2 weeks Ago
Dublin-based analytics company Advise has invested €8m into the development of its AI platform. The company that works with consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands like Kerry, Dr Oetker and Tayto has launched a new generative AI (GenAI) agent trained by its Dublin engineers. The agent helps customers compare between products by taking on the role of the category manager – the expert who understands how different products perform, its pricing and promotion.
It helps customers choose by using a trained large language model (LLM) – a machine learning model – to identify major patterns for different products and offering recommendations. Kevin McCarthy, CEO of Advise, said the company’s AI is not meant to replace people. “We’re not here to replace people but we’re here to use the information and resources they have.
We use data processing and GenAI to act as a valuable assistant to category managers,” he said. “The agent doesn’t just analyse – it anticipates. It learns, adapts and prioritises what matters most for each brand, to offer tailored recommendations for their customers.
“Many businesses are still focusing on data collection and analytics, but we have moved beyond that. While such decisions would have involved spreadsheets and dashboards before, this helps focus all of it in one easy platform in real time.” According to Mr McCarthy, Advise’s AI can personalise its results based on changes in the market that are specific to the business that uses it.
“It also gives really relevant insight to you personally – for instance, if you work in the milk category of Tesco or the confectionary category of SuperValu, its insights will be tailored to that industry,” he said. “We were working with AI before this explosion took place, we always had it baked in,” Mr McCarthy said. “Over the past six to 12 months, the team here has made some major progress.
“LLMs are hugely powerful and are impacting every industry, but their output is non-deterministic with companies unsure of how to use them. What we have created is a step ahead in CPG decision-making – you don’t just gain trustworthy information, you make it simpler to understand.”.
