Data & AI Report – Data Trends in October 2024

November 13, 2024

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Data trends in October saw impressive investments, cleantech advancements, AI assistants and most excitingly, robots! 

We’ve delved into the most exciting news from the month – check them out below 👇

European Innovation Council to Boost Deep Tech Innovation with €1.4 Billion Investment in 2025 

The EIC has announced an impressive €1.4 billion investment: a huge boost to deep tech research and strategic technology start-ups across Europe for 2025. This increase represents a massive €200 million boost compared to 2024, underscoring the EU’s commitment to nurturing high-potential tech ventures that will shape Europe’s technological future. 

By improving access to capital, the EIC is actively working to bridge the funding gap that often limits the growth of Europe’s tech pioneers and hinders their global competitiveness. This offers a critical opportunity from European startups – we’re excited to see what this brings! 

Read more about the 2025 EIC programme here. 

Lunar’s AI Voice Assistant to Handle 75% of Customer Calls, Revolutionising Fintech Support 

Danish challenger bank Lunar takes major step forward in customer service by launching a voice assistant powered by AI. Aiming to handle  75% of customer calls, Lunar’s AI assistant promises a seamless 24/7 experience. Accessible answers even in the middle of the night!

Lunar’s move echoes a growing trend among fintechs (including Klarna and Bunq) who are using AI to streamline customer support without cutting jobs. With its forward-thinking approach and a valuation of $2.2 billion, Lunar is positioning itself at the forefront of fintech innovation in the Nordics, aiming to enhance customer service without sacrificing the personal touch. 

See Lunar’s press release here. 

Cleantech Companies Secure a Huge €13.2 billion in Funding in First Three Quarters of 2024 

Cleantech companies are at the forefront of Europe’s drive for sustainability: they are spearheading efforts to reduce carbon emissions and transition toward a circular economy. Their innovative work in renewable energy, sustainable materials, and resource management is not only crucial for environmental resilience but also fuels job creation and economic growth across the continent. 

These investments highlight the strong momentum behind green technologies and signal continued interest in sustainable growth from investors. With support like this, Europe is laying the groundwork for a cleaner, more sustainable future, one that aligns environmental priorities with economic opportunity. 

Check out a few of the companies that were involved in raising the funds: 

Northvolt // Avantium Technologies // BioBTX 

Starship and Bolt Team Up for Robot Grocery Deliveries in Tallinn 

Make way for the robot! 

Estonian-founded tech leaders Starship Technologies & Bolt have joined forces to launch Europe’s first robot-powered grocery delivery service – a huge push forward! 

This groundbreaking service combines Starship’s autonomous delivery robots with Bolt’s popular delivery app. Starship’s robots, consume minimal energy—about the amount needed to boil a kettle for a cup of tea. The robots offer a more sustainable option to usual deliveries – we have no doubt this will quickly spread throughout the rest of Europe! 

Conclusion

Europe is rapidly advancing through strategic investments, cutting-edge AI applications, and innovative green solutions. It’s setting a strong foundation for future growth in high-impact sectors and the developments signal a promising era of sustainable innovation, economic opportunity, and technological leadership across Europe. 

Check back to see what data trends we see develop next month.

Data & AI Report – Data Science Trends July 2024

August 5, 2024

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Trends in data science have brought a fresh wave of excitement to the data and analytics landscape this July. We’re seeing major moves towards scalability, efficient governance, and AI capabilities. Additionally, Dr. Randy Olson shows us just how far creative data use can take you—literally! Turns out, data science isn’t just about numbers, it can plan one epic road trip too! 

Firstly, discord’s transition to Dagster and dbt for data orchestration 

This month, Discord announced a major overhaul of their data orchestration infrastructure, moving from their in-house system, Derived, to a combination of Dagster and dbt. As their platform and user base expanded, the need for enhanced self-service capabilities and robust observability became evident. This decision was driven by the necessity for declarative automation, a modern unified interface, reliability on Kubernetes, and seamless integration with existing tools. 

After evaluating open-source options like Argo and Prefect, Discord chose Dagster for orchestration and dbt for data modeling. This transition has enabled them to support over 2,000 dbt tables, enhancing their ability to deliver seamless service and insightful data analytics while scaling efficiently. 

Read about it here

Meta unveils Llama 3.1 

This month, Meta introduced Llama 3.1, a massive leap in open-source AI. The Llama 3.1 405B model brings unmatched flexibility and state-of-the-art capabilities, unlocking new workflows like synthetic data generation and model distillation. Additionally, Meta is enhancing the Llama ecosystem with new security tools and a reference system. Over 25 partners, including AWS and Google Cloud, will offer services from day one. 

 

Llama 3.1 models feature expanded context lengths to 128K, multilingual support, and strong performance across benchmarks. Upgraded 8B and 70B models enhance capabilities in general knowledge, tool use, and translation. 

Read Meta’s full update

Building a data-driven analytics team at DoorDash 

Jessica Lachs, DoorDash’s VP of Analytics & Data Science, shares insights on what it means to be truly data-driven and how to structure an analytics team. Having joined DoorDash as the first General Manager in 2014, Lachs has built the analytics team from the ground up and now leads global analytics, including the Wolt Analytics team post-acquisition. 

Not only does Lachs highlight that the term “analytics” can be ambiguous, encompassing data science, business intelligence, product analytics, machine learning, and BizOps. She also emphasizes that to build a data-driven organisation, founders should focus on desired outcomes rather than semantics. At DoorDash, the role of analytics has evolved with the company’s growth, shifting from gut instinct decisions to data-centric strategies. Initially, DoorDash used quasi-experimental methods due to limited data, but as the company matured, they invested in scalable data models and advanced experimentation capabilities, expanding their analytics scope to drive better decision-making. 

Read the full post here

Databricks’ migration to unity catalog for data governance 

In a recent blog post, the Data Platform team at Databricks shared insights into their migration to Unity Catalog for enhanced data governance. As the company grows, establishing secure, compliant, and cost-effective data operations has become a priority. With thousands of employees analysing data, consistent governance standards are essential, making the migration to Unity Catalog a top priority. 

The blog outlines the challenges and benefits of migrating from the default Hive Metastore (HMS) to Unity Catalog. While HMS lacked fine-grained access controls, lineage support, audit logs, and effective search integration, UC provided these features out-of-the-box. Therefore, the team chose a transformational approach, selectively migrating datasets to establish a structured governance framework. This strategy required more effort initially, but enabled clear data ownership, naming conventions, and intentional access, setting the stage for future governance policies.

Read the blog

Finally, some creative Data use!

Dr. Randy Olson, a full stack data scientist and AI researcher, utilised his expertise in machine learning to develop an optimal search strategy.  

He approached this task using the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) algorithm, which aims to find the shortest route that visits each city exactly once and returns to the starting point.  

Dr. Olson applied three specific restrictions:  

  1. The trip must stop in all 48 contiguous U.S. states 
  2. Only visit National Natural Landmarks, National Historic Sites, National Parks, or National Monuments #
  3. Be taken entirely by car without leaving the U.S. 

Want to take the trip? The route spans 13,699 miles and requires 224 hours (or 9.33 days) of driving, assuming no traffic. You can find the full itinerary here. 

Dr Randy Olsen used Data to design the optimum road trip across the U.S. Showing how useful data can be. Data science trends really are everywhere!

Olsen’s epic road trip

To conclude 

July highlighted several key trends in data and analytics. The push for scalability is evident in Discord’s adoption of Dagster and dbt, and Databricks’ migration to Unity Catalog for better data governance. The importance of building effective data teams was underscored by DoorDash’s approach to analytics leadership. Another notable trend is the growing emphasis on enhanced self-service capabilities and robust observability in data platforms. These themes point towards a future focused on scalable infrastructure, efficient governance, structured teams, and innovative AI applications.

If you’re interested in how we can help scale your data team, get in touch.

Data & AI Report – April 2024

May 1, 2024

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Welcome to our first monthly update on data and AI. No need to scroll endlessly through news sites, we’ve compiled the month’s must-know developments right here!

April saw important developments in technology, highlighting investments and partnerships that emphasize the Netherlands’ involvement in the tech sector.

Google’s €640 Million Dutch Data Centre Project

Google announced a €640 million investment in a new data centre in Groningen, creating 125 jobs. This adds to Google’s total investment of over €3.8 billion in Dutch digital infrastructure since 2014. Read more

KLM Partners with Utrect University AI Labs

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is collaborating with Utrecht University’s AI Labs to refine operational efficiency and minimize disruptions.

PhD students are developing algorithms to optimize crew and aircraft scheduling, and improve ground processes like baggage handling and passenger boarding. This partnership aims to enhance KLM’s ability to quickly adapt to changes, ensuring smoother operations and prioritising flights effectively through data. Read more

Google Launches Training Programs for AI, Cybersecurity, and Data Analytics

The U.S. Treasury and Google Cloud are partnering to boost data analytics and cybersecurity hiring, aligning with President Biden’s AI Executive Order.

New training programs, accessible via YouTube and Google Cloud Skills Boost, include courses on generative AI, cybersecurity, and data analytics, will equip individuals with the skills needed for digital transformation in the public sector.

Learners also get free access to generative AI tools, including Google’s interview prep tool, Interview Warmup. Read more

Gif showing Google Cloud's new Generative AI Interview Warmup tool.

Source: Google Cloud

AI Breakthrough in Breast Cancer Risk Assessment

Danish and Dutch researchers have advanced breast cancer risk assessment by combining an AI diagnostic tool with a mammographic texture model, under the leadership of Dr. Andreas D. Lauritzen.

This integrated approach improves the prediction of both short- and long-term breast cancer risks, identifying high-risk women more effectively. The innovation promises earlier cancer detection and could alleviate the strain on healthcare systems caused by a shortage of specialist breast radiologists. Read more

These developments underscore a growing need for expert Data, AI, and ML talent. Reach out to discuss how we can help to drive your innovation forward.

contact our team.