In a new partnership announced in 2023, Canadian generative AI startup Cohere has joined forces with McKinsey, the renowned global consulting firm. The collaboration aims to provide secure and tailored generative AI solutions to McKinsey’s clients, including large enterprises. By leveraging Cohere’s expertise in building enterprise-grade large language models (LLMs) and tools, and the capabilities of McKinsey’s AI division, QuantumBlack, the partnership seeks to meet the evolving needs of clients and capture value on a day-to-day basis.
Background: Cohere and McKinsey
Cohere, a Toronto-based company, has gained significant attention and funding in recent months as enterprises increasingly embrace AI technologies. Founded just four years ago by Aidan Gomez, Nick Frosst, and Ivan Zhang, all former Google Brain employees, Cohere is committed to transforming enterprises with its in-house generative AI models. The company offers flexibility by allowing clients to choose their preferred cloud provider or even implement AI solutions on-premises, based on their privacy and security requirements. With its cloud-agnostic approach, Cohere emphasizes data privacy, security, and customization to drive strategic differentiation and deliver real business value.
On the other hand, McKinsey, a 97-year-old consulting firm, has a vast client base that includes some of the largest firms in the United States and worldwide. Notably, McKinsey has faced criticism for its alleged contribution to socioeconomic inequalities and collaboration with companies that have significant greenhouse gas emissions. However, the collaboration with Cohere marks a shift towards capturing value on the ground and meeting clients’ immediate needs, as stated by Ben Ellencweig, a senior partner at McKinsey.
The Partnership: Offering Tailored Generative AI Solutions
The collaboration between Cohere and McKinsey aims to define use cases for generative AI, design comprehensive IT architectures, develop and train AI models, enhance employee capabilities, and implement necessary organizational changes. By doing so, the partnership intends to provide secure, enterprise-grade generative AI solutions that align with the specific needs of McKinsey’s clients. These solutions will include both cloud and on-premises AI software, ensuring the safeguarding of client data.
Notably, McKinsey’s AI division, QuantumBlack, will play a crucial role in spearheading the collaboration. With expertise in various fields such as data engineering, data science, product management, design, and software development, QuantumBlack will deploy its thousands of experts to support the partnership’s objectives.
Industry Trends and Competition
While Cohere has gained significant traction in the enterprise tech space, it faces competition from established players such as OpenAI. Microsoft, a backer of OpenAI, is rapidly integrating OpenAI’s technologies, including ChatGPT and the underlying GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 models, into its enterprise-grade products. OpenAI itself is forming alliances with news organizations, such as the Associated Press and the American Journalism Project, to gain access to more data. In contrast, Cohere’s approach is independent and cloud-agnostic, allowing enterprises to implement AI solutions on their preferred cloud or on-premises.
Despite being a newcomer, Cohere has achieved notable milestones. The company recently secured a $270 million funding round, valuing it at over $2 billion. Additionally, Cohere has entered into an apparent agreement to provide enterprise generative AI to Oracle. With offices in Toronto, San Francisco, and London, Cohere is well-positioned to cater to the needs of global enterprises.
Benefits and Future Outlook
The collaboration between Cohere and McKinsey has already yielded positive results for some businesses. A financial-services group has utilized generative AI to manage routine customer feedback in over 100 languages, significantly reducing customer wait times. Another McKinsey client has leveraged generative AI for product development, resulting in substantial cost savings and faster time-to-market.
Moving forward, the partnership aims to enhance search and discovery capabilities across a company’s internal documents, utilizing Cohere’s technology. Moreover, there is ongoing development of tools to automate processes by connecting AI models to third-party applications. As generative AI evolves from a topic of curiosity to a practical tool for value creation, the collaboration between Cohere and McKinsey represents a significant milestone in the adoption of enterprise-grade AI solutions.
In summary, the partnership between Cohere and McKinsey signifies a major development in the AI landscape. By combining Cohere’s expertise in generative AI with McKinsey’s extensive client network and QuantumBlack’s AI division, the collaboration aims to deliver secure, tailored generative AI solutions to meet the evolving needs of enterprises. With the rapid progression of generative AI, this partnership is poised to make a substantial impact in the field of enterprise-grade AI.
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