Cardiff-based firm leading the way in AI tech

Cardiff-based software firm Amplyfi is at the cutting-edge of deep web artificial intelligence technology.

The firm is revolutionising the way we interact with the internet by capitalising on the potential of AI, and it’s continuing with this thanks to investment from Finance Wales.

Although the exact amount of investment remains disclosed, the Welsh government investment arm has put a substantial amount into the company to help it grow.

It’s looking to use the money to continue creating technologies for the deep web, which is a part of the internet that’s hidden and not indexed on general search engines.

The internet can go deeper 

Many technologists believe that we’re only just scraping the surface when we make a query on a search engine like Google or Yahoo and that there’s so much more out there.

Amplyfi is working on AI-driven technologies that aim to bring the surface and deep web together so that even more information is available to the everyday person or business.

“The deep web is a term used to describe the area of the internet that is not recognised by a standard search engine,” explained Dr Yunus Saatchi, chief AI Officer at Amplyfi.

“It is an enormous knowledge store, full of rich datasets such as academic journals, government databases, and financial records. The weep web is estimated to be at least 500 times larger than the surface web.”

Data beyond the average search 

There are thought to be many benefits of utilising the deep web. For example, you could search for ‘cheap train tickets’ and be directed to a number of websites utilising the tech.

To go deeper, you find one site and input your departure and arrival times, along with your wish to travel. You’re then taken to a deeper level page, where you get a plethora of ticket options. All this information is stored on complex databases.

Amplyfi provides solutions that tap into and unlock the information stored in the deep web. Dr Letizia Mortara of Cambridge University’s Centre for Technology Management weighed in: “Big data and advanced analytics have started impacting many aspects of our lives.

“Start-ups such as Amplyfi are at the forefront of the development of artificial intelligence tools for Deep Web harvesting that are transforming how businesses gather technology intelligence.”

Groundbreaking technology

The company has developed a product called DataVoyant, which lets companies explore open-source data from the deep web using AI-powered engines. It claims that the benefits are far-reaching.

“As a user-friendly, web-accessible software platform, DataVoyant empowers companies to directly explore, and make sense for themselves, all open source data using our AI-engines,” said Mark Woods, CTO at the firm.

“DataVoyant generates in-house actionable insights without the need for deep subject matter expertise, long lead-times, sharing sensitive information with third parties or revealing strategic lines of enquiry to others.”

BP is one of the big companies using this tech. Dr Daniel Walker, emerging technology manager, said: “DataVoyant provided us with a unique opportunity to apply AI to generate valuable strategic insight into patterns, trajectories and geographical variance of emerging technology areas.”

Amplyfi has also been working with organisations to help them plan investments, direct research projects and better understand disruptive technological developments.

“We believe DataVoyant has great potential as a leading AI Surface and Deep Web analytics platform, especially from the venture capital perspective,” said Francis Wong, executive director of Sumitomo Corporation Equity Asia. “The Amplyfi team and their global reach have also impressed us.”

Dr Tomas Sanchez Lopez, head of data analysis and interaction at Airbus Group, added: “DataVoyant’s ability to access and analyse the Surface and Deep Web is an exciting development for both those of us in industry and the Welsh innovation ecosystem.”

A bright future

The investment will help the company expand and bring its technology to even more markets. “This is an exceptional start-up,” said investment executive Phil Barnes. “Amplyfi’s world-leading AI technology has been successfully piloted with a wide range of companies and organisations in sectors including defence, energy, finance, manufacturing and professional services.

Chris Ganje, CEO at Amplyfi, said: “Phil and the Finance Wales team have been instrumental to our success. Their recent investment has ensured that we are able to grow Amplifi’s AI offering and expand our highly-skilled programming team.”

“We’re very proud to be based in Cardiff. Being embedded within a vibrant, entrepreneurial environment that provides support and momentum gives us confidence that we can effectively scale up and help place Wales on the global digital innovation map.”