150余年精耕農(nóng)業(yè),這家“老字號(hào)”為何鐘情衛(wèi)星和AI
本周一,在芝加哥舉行的《財(cái)富》年度頭腦風(fēng)暴重塑大會(huì)上,嘉吉公司(Cargill)副總裁兼全球分析業(yè)務(wù)負(fù)責(zé)人詹姆斯·威德解釋了嘉吉與數(shù)據(jù)分析公司笛卡爾實(shí)驗(yàn)室(Descartes Labs)合作的緣由。位于美國(guó)新墨西哥州的笛卡爾實(shí)驗(yàn)室,是一家專注于應(yīng)用機(jī)器學(xué)習(xí)等AI技術(shù)分析衛(wèi)星圖像數(shù)據(jù)的初創(chuàng)公司。 威德說(shuō),與笛卡爾實(shí)驗(yàn)室合作很有意義,通過(guò)合作,嘉吉可以了解衛(wèi)星圖像技術(shù)是否可以用來(lái)更好的預(yù)測(cè)農(nóng)作物產(chǎn)量。 威德表示,目前有很多公司聲稱擁有AI和機(jī)器學(xué)習(xí)技術(shù),具備引領(lǐng)潮流的多種熱門能力。聲勢(shì)浩大的宣傳令大企業(yè)了解合作方難上加難。 據(jù)介紹,嘉吉與笛卡爾實(shí)驗(yàn)室的合作開(kāi)始于一些未指定的測(cè)試試驗(yàn),測(cè)試結(jié)果也讓嘉吉感到滿意。 一些外界人士會(huì)問(wèn),如果測(cè)試結(jié)果那么好,嘉吉為什么不直接收購(gòu)笛卡爾實(shí)驗(yàn)室。威德解釋道,這主要是擔(dān)心笛卡爾實(shí)驗(yàn)室這樣的小公司會(huì)在一家巨無(wú)霸公司內(nèi)部官僚體制內(nèi)迷失方向,其具有的“價(jià)值會(huì)消磨一空”。 作為衛(wèi)星圖像領(lǐng)域的初創(chuàng)公司,笛卡爾實(shí)驗(yàn)室能夠以靈活、高效的方式運(yùn)作,威德?lián)模坏┍淮笃髽I(yè)招入麾下,這一優(yōu)勢(shì)將會(huì)消耗殆盡。 “因此我們采用了合作的方式,讓他們獨(dú)立經(jīng)營(yíng)?!蓖逻@樣表達(dá)嘉吉的決定。他認(rèn)為,合作方式讓嘉吉可以和笛卡爾實(shí)驗(yàn)室共同開(kāi)展多項(xiàng)測(cè)試,而不是受其龐大業(yè)務(wù)的影響。 據(jù)媒體報(bào)道,嘉吉除了是笛卡爾實(shí)驗(yàn)室的客戶,還在2017年參與了該公司規(guī)模3000萬(wàn)美元的一輪融資。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)) 譯者:Pessy 審校:夏林 |
Speaking at Fortune’s annual Brainstorm Reinvent conference on Monday in Chicago, Cargill’s vice president and leader of global analytics James Weed explained the reasoning behind his company’s partnership with the data-crunching startup Descartes Labs. The New Mexico startup specializes in using AI technologies, like machine learning, to analyze satellite imagery. It made sense for Cargill to sync up with Descartes Labs so the food giant could learn whether its’ satellite imagery technology could be used to better forecasts crop yields, Weed said. Weed said that there’s currently “a lot of companies promising AI and machine learning” as well as “all of the different buzzwords” that are trendy. This amount of noise makes it “challenging for big companies to know who you partner with.” Cargill debuted a few unspecified test trials with Descartes Labs, and was pleased with the results. Weed said that outsiders asked him why Cargill didn’t simply buy Descartes Labs, if the results were so good. Weed explained that his main concern was that the tiny Descartes Labs would get lost within the bureaucracy of a giant company, and that “the value would disappear.” The satellite imagery startup is able to operate in a fast and agile way, and Weed was worried that its speed and efficiency would wither if it was absorbed into a big company. “Let’s partner and keep them separate,” Weed said of the company’s decision. This partnership lets Cargill conduct multiple test runs with Descartes Labs “instead of doing this big shock and awe with our business,” Weed said. Besides being a Descartes Labs customer, Cargill also contributed to a $30 million investment round in 2017, according to media reports. |