As SiMa.ai approaches its fifth anniversary, I’ve personally been reflecting on the journey that brought us here. What we have accomplished together thus far has, in many ways, exceeded even my own incredibly high expectations. We have created transformative technologies that unequivocally drive better, more advanced outcomes for our customers. In the last year alone, we proved ourselves in the court of public opinion with two best-in-class showings at ML Perf that blew away even our toughest competition. We launched Palette Edgematic, the industry’s first no-code ML platform. We expanded our workforce and leadership team to include some of the best minds in the business, we even launched our own YouTube series. And yet, as we peer over the precipice of this incredible milestone, I still find myself far more fascinated by the promise of what’s to come than that which we have already achieved.

Here’s why:

Edge Use Cases for Generative AI Accelerate:  As we move further into the digital age, the convergence of AI and physical devices is poised to drive transformative changes across various industries. The first wave of generative AI happened in the cloud, in mostly the form of a consumer-like experience. The second — and more meaningful — will happen at the edge; OpenAI’s recent pause on ChatGPT Plus sign-ups was a glaring indicator that the cloud can’t handle the scale and performance required to succeed in supporting the mission critical work happening at the edge (think what such a “pause” would do to unmanned drones or medical devices actively in use). While much remains to be determined when it comes to the look and feel of multimodal AI at the edge, one thing is clear – there’s no doubt 2024 will bring fundamental changes to the machines humans rely on.

Smaller Models Will Proliferate, Leading to More Localized Generative AI Services: As open source and use case-specific AI models rise, we’ll see companies offer generative AI services focused on specific functions. This will transform technical workflows, to be sure, but will also begin to impact individual cities and municipalities as local governments begin to experiment. Real-time transit information, improved event and restaurant recommendations and traffic management will mark just a few of the many positive changes to come as early as 2024. At SiMa.ai, we stand at the forefront, driven by our commitment to innovative software as exemplified by Palette Edgematic that can get started in developing edge ML solutions in minutes not months.

Buyers Will Prioritize Software Flexibility Over Incumbent Loyalty: Historically, chips have been designed as a one-size-fits-all leaving customers building at the edge in a power and performance conundrum. As more and more workloads migrate off the cloud and to the edge, software that enables a company to easily and quickly AI-enable their product or service will prevail. This shift emphasizes the importance of software compatibility and accessibility to hardware resources. Customers are recognizing the limitations of incumbent vendors in powering edge AI for the long term; similarly, they are foregoing legacy hardware bias in pursuit of a software experience that radically simplifies their life and meets  both the frames/second/watt performance and accuracy bar that AI and ML at the edge demands.

Deglobalization Raises the Bar for Data Security: Centralized computing at the edge offers companies more opportunity to keep data within their own walls. As concerns of software supply chain hacks and security threats continue to grow, and deglobalization continues to lead to stricter data residency laws, we’ll see companies opt to keep data on their devices vs. the cloud, as the edge removes the need to constantly move large amounts of data. This also increases reliability, privacy, and compliance with ever-evolving regulatory requirements. Ultimately, the edge gives enterprises an additional layer of self-governance and autonomy over their information that will become increasingly important in the years ahead. We understand that, and it’s why we’ve optimized for the edge.

Industry 4.0 Gives Life to the New Factory Floor: Advanced technologies — sensors, machine learning, computer vision, robotics, edge computing, etc. — have proven to increase supply chain resiliency for manufacturers who adopt them. While robotics and industrial automation companies have touted these capabilities for years, 2024 is the year they become real. As tech companies realize the need to diversify their operations and embrace Industry 4.0 technology to be more resilient, factories will become smart manufacturing ecosystems, where AI-driven systems are seamlessly integrated into every stage of the production process.

Machine Learning Model Accuracy Will Underpin Responsible and Effective AI/ML in 2024 and Beyond: AI/ML is already considered a black-box. Output generated by a machine learning model is deterministic, and generative AI may produce inaccurate or inappropriate content. SiMa is approaching this challenge with two tenets in mind and a focus on Responsible AI.

• Strict accuracy requirements: Broad adoption and usability of AI/ML requires that its creators and users know what to expect from it and can map inference accuracy to what has been achieved during model training and evaluation. Because of that, SiMa’s goal is to match the accuracy of the reference pipeline within a strictly defined margin. For SiMa, ensuring that behavior of your AI/ML is predictable is a must. That is challenging when a model is optimized for performance, accuracy and power, but with the tools provided in the Palette SDK, it is possible to trade off one for the other two to achieve the desired results.

• Collaborative intelligence: Human involvement in the deployment of AI model outputs should be evaluated for accuracy and appropriateness for your use case. At SiMa we ensure full transparency of model optimization and consider the appropriate level of human involvement based on the criticality and complexity of the AI system’s decisions that are taking place in real time.

In essence, SiMa.ai not only reflects on the triumphs of the past year but are evermore excited for what lies ahead. Our commitment to helping customers navigate AIML at the edge positions us as trailblazers in shaping a future where technology seamlessly integrates into our lives, businesses thrive, and the potential for scaling at the edge remains boundless. We invite you to join us on this journey of innovation and progress. Explore our blog, engage with our community, and together, let’s unleash the transformative power of the edge.