2. 2 detecon-radar.com
> 600 Startups> 400 Trends7 Categories
Detecon Trend Radar
The Detecon Trend Radar harnesses Detecon’s global trend
and startup knowledge to empower clients to innovate
proactively and successfully.
This report includes selected trends from the Detecon Radar.
For more information on this and many other trends please
visit : detecon-radar.com
This report is an excerpt derived from the Detecon Trend Radar, our “single
source of truth” for scouting the latest technology trends, opportunities
and startups
3. 3 detecon-radar.com
Detecon Trend Radar
Artificial Intelligence is poised to have a transformational impact on core
processes and business models in the coming decade
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the way organizations
operate as a result of the ongoing trend towards automated solutions and
continued technical improvements in computing engines.
With the aggressive growth of data produced by the Internet of Things
(IoT), businesses are turning to AI applications such as machine learning
or deep learning to process and derive insights from this information. This
can allow for data-driven and autonomous operations that can boost
productivity across the organization through better informed decision
making.
Although AI has immense potential to disrupt and streamline business
operations, high capital investment, workforce resistance, and ethical
concerns surrounding black swan events have slowed adoption.
This report includes a snapshot of some of the most relevant
AI trends and startups from our Detecon Radar, your
“single source of truth” for all current and future AI threats
and opportunities.
4. Trend Inspirations Trend Rating
Course of Action
Park Wait & See Observe Be Prepared Act Now
Machine Learning (ML)
Machine learning is a set of algorithms used to make a system “artificially intelligent,” enabling it to recognize patterns
from large datasets and apply the findings to new data. Machine learning can be used to train computers to understand
and analyze human language, including text and voice (Natural Language Processing / NLP), to identify and analyze
images (image processing and computer vision), or for time series analysis, among other things.
Trend Description
Machine Learning is a field where computational methods
use experience (past information) to improve performance
and make accurate predictions. The capability to learn
enables an artificial intelligence to improve and adapt itself
to new and unexpected situations. Without this capability,
an AI would not be able to develop over time.
ML has successfully been applied to different problems,
e.g., Text Classification, Natural Language Processing,
Image Analysis. It builds the foundation of every modern AI
system.
Any application areas where data is available and a
learning or prediction problem exists (e.g., Robotics,
Economics, Biology and Medicine, Physics and
Astronomy, Computer Vision).
Showcased startup
March madness: Google Cloud
and NCAA have teamed up and
challenged machine learning
developers to predict the correct
outcome of the Basketball
Championships tournament with a
$100,000 prize pool.
Applying machine learning has
helped Instagram reduce
cyberbullying and trolling by
pinpointing inappropriate words
and phrases in comments while
prioritizing posts with which users
more likely interact.
The Rainforest connection project
uses old cell phones to detect
illegal loggers in the Amazon
rainforest. They have now
partnered with Google to apply
machine learning algorithms to
detect sounds such as gunshots to
better protect the rainforest.
5. Technology Startup Rating
Course of Action
Park Wait & See Observe Be Prepared Act Now
Accelerating ML & Analytics Computing
Startup Description
SambaNova Systems is a computing startup focused on
building machine learning and big data analytics platforms.
Their software defined analytics platform enables optimum
performance for any ML training, inference or analytics
models.
Founded in 2017 in Palo Alto, it emerged from stealth
mode in March 2018, just after closing a $56m Series A
venture capital round. SambaNova is the product of
technology from Kunle Olukotun and Chris Ré, two
professors at Stanford, and led by former Oracle SVP of
development Rodrigo Liang, who was also a VP at Sun for
almost 8 years.
Selected Investors: Walden International, GV, Redline
Capital Management, Atlantic Bridge Capital
Startup Inspiration
SambaNova Systems develops hardware for building
machine learning and big data analytics platforms. Its
software-defined analytical platform provides optimum
performance to machine learning training or inference
models and uses hardware innovations to increase its
computing power.
SambaNova looks to create a new platform from scratch
that is optimized for the lightweight mathematics GPU’s
have become popular for.
Through that SambaNova hopes that it will be able to
outclass a GPU in terms of speed, power usage, and
even potentially the actual size of the chip.
Founded: 2017 in Palo Alto, CA
Industry: IT
CEO: Rodrigo Liang
Funding stage: Series A
Employees: 60
Total Funding (USD): 56m Twitter Followers: N/A
Facebook Followers: N/A
LinkedIn Followers: 130
Picture source: SambaNova
The flexibility of our technology enables us to build a platform
providing tremendous benefits for machine learning.
Kunle Olukotun – CTO
6. Trend Inspirations Trend Rating
Course of Action
Park Wait & See Observe Be Prepared Act Now
Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Robotic process automation (RPA) is the automation of high volume routine business processes with "software robots"
which perform defined tasks and processes automatically across applications. These tasks often include repetitive,
standardized and transaction processes in key corporate functions.
Trend Description
Robotic process automation (RPA) leverages the power of
software robots, which can be programmed to perform
basic tasks across multiple software applications, to
manage the processing of common business transactions.
The software mimics the actions of employees responsible
for carrying out a task within a given process.
The RPA software is designed to reduce the need for
employees to complete repetitive and simple tasks since
the software robot is able to complete these tasks more
efficiently and accurately.
Typically RPA is implemented in key corporate functions
which involve repetitive, standardized and transactional
processes and activities such as Finance, Compliance,
Treasury, and Marketing.
Showcased startup
Outsourcing firms are utilizing RPA
as administrative assistants to limit
repetitive tasks, help meet
compliance standards, reduce
outsourcing costs, and scaling to
meet growing business demands.
YES BANK, India’s fourth largest
private sector bank, has applied
RPA to help eliminate the
requirement of documents
submission for import / export
payments. This is expected to
reduce the turnaround time of
payments by 80%.
EnableSoft, an early innovator in
the RPA space, has announced a
global expansion initiative (Foxtrot
Alliance EMEA distributorship) to
bring RPA closer to businesses
without a need for deep
engagement with IT.
7. Technology Startup Rating
Course of Action
Park Wait & See Observe Be Prepared Act Now
Building Intelligence for Robots
Startup Description
Vicarious is working towards developing artificial general
intelligence for robots. Founded in 2013 in Menlo Park, CA
the quickly gained the attention of technology legends,
Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos who are all
among the Angel investors of Vicarious. The company
claims that their model can train faster and generalizes
more broadly than other traditional AI approaches.
Selected Investors: Khosla Ventures, Samsung Venture
Investment, Wipro Ventures, ABB, Formation 8, Zarco
Investment Group, Open Field Capital, Initialized Capital,
A-Grade Investments, Good Ventures, Founders Fund,
Felicis Ventures, LeFrak, Zeroth ai, AME Cloud Ventures,
Faridan, Samsung NEXT, Bezos Expeditions, Data
Collective, The OS Fund
Startup Inspiration
Vicarious is an artificial intelligence company that uses
the computational principles of the human brain to build
software that can process visual information, think and
learn like a human.
The Company builds a unified algorithmic architecture to
achieve human-level intelligence in vision, language and
motor control. Vicarious' focus is on visual perception
problems such as recognition, segmentation and scene
parsing. Vicarious eventually plans to build a generalized
intelligence, which can be applied across numerous
applications.
Founded: 2010 in Menlo Park, CA
Industry: Robotics
CEO: Scott Phoenix
Funding stage: Series D
Employees: 55
Total Funding (USD): 138m Twitter Followers: 2,489
Facebook Followers: 1,901
LinkedIn Followers: 2,486
Picture source: Vicarious
Vicarious is building a single, unified system that will
eventually be intelligent like a human.
Scott Phoenix – CEO
8. Trend Inspirations Trend Rating
Course of Action
Park Wait & See Observe Be Prepared Act Now
Quantum Computing
Quantum computing takes advantage of quantum-mechanical phenomena (e.g. superposition and entanglement) to
perform operations on data.
Trend Description
Quantum computing is a technology that will have a
tremendous impact on the overall computing landscape.
Currently, most computers use binary computing systems
to perform calculations (the state is either 0 or 1).
Removing the current restrictions on states and allowing
chips to switch between different states more rapidly will
improve calculation speeds exponentially.
Quantum computing is based on the number of quantum
bits that can be in superpositions of states, thus allowing it
to have more than the 2 states associated with standard
computing.
As the number of qubits (quantum bits are units of
information) increases, the potential acceleration in
computing power over traditional systems increases
exponentially.
Showcased startup
An MIT team has provided unique
visibility into the spread of
information in large quantum
mechanical systems - information
is physical, meaning quantum-level
sharing of information underlies the
universal tendency toward entropy
and thermal equilibrium.
Researchers from USC have used
quantum computing to boost
machine learning. Using a
quantum computer has made
machine learning more accurate by
separating noise from data to
confirm the appearance of rare
Higgs bosons, the “God particle”.
In March 2018, Google presented
the development of its latest 72-
qubit quantum chip. Google states
that its new 72-qubit quantum
processor, dubbed “Bristlecone”,
will be the chip that reaches the
“quantum supremacy” milestone.
9. Technology Startup Rating
Course of Action
Park Wait & See Observe Be Prepared Act Now
Cloud-based Quantum Computing
Startup Description
Rigetti Computing is a full-stack quantum computing
company. Founded in 2013 in Berkeley, CA the startup
went thorugh the Y combinator start-up accelerator
program. To build a successful quantum computing
product, Rigetti has a long way to go but currently it is the
most promising competitor for technology giants Google
and IBM.
Rigetti Computing was recognized by X-Prize as one of
the three leaders in the quantum computing space, along
with IBM and Google. MIT Technology Review named it as
one of the 50 smartest companies of 2017.
Selected Investors: Andreessen Horowitz, Vy Capital,
Sutter Hill Ventures, Y Combinator, Western Technology
Investment, AME Cloud Ventures, Lux Capital,
Streamlined Ventures, Susa Ventures, Founders Fund Startup Inspiration
Rigetti Computing is building a cloud quantum
computing platform for artificial intelligence and
computational chemistry. It designs and fabricates
quantum chips, integrates them with a controlling
architecture, and develops software for programmers to
build algorithms for the chips. Products include Forest, a
cloud-computing platform; and Fab-1, a fabrication lab to
create 3D-integrated quantum circuits. Rigetti opened up
private beta testing of Forest. Forest emphasizes a
quantum-classical hybrid computing model, integrating
directly with existing cloud infrastructure and treating the
quantum computer as an accelerator.
Founded: 2013 in Berkeley, CA
Industry: IT
CEO: Chad Rigetti
Funding stage: Series B
Employees: 86
Total Funding (USD): 69.5m Twitter Followers: 4,833
Facebook Followers: 120
LinkedIn Followers: 2,327
Picture source: Rigetti Computing
On a mission to build the world’s most powerful computer.
Chad Rigetti – CEO
10. Trend Inspirations Trend Rating
Course of Action
Park Wait & See Observe Be Prepared Act Now
Context Recognition
Context Recognition is a process that identifies real-time information from sensory data, using pattern recognition,
signal processing, and machine learning algorithms.
Trend Description
The capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will improve
exponentially if AI is able to perceive, interpret and
understand complex information from the physical real
world as most AI processes depend on the quality and
volume of information that can be gathered.
Context Recognition is the underlying driver of
development for a variety of AI topics which depend upon
the machines being able to understand the physical
environment (e.g. cognitive loops in agent-based systems
and robotics where the machine is required to follow the
"Perceive – Reason – Act" loop). It can also be applied in
any area that requires contextual information to be
gathered from the physical world (e.g., human activity
recognition, autonomous driving, and robotics).
Showcased startup
Microsoft is going beyond the
concepts of image recognition and
machine learning to make artificial
intelligence smarter, and building
systems that can read text,
comprehend the context behind it
and even ask and answer
questions.
South Korean Internet giant, Naver,
announced the launch of ConA, an
artificial intelligence platform that
automatically recommends travel
destinations overseas. ConA has the
ability to read data on the web to
extract the most useful information.
In January 2018, researchers at
NIST built a superconducting
switch that learns like a biological
system and can connect
processors and store memories in
future computers – A breakthrough
in artificial brain’s biggest
weakness, context recognition.
11. Technology Startup Rating
Course of Action
Park Wait & See Observe Be Prepared Act Now
AI for Autonomous Vehicles
Startup Description
Pony.ai is a company developing an autonomous driving
technology platform. Founded in 2016 by James Peng and
Tiancheng Lou, it is focused on building a level four
autonomous car that is restricted to more predictable
environments such as college campuses, industrial
settings, etc. In January 2018 it raised $112m in a Series A
venture capital round.
In February 2018, it became the first company to operate
an autonomous ride-hailing service on public roads for
public users in China.
Selected Investors: Morningside venture Capital, Legend
Capital, Sequoia Capital, IDG Capital, Legend Star, Puhua
Capital, Polaris Capital, DCM Ventures, Comcast
Ventures, Silicon Valley Future Capital
Startup Inspiration
Pony.ai is designing both hardware and software
components including its own operating system and is in
the process of forging partnerships with car
manufacturers with which it plans to design cars for
autonomous driving. Pony.ai’s fully self-developed
software algorithms enable a vehicle to accurately
perceive its surroundings, predict what others will do,
and maneuver itself accordingly. The team is deeply
passionate about bringing the latest breakthroughs in
Artificial Intelligence to the future of transportation.
Founded: 2016 in Fremont, CA
Industry: Automotive
CEO: James Peng
Funding stage: Series A
Employees: 44
Total Funding (USD): 112m Twitter Followers: N/A
Facebook Followers: N/A
LinkedIn Followers: 774
Picture source: Pony.ai
I believe Pony.ai holds the most promise in delivering L4
technology to the mass market.
Wenji Jin – MD of Legend Capital
12. Trend Inspirations Trend Rating
Course of Action
Park Wait & See Observe Be Prepared Act Now
Deep Learning
Deep Learning is an area of machine learning that uses ranks of processors formed into layered neural networks to
enable computer systems to learn from huge amounts of data.
Trend Description
Deep learning (DL) is the process of using artificial neural
networks that learn to represent information and to quickly
find structure within large datasets of text, images, and
sound. Basically, it enables systems to learn from massive
data. It is a biologically inspired learning approach based
on the human neuron.
Essentially, it is an area of machine learning that uses
ranks of processors formed into layered neural networks to
enable computer systems to learn from huge amounts of
data, 5-20x faster than previous.
Various DL architectures have been applied to fields such
as computer vision (Facebook Face Recognition),
automatic speech recognition (Apple Siri), and natural
language processing (GoogleNow, Amazon Echo, Google
Home).
Showcased startup
A new artificial-intelligence tool
developed at UC San Diego
deploys a highly efficient form of
deep learning to diagnose eye
diseases from medical images.
The convolutional network requires
drastically less training than
comparable models.
A new deep learning approach
developed by an international team
of researchers moves to disrupt the
ride hailing industry by predicting
demand patterns for taxis / ride
sharing services.
Clinicians could save time and
improve their diagnostic accuracy
when deep learning is applied to
echocardiography. Deep learning
can improve workflow, the
completeness of studies, and
doctors' ability to interpret data
decision making.
13. Technology Startup Rating
Course of Action
Park Wait & See Observe Be Prepared Act Now
Build AI applications without any coding
Startup Description
Petuum endeavors to provide an Omni-source, Omni-
lingual, and Omni-mount platform that serves the full
spectrum of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
applications. Founded in 2016 in Pittsburgh, it has recently
closed a Series B funding round in which they won the
(financial) support of investment giant Softbank. Petuum
empowers organizations to create AI/ML solutions that are
correct, fast, scalable, and consume minimal computing
resources. Together with its clients and developers,
Petuum enables verticals such as healthcare decision-
making, autonomous pilot, anomaly detection and risk
management, and beyond.
Selected Investors: Northern Light Venture Capital,
Tencent Holdings, Oriza Ventures, Softbank, Advantech
Capital Startup Inspiration
The Petuum development platform and gallery of AI
building blocks work with any programming language
and any type of data, allowing managers and analysts to
quickly build AI applications without any coding, while
engineers and coders can further re-program
applications as needed. Its platform can be used to
realize a wide spectrum of AI/ML technologies, such as
Regression Models, Deep Learning Models, Graphical
Models, Kernel and Spectral Methods, Parametric and
Nonparametric Bayesian Methods, Tree and Ensemble
Methods, using state of the art algorithms based on
optimization, Monte Carlo, and matrix & tensor algebra.
Founded: 2016 in Pittsburgh, PA
Industry: Healthcare, Fintech
CEO: Eric Xing
Funding stage: Series B
Employees: 69
Total Funding (USD): 108m Twitter Followers: 367
Facebook Followers: 217
LinkedIn Followers: 1,027
We are trying to create very standardized building blocks that
can be assembled and reassembled like legos.”
Dr. Eric Xing - CEO
15. 15 detecon-radar.com
An Overview of all
Relevant Trends
and Startups
in One Tool
Browse through all trends,
technologies and startups with an
impact on your corporate
environment.
Detecon Radar
Powered by
16. 16 detecon-radar.com
Dynamic Data
Visualizations
Visualization of trends, technologies,
centers of gravity and
fields of action.
Detecon Radar
Collaborative identification, selection,
structuring and evaluation of
trends and technologies.
Centralized
Scouting and
Monitoring
Powered by
17. 17 detecon-radar.com
Collaborative evaluation and
selection of relevant trends
and technologies.
Collaborative
Evaluation
Import and Export
PDF, Excel, PowerPoint.
Detecon Radar
Powered by
20. 20 detecon-radar.com
Detecon is the leading consulting company that unites management
consulting with great digital technology expertise.
About Detecon
We merge business &
technology perspectives
into a consistent digital change
journey for our clients.
Industry | Services | Telco
More than 20.000 projects realized worldwide
1.200 associates in our offices worldwide
Clients in more than 165 countries
Colleagues from over 40 countries
21. 21 detecon-radar.com
Contact
Thank you
Philipp Schett
Managing Consultant
San Francisco, CA (USA)
Mobile: +1 (415) 316 3389
Email: philipp.schett@detecon.com
Daniel Steinfeld
Consultant
San Francisco, CA (USA)
Mobile: +1 (415) 373 2591
Email: daniel.steinfeld@detecon.com
