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Continual Launches With $4 Million in Seed to Bring AI to the Modern Data Stack

Continual | December 20, 2021

Continual, a company building a next-generation AI platform for the modern data stack, today announces its public beta launch with $4 million in seed funding. The round was led by Amplify Partners, a firm that invests in companies with a vision of transforming infrastructure and machine intelligence tools. Illuminate Ventures, Essence, Wayfinder, and Data Community Fund also participated in the round.

The modern data stack centered on cloud data warehouses like Snowflake is rapidly democratizing data and analytics, but deploying AI at scale into business operations, products, or services remains a challenge for most companies. Powered by a declarative approach to operational AI and end-to-end automation, Continual enables modern data and analytics teams to build continually improving machine learning models directly on their cloud data warehouse without complex engineering.

Continual brings together second time founders Tristan Zajonc and Tyler Kohn who previously built and sold machine learning infrastructure startups. Cofounder and CEO Tristan’s first startup, Sense, a pioneering enterprise data science platform, was acquired by Cloudera in 2016. Continual’s cofounder and CTO, Tyler Kohn, built RichRelevance, the world’s leading personalization provider, before it was acquired by Manthan in 2019. Tristan and Tyler saw the huge gap between the transformational potential of AI and the day-to-day struggle most companies faced operationalizing AI using real world data. They founded Continual to radically simplify operational AI by taking a fundamentally new approach.

Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform every industry, department, product and service but current solutions require complex infrastructure, advanced skills, and constant maintenance. Continual breaks through this complexity with a radical simplification of the machine learning development lifecycle, combining a declarative approach to operational AI, end-to-end automation, and the agility of the modern data stack. Our customers are deploying state-of-art predictive models that never stop learning from their data in minutes rather than months,”

Tristan Zajonc, CEO and cofounder of Continual.

Getting continually improving predictive insights from data is critical for businesses to operate efficiently and better serve their customers. Yet operationalizing AI remains a challenge for all but the most sophisticated companies, Continual meets data teams where they work - inside the cloud data warehouse - and lets them build and deploy continually improving predictive models in a fraction of the time existing approaches demand. We invested because we believe their approach is fundamentally new and, most importantly, the right one to make AI work across the enterprise."

David Beyer, Partner at Amplify Partners

With the new capital, Continual plans to more than double its team over the next year with new hires for sales and engineering roles. It will expand into new AI/ML use cases such as NLP, realtime, and personalization, and broaden support for additional cloud data platforms. Continual is offering a 14-day trial with its open beta release, enhancements for dbt users, and support for Snowflake, Redshift, BigQuery, and Databricks.

About Continual
Based in San Francisco, Continual is a next-generation AI platform for the modern data stack powered by end-to-end automation and a declarative workflow. Modern data teams use Continual to deploy continually improving predictive models to drive revenue, operate more efficiently, and power innovative products and services. Continual has raised $4 million in funding from Amplify Partners, Illuminate Ventures, Essence, Wayfinder, and Data Community Fund.

About Amplify Partners
Amplify Partners invests in early-stage companies pioneering novel applications in machine intelligence and computer science. The firm's deep domain expertise, unrivaled relationships with leading technologists and decades of operational experience, positions it uniquely with enterprise insight and the ability to serve technical founding teams.

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Stack Overflow Announces OverflowAI at WeAreDevelopers

Businesswire | July 28, 2023

Stack Overflow today from the keynote stage of WeAreDevelopers World Congress in Berlin, showcased early previews of six new capabilities and features of its new OverflowAI offerings. Powering solutions from within both the public platform and its market-leading SaaS product, Stack Overflow for Teams, these AI/ML solutions will offer users a series of new capabilities that will ensure they get to solutions faster within their workflow. For several months, Stack Overflow has been outlining its vision for community and AI coming together as the inevitable next phase of growth in GenAI’s trajectory. Today that vision comes closer to reality as the developer community was given previews of how they will directly play a crucial role in how AI accelerates and evolves. There is no shortage of how developers can leverage AI, however, there is one core deterrent in its adoption - trust in the accuracy of AI-generated content. Stack Overflow’s annual Developer Survey of 90,000 coders recently found that 77% of developers are favorable of AI tools, but only 42% trust the accuracy of those tools. Although there are currently more than a dozen new features, functions and capabilities in various stages of development across both Stack Overflow for Teams and the public platform, shared on the keynote stage was what users can request access to today, with limited Alphas beginning in late August 2023. Within Stack Overflow for Teams, the company’s SaaS platform for developers and technologists: OverflowAI Enterprise Knowledge Ingestion: With OverflowAI, Stack Overflow for Teams users will be able to curate and build a knowledge base in minutes by leveraging existing, accurate and trusted content. AI/ML will create the first drafts of a tagging structure and recommend questions and answers, freeing up developers to focus on adding value by curating and refining the content to validate accuracy. 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This new GenAI integration will provide answers to questions using all Stack Overflow community-validated sources, all while keeping a company’s data private. On Stack Overflow’s public platform: OverflowAI Search: Public platform users will be able to receive instant, trustworthy, and accurate solutions to problems using search and question asking powered by GenAI. Our goal is that responses generated can be attributed and cited, using the highly trusted knowledge from the more than 58 million questions and answers on Stack Overflow, with the ability to query the knowledge base further for more personalized and relevant results and follow up questions. AI Community Discussions: Developers now have new dedicated resources for unbiased, technical resources and responses from experts. A dedicated GenAI Stack Exchange will serve as a place for a community that is centered around knowledge sharing for writing prompts for GenAI tools and AI/ML more broadly. 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Aavenir Launches New Generative AI Capabilities for Contract Lifecycle Management on ServiceNow

Businesswire | August 14, 2023

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AI Tech

Microsoft's New Copilot: Enriching Windows Users with Advanced AI

Microsoft | September 22, 2023

Microsoft debuts Copilot, an advanced AI assistant for Windows PCs, enhancing tasks from text generation to organization, set to launch on September 26, 2023. Copilot integrates into Windows 11, Microsoft 365, Edge, and Bing, boosting productivity with real-time context while safeguarding user privacy. Concerns include data security and AI reliance, highlighting the necessity for a balanced approach to AI adoption. Microsoft has introduced a groundbreaking addition to its technology ecosystem with the launch of Copilot, a highly capable AI assistant designed to enhance the computing experience for Windows PC users. This advanced AI assistant offers a multifaceted approach to aiding users in their daily tasks, ranging from generating text and curating music playlists for concentration to facilitating window organization and assisting with creative pursuits involving photos and videos. What sets Copilot apart is its seamless integration of various AI tools that Microsoft has already deployed across different applications, offering users a unified and intuitive experience. Notably, Microsoft has leveraged OpenAI's ChatGPT technology to power Copilot, harnessing its robust capabilities to elevate user interactions. Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft Consumer Chief Marketing Officer, reportedly commented, We are entering a new era of AI, one that is fundamentally changing how we relate to and benefit from technology. [Source – Yahoo News UK] Copilot's potential impact on the computing landscape is considerable. Its integration into Windows 11, Microsoft 365, Edge, and Bing represents a significant step toward a holistic AI companion that adapts to users' needs in real time, drawing insights from web context, work-related data, and current PC activities. This contextual awareness not only enhances productivity but also underscores Microsoft's commitment to user privacy and security. Copilot can be effortlessly summoned through app integration or via a right-click, making it an accessible and invaluable tool for users seeking to navigate the ever-evolving digital realm. However, it is essential to acknowledge that the proliferation of AI assistants like Copilot raises legitimate concerns. One prominent issue pertains to privacy and data security. While Microsoft emphasizes its commitment to safeguarding user information, the integration of AI assistants into various aspects of daily life necessitates stringent measures to protect sensitive data. Moreover, there is the challenge of potential over-reliance on AI, potentially leading to a decreased reliance on human problem-solving skills and creativity. Striking the right balance between AI assistance and human agency is a crucial consideration in the adoption of such technologies. In summary, Microsoft's Copilot represents a noteworthy advancement in the realm of AI-powered assistance for computing tasks. Its ability to unify various AI tools into a single, user-friendly experience holds immense promise for enhancing productivity and user engagement. However, as with any technological innovation, careful consideration of privacy, data security, and the potential implications of over-reliance on AI remains imperative in the quest for a seamless digital future.