Bert Labs, a Bangalore, India headquartered, internationally award winning and globally one of the fastest growing AI companies focused on helping organisations in achieving their AI Digital Transformation Infra goals, expects to open its first Middle East office in Dubai by March this year.
“We have had a range of fruitful discussions with a number of companies in the UAE, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah. We are formally collaborating with them on their data for Bert Platform Solution™ development and deployment in their signature malls, hotels, hospitals, large office towers, residential buildings, district cooling plants, material manufacturing plants and pharma clean rooms,” Rohit Kochar, Founder and Executive Chairperson of Bert Labs, told Khaleej Times in an interview.
To ensure its operational success in the region, the company is planning to recruit at least 20-25 people before March-end. “This would be largely UAE and to some extent in Saudi. And this will grow to 150 to 200 people over the next two years in Middle East,” Kochar said.
Bert Labs plans to hire locals for their operations and train them on advanced technologies like AI, Distributed Computing, IoT, and in the process create green jobs. “Our focus is on research and innovation to solve complex problems for both private and public institutions in the region,” Kochar said.
The company is likely to look at the possibility of setting up a manufacturing base for its products in the UAE. “It is possible that we take a look at this in FY 24-25, because when you are enhancing skills of people obviously the manufacturing, the research and innovation has to be in tandem. Certainly in terms of a major manufacturing hub for the region in FY 24-25, we would certainly have a hub. We have to do our homework in terms of where we would set this up first, but we know it is inevitable. We are also exploring partnerships through established channel partners and resellers to expand our reach in the region, where 35% of our revenue will come through them” Kochar said. Bert Labs aims to be a billion-dollar company by FY27, and expects 10 per cent of its revenue to come from the Middle East by that time, he added.
Through its Bert Platform Solution™, which AI, Distributed Computing, IoT based, Bert Labs expects to create AI Digital Transformation Infra to prepare these companies for the next 10-15 years, also help them to significantly bring down the cost of operations of large organisations and improve capital efficiency. “We straightaway commit reduction of 30% on power, 20% on fuel. Then you will get the overall productivity improvement. We commit 3% in productivity, which in actual value terms of dirhams is a huge number. Similarly, we commit 0.5% reduction on raw material and consumables. There is overall efficiency in the process line and the process equipment along with utility equipment, it ends up bringing down the plant maintenance cost by 25%,” Kochar said.
Kochar sees a perfect match for AI and sustainability. “The cheapest and the most impactful way of reducing CO2 emission in the environment is to reduce the consumption of power and fuel and that is enabled through AI. Material manufacturing, pharma manufacturing — both these sectors are huge guzzlers of power as well as fuel. Compared to the rest of the world, UAE is an overcooled place. The temperature profile maintained is anywhere between 18 to 20°C. So obviously the consumption of power is in line with that. Through our Bert Platform Solution™, we aim to bring down the power consumption while we maintain PMV (Predicted mean Vote) based thermal and air quality comfort for people in the region. While we do this, it has a direct impact on the CO2 emissions in the environment and therefore the impact on sustainability. That’s how AI and sustainability have a direct correlation,” he said.
Kochar said, “We would look forward to working with the governments in the region to build AI Digital Transformation Infra for several applications and to be a major partner in their transformation goals for 2030.”