Meet Us on the Cutting-Edge of AI Implementations
Are you thinking about leveraging the power of artificial intelligence, but aren’t sure where to even begin? Blackstraw is your go-to resource and trusted partner throughout every stage of the artificial intelligence process, from strategy formulation to operationalization and everything in between. We’re here to help turn your dream AI project into a reality so you can achieve your business goals quickly and with ease.
Strategic Consulting
Strategic Consulting
Use Case Identification
We’ll begin by taking the time to develop a deep understanding of your unique business model, strategic goals, and day-to-day challenges. We’ll then assess your related business processes to discover potential opportunities and identify problems that could be best solved by AI, and work to figure out their corresponding feasibility.
Data Assessment and Strategy
At this stage in the process, our Data & Solution Architects will do data due diligence to map use cases to available data. A careful audit of your data assets, data infrastructure, and data governance policies is done to identify any gaps that need to be filled before you can process and model data at scale.
The Press Release
Our goal is to help you achieve your business goals—but to do so, you need a way to track if your AI solution is hitting or missing the mark. We believe that KPIs and ROIs need to be well thought of and communicated. We will work with you on putting together an internal “Press release” so that the ROI is substantive and clear right at the start.
Data Engineering
Data Engineering
Data Collection
An AI-ready dataset is one that is diverse and balanced. For instance, an image-based dataset needs to come with different backgrounds, lighting conditions, and a range of angles if you want to form a rich training dataset. We will collect data via existing data stores, pre-packaged sources, web scraping, or synthetic data creation.
Data Ingestion
Blackstraw has proven expertise in architecting data systems and pipelines that are scalable, secure, and guarantee high data availability. Data is ingested from hybrid data sources, then cleaned, processed, and stored centrally in a data lake. Our industry-leading data engineering capabilities will set up your AI project for unmatched success.
Data Labeling
The success of an AI solution is contingent on building an accurate training data set, and the Blackstraw team has the necessary experience and proven tools to drive efficiencies in this time-consuming process.
AI Solution Implementation
AI Solution Implementation
Model Building
Select the model framework and architecture and train the models through Machine Learning and Deep Learning techniques. This process involves providing a training algorithm with training data to learn from. Here training data along with labels/target values, learning algorithm finds patterns in data based on ground truth and these patterns will be saved in trained models.
Model Tuning
Hyperparameters of the chosen models are iteratively tuned for optimal success. Model hyperparameters such as training steps, learning rate, initialization values and activation function, etc. are tuned to continuously establish a balance between overfitting and underfitting the model.
Model Evaluation
Simulations are run to evaluate the performance of the models to ensure they’re set up to meet your goals. Data Scientists select trained models and evaluate performance on unseen test data. We pull different metrics like Precision,Recall, F1-Score, Accuracy, Confusion matrix, etc to select the best model.
Development / Integration
The prototype model is typically written using a statistical scripting language, and will now be ported into a production language for scaling, latency and efficiency. Our full-stack and mobile development teams leverage the latest technology stack to integrate the Inference model with your enterprise systems or develop applications ground up.
We adopt application security strategies such as “Shift-Left” at the very early stage of the software development life cycle.
Operationalization
Operationalization
Deployment
We employ sophisticated strategies such as Infrastructure as a Code, Containers and Serverless technologies to ensure seamless deployment across various hosting platforms be it Cloud, On-prem or Hybrid.
CI/CD deployment integrates code frequently into a shared repository, whereupon automated tests verifies the security and quality of the build and release the code to production. The AI solution is now ready for real-time data!
Inaccuracy Management
The final ongoing step in the lifecycle of an AI solution is proactively tracking and resolving errors and exceptions in the production systems to meet business SLAs. This process, called “inaccuracy management,” is essential for success and requires experience to do correctly—which the Blackstraw team has in abundance.
AI Model Management
Now that the AI implementation is live, the model is iteratively tuned and improved based on the inaccuracies that are being corrected. This feedback is used to enrich the Model training data set for continuous improvement of Inferencing. Based on a defined cadence, the improved models are pushed back into production via CI/CD pipeline.
Bring the Possibilities of Artificial Intelligence to Life with Blackstraw
We’re ready to help you make the most of artificial intelligence in business. Blackstraw isn’t like lots of other artificial intelligence companies out there that will simply deploy an AI solution then leave you to figure out the rest yourself.
We offer full-circle solutions that will deliver real, measurable business impact fast. From identifying where to use artificial intelligence in business processes, to creating and deploying solutions, integrating them with the rest of your organization, and measuring results, we’ve got you covered. With the experience, insights, and dedication it takes to help you achieve your goals, you’ll be empowered to do business more efficiently and at a lower cost. Ready to get started?