Talking with… Ruslan Bernijazov

Artificial intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the activities of the AI Marketplace. Ruslan Bernijazov, technical project coordinator and research associate at the Fraunhofer-Institute for Mechatronic Systems Design IEM, explains how this is reflected in the platform in particular, but also in the use cases.

Mr. Bernijazov, for those who are not yet familiar with the AI Marketplace – what is it actually, what do you do there?
The AI Marketplace is a unique platform for artificial intelligence (AI) in product creation. It brings together AI experts, providers and users to make the most of the potential of AI.

The matching of providers and users is supported by a special AI on the platform. But that is not all. In the future, further functions will be added: an app store for AI solutions, a protected space for development and test data, and an AI construction kit where standardized AI solutions can be used to develop new solutions.

We at Fraunhofer IEM are working on the platform together with 18 other partners from industry and research.

That sounds interesting: How did you come up with the idea of the AI marketplace?
I think we all agree that artificial intelligence is one of the hot topics – for some time now not only in the consumer sector, but also in the B2B market. It stands for innovation and can make a decisive contribution, especially in product creation. After all, this is where a lot of potential simply hasn’t been tapped yet.

This became clear to us when we conducted extensive market and competitor studies as well as numerous expert interviews. What’s more, in Germany we have expertise in both AI and product creation. This quickly gave us a strong starting position. However, it was also crucial to quickly win over other strong partners for our idea and thus expand our knowledge base and our community.

What exactly distinguishes the AI Marketplace from other providers of AI solutions?
One key factor is certainly our focus on content: our competitive analysis has shown that our concept of a marketplace for AI in product creation addresses a blank spot on the competitive map. Although there are numerous solutions that address concrete problems from product creation, there is currently no central point of contact for solution providers, AI experts and users.

The second exciting factor, in my view, is that we are building on an existing community with this platform. Not only with the technology network it’s OWL, but also with our partner communities such as prostep ivip or FIWARE, we are creating an ecosystem around the digital platform that will certainly offer added value to companies that participate in the AI marketplace.

Where does AI come into play?
Artificial intelligence, as our name suggests, is at the heart of our activities. On the one hand, this is evident in the pilot projects in which we are working with our partners from industry to shed light on AI in various phases of product creation, right through to production. On the other hand, the provision of customized standards, methods and tools for the development of new AI solutions for product creation forms a core activity of the overall project. In the future, our app store will also enable the provision of ready-made AI solutions and standardized solution modules. In addition, the use of artificial intelligence on the platform itself is a key element in the realization of intelligent platform functions for end users. For example, AI is used to enable automated matching of AI providers and AI users.

Where do you see the AI Marketplace in five years?
Ideally, the AI Marketplace will have established itself as the platform and contact point for AI in product creation in Germany, and possibly also in Europe. In a secure data room, AI providers and users can collaborate and share solutions in confidence. AI developers use the app store to distribute standardized solutions but also to acquire necessary solution modules. By providing customized standards and tools for AI in product development, the AI Marketplace also makes a significant contribution to increasing efficiency in the development of new solutions. In addition, we will be working intensively on the international roll-out in the third year of the project, so I am confident that in five years we will have established stable contacts with AI communities in Asia and North America, so that our range of solutions on the marketplace will also grow immensely. In this way, we want to make our contribution so that “AI made in Germany” becomes a globally recognized seal of quality.

Further interviews are available here:

Marc Foullois, Fraunhofer IEM
Ulrich Ahle, FIWARE Foundation
Alain Pfouga, prostep ivip
Christoph Mertens, IDSA