Exploring impactful AI solutions with the head of our AI Centre of Excellence

“The AI Center of Excellence is envisioned to represent the business needs for AI across all our departments to ensure exponential business value,” says Fatima. “It leverages our long experience and innovation in AI to develop the right and effective products. The Center centralizes and standardizes our machine learning and AI operations, provides recommendations and training to the business divisions, conducts feasibility assessments early in the process, capitalizes on learnings, and streamlines work with divisions and customers.”

Fatima’s scientific background and experience in product innovation play a crucial role in guiding the Center’s approach. “My scientific background provides many benefits,” she explains. “It gives me an appreciation for how far we’ve come as a civilization through scientific discoveries and technical advances. Science requires interdisciplinary collaboration to push boundaries, similar to what’s needed in AI.”

We asked Fatima about Netcetera’s approach to delivering AI solutions that drive tangible business outcomes. “At Netcetera, we understand that the true value of AI lies in its ability to drive real business results. That's why we design our AI solutions to seamlessly integrate into our clients’ workflows, creating measurable value,” she says.

Fatima emphasizes the importance of tailoring solutions to each client’s unique context. “The needs and requirements vary a lot between and within industries based on data complexity, size, compliance guidelines, domain-specific risks, organizational AI maturity, and culture,” she explains. “We have to account for all these layers in developing a solution for a specific client. By taking a bespoke approach and tailoring our solutions to each client's unique context, we maximize the impact and value of our AI implementations.”

When discussing the breadth of AI applications Netcetera offers, Fatima says, “Our expertise in AI empowers our teams to tackle a wide range of business problems across various industries. Even a single AI product like Netcetera DocDive can be applied across very different industries and use cases.”

She explains that DocDive is an intelligent digital assistant that revolutionizes how users interact with information sources. “It harnesses the power of large language models (LLMs) and generative AI to provide accurate and efficient answers to user queries. DocDive allows clients to ask a question in natural language and receive a precise answer, along with direct references to the relevant content in the original document.”

Fatima highlights healthcare as a sector where AI is driving significant advancements. “In healthcare specifically, AI is driving significant progress in diagnostics and decision-making. Machine learning algorithms can analyze medical images, genetic sequences, and other complex data faster and more accurately than existing methods. Our machine learning methods are already aiding in detecting rare diseases, improving diagnostic accuracy and speed.”

She also mentions the application of AI in banking. “In the banking sector, our chatbots enhance customer service and support by providing instant, 24/7 assistance to customers. Powered by natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning, these chatbots can understand and respond to a wide range of customer inquiries, from basic account questions to more complex issues like loan applications or fraud reporting.”

“Successfully surfing the waves of completely different industries and use cases with the same underlying technologies demonstrates our ability to tackle any kind of challenge,” Fatima confirms. “Our breadth of experience and the versatility of our AI solutions position us as a partner of choice for businesses looking to leverage AI to solve their most pressing challenges.”

Given the sensitive nature of many AI applications, we asked Fatima to explain Netcetera’s approach to security and compliance. “Netcetera has a long-standing track record of operating in highly secure and privacy-driven industries. We understand the critical importance of security and compliance, especially when it comes to AI solutions that handle sensitive data,” she says.

She elaborates on the measures in place: “There’s comprehensive risk management from both business and technical sides to proactively prepare for and mitigate potential issues. Our proactive approach to risk management and mitigation ensures that our clients can focus on harnessing the power of AI without worrying about security or compliance issues. In addition to our technical measures, we also prioritize staying up-to-date with the latest regulatory developments.”

Fatima also emphasizes the importance of staying current with regulatory developments. “We actively engage regulators, industry groups , and legal experts to understand compliance obligations and ensure adherence to laws, regulations, and best practices,” she says. “By staying ahead of the curve and building ethical AI practices into our development and deployment processes from the start, we promote fairness, transparency, accountability, and bias mitigation.”

Netcetera prides itself on its customer-centric approach, so we asked Fatima how this translates to AI solutions. “With 27 years of experience in software development, customer-centricity is deeply ingrained in Netcetera’s DNA,” she says. “We believe that the key to successful AI implementations lies in understanding our clients’ unique needs and collaborating closely with them throughout the development process. So our engineers engage with the customer in pre-development discussions to understand the current state and co-design a better future state.”

Fatima explains that Netcetera adopts an iterative approach, borrowed from its extensive experience in software development, to ensure that AI solutions are aligned with clients’ goals and deliver maximum value.

Given Netcetera’s focus on digital banking, payment, healthcare, publishing, and mobility we asked Fatima to elaborate on the opportunities for AI in some of these sectors.

At Netcetera, our involvement in AI spans nearly a decade. So we asked Fatima to reflect on the company’s journey and its plans for the future. “Over the years, we’ve accumulated such a wealth of knowledge and experience, and we’re continuously leveraging this to develop cutting-edge solutions for our clients,” she says.

Fatima emphasises the importance of continuous learning and skills development. “At the heart of our approach is continuous learning and skills development. Our engineers learn about the business while our market experts are involved in technical discussions,” she explains. “This fusion is where the magic happens to generate new ideas and use cases. By fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration and knowledge sharing, we stay at the forefront of AI developments and ensure that our solutions are grounded in real-world business needs.”

Looking ahead, Fatima is excited about the vast potential for AI to drive business transformation. “With our AI experts at the forefront, we aspire to set the benchmark for innovation, drive positive change and shape a future where businesses thrive in the age of AI in a sustainable and healthy way for society and the planet,” she says. “At Netcetera, we’re committed to being a partner of choice for businesses looking to harness the power of AI, and we look forward to co-creating solutions that unlock new possibilities and drive meaningful impact.”

We asked Fatima what she would say to businesses considering partnering with Netcetera for AI solutions. “With our extensive AI experience, customer-centric approach and commitment to security and compliance, Netcetera is uniquely positioned to develop AI solutions that address a client’s specific business needs and drive tangible results,” she says.