Big-name shipowners have invested in an artificial intelligence company that they hope will help them automate processes and better use and understand the data they gather.
The AI firm, called Complexio, is a joint venture between tanker owner-operator Hafnia, commercial management group C Transport Maritime, bulker owners Marfin Management and Trans Sea Transport, and BW Epic Kosan, which owns LPG carriers.
Complexio combines its “foundational” AI — large-scale, adaptable AI models that can be tailored and built on top of — with existing systems.
The foundational AI model maps and “understands” whole-company data, which can then enable automation and inform decision-making processes.
CTM wants to use the technology to streamline its data processes, starting internally and then ultimately rolling out AI-based offerings to its customers.
John Michael Radziwill, CTM’s chief executive, told TradeWinds that the group wants to make as much use as possible of the Complexio software and sees a competitive advantage in doing so.
“Our vision is to integrate it into all of our systems, and that means emails and proprietary software (including the app) so that its outputs can provide better, more usable information to improve how we make decisions and to eventually remove recurring tasks from the everyday job and bring out the full potential in everyone by freeing them from the mundane items that AI can do faster,” he explained.
“Most importantly we would like to share it with our clients to help enhance value creation for them too (including me).”
CTM thinks AI will give its clients a competitive advantage by “amongst other things, taking the emotion out of decision making, so we can all think and decide like ‘scientists’ not ‘preachers or politicians’”, Radziwill added.
The final partner in the joint venture is Simbolo, a deep technology development company founded by businessman David Ehrlich and chief scientist Sean Edmiston. Simbolo developed the core tech before Complexio was established.
The foundational AI offered by Complexio is the result of three years of research and development within unidentified “market-leading companies”, which provided full access to their historical and real-time company data.
“We are already providing a transformational leap for our partners in how they interact with their data and systems,” Complexio’s chief executive Matthew Talbot said.
Automated business understanding
“We are the only foundational AI platform that works with whole-company data. Through this, we can establish relationships between everything and build a map that charts and understands exactly how entire business activities are carried out. The next step is automating this.”
Monaco resident Ehrlich founded Complexio’s predecessor company Quintessential AI, which is based in London. The company’s name was changed at the beginning of May.
“After a long search using our global contacts, we were pleasantly surprised to find Complexio here in Monaco!” Radziwill said.
“We started thinking and learning about AI at the end of 2020 and after much research — including various essays and books and interviews with believable business people — we decided to integrate the technology and invest alongside our development partner.”
The joint venture partners each have an equity stake in Complexio, but Radziwill said the essence of the partnership is to give AI a firm footing in the real world.
“The main focus of the partners is to build technology with real data and real problems versus low-quality data or synthetic,” he explained.
“This real-world rapid testing — with whole company data — allows the programme to build more advanced technology faster and more cost-effectively.”
He said this will help Complexio to scale its offering more quickly by building, testing and deploying.
Carlos Pena, CTM’s chief commercial officer, said technology is at the heart of what the group offers its customers.
“In 2021, we launched our revenue sharing agreement ‘RSA’ app to provide our pool members with real-time performance information on their vessels,” he explained.
“Our partnership with Complexio is a big step forward in setting ourselves up for a world powered by AI.
“This collaboration will further empower our employees, equipping them with a powerful tool to aid their decision-making, saving them time by eliminating recurring tasks and improving their efficiency.”
