The artificial intelligence bets of Brazilian manufacturer Elsys

Agribusiness, followed by retailers, condominiums and logistics parks are Brazilian equipment manufacturer Elsys’ main focuses when it comes to AI.

The company is stepping up its efforts with a new solution for enterprises, dubbed AI Box. The device promises to take data processing to the edge for enhanced precision in data management and decision-making.

“Elsys is present in Brazilian agribusiness with its computer vision solutions, from citrus farms to fruit export farms. We are also working with AI solutions in retail chains, private condominiums and logistics companies,” Elsys' new businesses manager for AI, Franz Bories, told BNamericas.

The company is working with different partners in technology and R&D on AI Box, including in the fields of computer vision and robotics.

Qualcomm, for its part, is responsible for the chipsets in the AI Box devices.

Elsys also aims to leverage its Amplimax family of products, based on an FWA (fixed wireless access) model to enable connectivity. 

Recently, the company launched a telecom operator focused exclusively on the FWA connectivity model. Dubbed Netylink, it markets itself as the first fixed wireless internet carrier in Brazil, with plans for expansion in the region, possibly starting in Chile.

“We’ve been working with FWA for 10 years. At Elsys, we’re certainly the biggest FWA player in Brazil. Now we’ve launched a specific operation,” Damian Zisman, CEO of both Elsys and Netylink, told BNamericas in May.

There is potential for upselling and synergies with Netylink’s FWA operation. As Bories said, “one of the most important pieces of this puzzle is connectivity.”

“Even if there is the feasibility of processing artificial intelligence at the edge, that is, without the need for an internet connection, at the end of the day all the information needs to be consolidated and analyzed with sophistication, as well as serving as parameters for integration with other systems such as ERPs and messaging,” he said.

Bories claims Elsys has “a few dozen customers” with AI Box pilots underway. These are producers and exporters of agricultural crops, as well as pharmacy and consumer goods retail chains, and logistics operators.

Throughout the second half of this year, Elsys vows to move from proofs of concepts to signed contracts and consolidate the solution as “a computer vision product” on the market, said Bories.