Arago provides a very good illustration of how AI will partner up with human expertise to quickly learn how to optimize behavior. The Arago AI platform HIRO can ingest input from human experts and build expertise in any given domain. This is being applied to business processes and the company has just issued a press release describing how the technology will be used at Klöckner and Co SE to digitize operations within the steel industry.
A more novel application of the technology is the challenge to beat the best players at the game of Freeciv, and open source strategy game with considerably more complexity than chess and Go, where AI has beat all human contenders.
The press release is below:
Klöckner & Co SE, one of the largest producer-independent distributors of steel and metal products worldwide, and arago GmbH (“Arago”), a pioneer in artificial intelligence (AI) and leader in intelligent IT automation based in Frankfurt and New York City, today announced an innovation partnership focused on leveraging AI to further drive Klöckner & Co’s digital transformation.
By amplifying human IT knowledge through continuous learning and built-in self-optimization, Arago’s problem-solving AI platform HIRO will automate Klöckner & Co’s IT operations and help them to drive their strategic goals enterprise-wide.
“Our goal is to develop an open industry platform, connecting as many market participants as possible. With the digital tools already in place, we are generating a double digit sales share, which shows the enormous potential of digitalization” said Gisbert Rühl, CEO of Klöckner & Co. “Implementing HIRO into our IT environment will be one of the levers for the further digital transformation of our Company.”
“Klöckner & Co is the frontrunner in digitalizing the steel industry. Automating IT processes with AI will enable them to revolutionize and advance their business in new ways,” said Chris Boos, CEO of Arago. “We are thrilled to support Klöckner & Co bringing its strategy of a fully digitalized supply and service chain to life.”
To create an entirely digitalized supply and service chain from the suppliers to the customers, Klöckner & Co actively develops innovative solutions for selling steel and other metals online. The company plans an open industry platform and targets to handle more than 50 percent of its sales via online transactions by 2019.
Under the partnership with Arago, Klöckner & Co will initially implement HIRO in two US-based data centers run by the subsidiary company Kloeckner Metals Corporation (KMC). KMC will serve as a blueprint on deploying Arago’s problem-solving AI for Klöckner & Co globally.