Amir Haramaty, CEO & Co-Founder of aiOla – Interview Series

Amir Haramaty is the CEO & Co-Founder of aiOla, a platform with a mission to make speech workable and to optimize critical industry-specific processes anywhere with complete accuracy. Our patented technology is multilingual, recognizes jargon, abbreviations and acronyms, and is error-free, even in noisy settings.

Your first startup was a company that built remote control robots for bomb disposal, how did this then lead you to working on the shuttle program for NASA?

After completing my military service, I was motivated to use technology to reduce human exposure to dangerous areas. This inspiration led to the creation of the first generation of remotely controlled robots designed for bomb disposal. The idea was that humans could operate these machines from a safe distance.

This concept then evolved to address the need for minimizing human presence in various high-risk areas. It found applications in U.S. defense projects, nuclear reactors, and ultimately extended to NASA and the space shuttle program.

After leaving the corporate world you were involved in multiple startups that were then acquired by Singtel and Microsoft. What were these companies, and what do you attribute your success to?

The common theme in all my endeavors, past and present, is the concept of problem-solving. This involves identifying a problem or challenge, coming up with an innovative solution, building an exceptional team, and creating a product that delivers significant value and impact for our clients.

This approach was integral to my work at Amobee, which was later acquired by Singtel, and at Adallom, which was eventually sold to Microsoft, among others. The same principle is being applied in my current role at aiOla, now on an even larger scale.

You were the Chief Commercial Officer of SparkBeyond for 6 years, can you discuss the AI technology that was used to find meaningful patterns in data?

The SparkBeyond phase was extraordinary. During this time, we became the preferred AI platform for the world’s largest global management consulting firm, providing me the opportunity to work with numerous Fortune 500 companies. We recognized that while the human brain is unparalleled, it is limited in its ability to process complex, multi-dimensional data. To overcome this, we must first ask the right questions. Consequently, we developed an ideation machine, a hypothesis-generating engine capable of producing millions of ideas and hypotheses in minutes. Although this phase was remarkable, it brought me to the realization that a different approach was necessary to fully utilize AI’s potential for traditional enterprises. This insight led to the founding of aiOla.

Could you share some details on the founding of aiOla?

With all due respect to AI and ML, while they are incredible, they are ultimately just tools. The process begins and ends with data, and the well-known secret is that the majority of data remains untapped, primarily because it is unstructured and uncaptured. The most difficult challenge within data is spoken data, or speech. Current Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) solutions are simply inadequate in terms of accuracy, accent recognition, acoustic environment adaptation, and most critically, understanding business or industrial jargon. We realized the need for a novel approach and have developed our proprietary and patented technology that combines ASR with Natural Language Understanding (NLU). This technology features unique and creative solutions for jargon recognition and keyword spotting.

aiOla’s vision is nothing short of a transformational shift in the way we perceive and interact with AI, can you share some details regarding this vision?

While we appreciate the concept of disruption, we recognized that no one likes to be disrupted. Therefore, we chose to adopt a complementary and non-threatening approach. This approach respects existing processes and workflows. Instead of disrupting them, we decided to enhance and augment them using our unique, speech-based, AI-powered technology.

aiOla is a tool that is able to understand the jargon and acronyms that are specific to individual industries. Can you discuss how this is achieved on the backend and why it is so important?

Another fundamental principle of aiOla and our vision is to “play nice.” We aim to complement and seamlessly integrate with any existing technology, regardless of the cloud platform, and with any ERP or CRM system. aiOla generates unique data that was previously uncaptured and unstructured, which now becomes the raw material for AI modeling. This modeling enables insights beyond what the human eye can see and what the human brain can process.

Could you elaborate on what aiOla’s proprietary and patented technology is that combines natural language understanding (NLU) and automatic speech recognition (ASR)?

aiOla is founded on three key elements:

1. We address jargon across various processes, industries, and languages. Our approach is tailored to understand industry-specific terminologies, ensuring effective communication and data processing regardless of the language used.
2. Our proprietary technology for keyword spotting effectively separates relevant information (the signal) from irrelevant data (the noise). This technology focuses on identifying the most crucial elements in every process.
3. With due respect to Large Language Models (LLMs), we have developed a unique method that utilizes a small set of client data, whether paper-based or digital, to rapidly create a highly accurate, domain-specific language model applicable to every industry and language. Essentially, we have transitioned from the concept of LLMs to Domain Language Models (DLMs), offering more specialized and effective language processing solutions.

What would be an example of how this technology is applied?

The beauty of our approach lies in the versatility of our technology, which can be applied to the most traditional enterprises across various sectors and verticals. For instance, in the food manufacturing industry, we have halved the time required for pre-operation inspections. In fleet management, we have streamlined processes to take less than a minute, a task that previously took over 15 minutes. Additionally, our technology is effectively utilized in warehouse operations, pharmaceuticals, hospitality, retail, and more.

Is there anything else that you would like to share about aiOla?

aiOla is a value-based solution. At present, a mix of geopolitical and macroeconomic factors is compelling organizations to distinguish clearly between “nice to have” and “must have.” These organizations are concentrating on how to achieve more with less, enhance efficiency, increase safety, work smarter, and foster collaboration. Most importantly, they are focused on demonstrating quantifiable value and return on investment (ROI). This is precisely what we aim to accomplish at aiOla every day, across all industries.

Thank you for the great interview, readers who wish to learn more should visit aiOla.