Make a Difference in the World
The Story
Stephen first worked with Artificial Intelligence in the early 1990s when he was at Booz Allen Hamilton. The US Coast Guard had asked the firm to help them identify drug smugglers off the west coast of the US, and the team developed an algorithm that learned, through data, certain patterns that identified which ships belonged to these traffickers.
The algorithms worked well, but the ships were long gone before the computers could compute the answer. It was also cost prohibitive because the data was so expensive.
While AI was not quite practical yet, this early experience left an impression on Stephen. He knew this concept would resurrect in the future when computers were faster, and the data was cheaper.
In 2014, after he left Infosys Consulting, Stephen decided it was time to revisit AI. He did his research, and was convinced that technology had crossed the threshold: computers were now fast enough, and data was now cheap enough, to use AI across a variety of applications.
He wasn’t ready to start another company just yet, but was interested in applying AI to complex enterprises. Around this time, he got a call from a friend at IBM who was looking for someone to lead all the implementations of the company’s AI system, Watson, worldwide within IBM Global Services.
Watson was designed to win the game show Jeopardy, which was quite remarkable at the time. The problem was, it was relegated to only text, and was missing the numeric analytics component. Stephen wanted to take a different approach to AI – one that wasn’t limited to a system that was strictly text in, text out. He also saw greater potential in AI, and wanted to use it to make a difference in the world.
That’s when he decided to start Noodle.ai.
When Noodle.ai was created in 2016, it was a trailblazing company and even trademarked the term Enterprise AI. Stephen wanted to pioneer the use of algorithms that learn from patterns and data – beyond what the human brain can do – and work in conjunction with executives to help make better decisions across a wide swath of capabilities. Noodle.ai was also driven by an important purpose: to make an impact on the planet.
The Impact
Noodle’s intention is to create a world without waste. Using AI, the company focuses on reducing waste in supply chains through better planning and inventory allocation.
Noodle made an extraordinary impact: it decreased the number of empty jets flying around by 27 per cent at XOJet, and lowered energy consumption in steel manufacturing, which is one of the largest consumers of electricity anywhere in the world. Additionally, the company reduced demand and supply forecast error in supply chains by an average of 12 per cent – which was significant because companies were spending years trying to get part of one per cent improvement.
Noodle also made an impact on waste reduction within consumer products companies. Oftentimes, companies would have overflowing warehouses of one item in one location, and empty shelves missing that item in another location, just because of antiquated decision-making software. By introducing more intelligent software, Noodle.ai was able to help companies make better decisions on where to ship goods – preventing them from throwing out inventory that had become obsolete. The company ultimately reduced excess inventory and empty shelves by over $1 billion of inventory.
There are still many people who have reservations about AI, because there are many examples of it being used for evil. Stephen’s vision, however, has always been to use AI for good. That’s why, since Noodle’s inception, it has become a model for how AI can make positive impacts on the world.