win-win for all involved. Adding a high level of trust forged by their Saxo Bank background into the mix (something which is crucial especially in cross-border partnerships), it became clear that this collaboration would result in something great.?
And it did.??
From the get-go, the two companies set clear goals, ensured regular sync-up meetings, shared sales and marketing materials, and travelled when necessary, ensuring everything went smoothly from the platform demonstration to the contract signing in 2021.ai's Danish office.?
As for the differing cultures and business environments – these disparities proved to be an asset to the collaboration. ?
Each partner could deliver its own skills and knowledge from within its known market, while simultaneously benefitting from the complementary knowledges and skills of the other partners – and in the end, a product which benefitted both partners equally was launched.?
Learnings?
When asked to reflect on their learnings from this collaboration, both Yuta and Mickael gave the same answers.?
A cross-border partnership is an opportunity not to pass up, as long as it is based on two things: trust, and that the partnership puts both parties in a "win-win" situation’.?
Without these, it’s never going to work.?
But with them, your partnership has the potential to be something great.?
Interested in what can be learnt from other successful partnerships? Read other articles in this series here: ?
Martin, Michael, Peter