Microsoft Accelerator Interview with Tiger Yang, Co-Founder & President of APEX Technologies
Source: Published by Microsoft Shanghai Accelerator, April 18th 2019
The original includes a podcast which is available via this separate article (incl. transcript)
APEX Technologies was founded in 2010 in Silicon Valley, USA by Jimmy Hu and Tiger Yang, alumni of UC Berkeley. After market research the two founders of APEX Technologies found that CDP (intelligent Consumer Data Platforms) will have a lot of room for development and growth in the Chinese market, and they resolved to utilize their entrepeneurial skills in China.
They believe that intelligent data and customer data application platforms can accurately help companies to obtain value from data and guide decision making to improve marketing effectiveness for enterprises.
Today, China Innovation Decoded hosts an interview with APEX Technolgies co-founder and COO Tiger Yang, who brings us their story of entrepreneurship along with the latest industry insights.
Big data has been a hot topic in recent years. How does APEX Technologies use big data solutions?
Tiger: From big data to artificial intelligence to blockchain, we do see their value. AtAPEX Technologies, we are most concerned with the scenarios surrounding customer data, especially as it applies to marketing. But whether it’s for B-side customers or C-side customers, having a clear business purpose is critical to the true value of any new technology, and that’s also the key to a startup.
The difference between APEX Technologies and other big data companies is that we pay more attention to the specific scenarios of medium and large enterprises’ customer data. We can help these B2B companies to break down information islands to ensure that enterprises have a holistic and unified view of their customer data. Therefore, based on these data, companies can develop more targeted and personalized marketing.
Take one of our customers, Maserati, as an example. We analyzed all of their customer data from different sources, such as customer relationship management systems and document management systems. Maserati wanted to know who were potential customers in the next 3–6 months. In this way, sales can be targeted to achieve maximum effect. APEX Technologies can use machine learning technology to make this prediction and improve marketing efficiency by studying various characteristics of the data.
You are currently operating in the Chinese market, focusing on consumer behavior and other factors. What about foreign markets?
Tiger: Initially we are focusing on the Chinese market. Of course, there are many factors that will determine whether a person will choose to make a purchase. For example, for Maserati, one of the biggest customer groups is actually housewives. In addition to gender, the professional background of the customer is also very powerful factor. After we apply machine learning techniques to produce a list of predictions there will be a score from 0–1000, and then Maserati will call the high-scoring candidates to invite them to test drive.
In addition to the automotive industry such as Maserati, airlines are the same, and the accuracy rate of our predictions is 95%-98%.
These industries can use our personalized recommendation model. We hope to improve the customer’s experience through big data and artificial intelligence technology, and at the same time help companies improve marketing efficiency and reduce marketing budgets.
Which industry do you think is the most challenging?
Tiger: It‘s easier for industries with more online customer data. In some industries, customer data is mainly offline, which is more challenging. We focus on new retail areas such as the catering industry and the fashion industry. There are also some traditional large supermarkets such as WalMart and some real estate sectors that also form part of our customer base. Recently, real estate companies are increasingly aware of the importance of using big data and artificial intelligence. As an example, they can design room types through big data and determine the correct choices to be made.
But in addition to personalized marketing, we also provide other kinds of services. For example, we integrate this data platform for enterprises in such a way that many of the companies’ internal decisions can be based on their customer data. For example, in addition to wanting to increase their sales, car manufacturers also want to know what kind of cars will be more popular — such as what color sells better? Or make choices about internal and external designs and more.
A concept gaining traction recently is called C2M (Customer to Manufacturer), and this is the use of real-time data to drive internal decision making.
Unlike other companies that focus on big data applications, what is the core competency of APEX Technologies?
Tiger: From a macro perspective, big data companies can be divided into several different company types. Some are building big data or computing infrastructure, some have been incubated by accelerators. We are more focused on the application part of artificial intelligence and big data. And our focus will have a lot of specific aspects, especially in terms of markets and users. Most of the B2C companies we serve come from traditional industries, but they really want digital transformation as they recognize that it is good for them to transform and upgrade to face competition from Internet companies.
In addition, we have many successful enterprise cases in the automotive manufacturing and retail industries, so more companies are becoming interested in our technology. They believe that our models and machine learning algorithms are more precise. Focusing on specific areas to grow relevant knowledge and experience will increase the competitiveness of APEX Technologies accordingly. Another important point is that I think artificial intelligence and big data will not be limited because we focus on specific application scenarios — technology is always improving, and so we can continue to develop and provide more technology and more solutions to customers.
What do you think about the future of AI or big data? Can they help people become more innovative?
Tiger: First of all, in marketing, we mentioned data driven and artificial intelligence driven decision making, including when and where to send the right information to whom. The use of big data and artificial intelligence is sure to increase efficiency, but this does not mean that big data will replace human innovation. What is certain is that on a data based platform, artificial intelligence can make many predictive conclusions — in my opinion this saves time and effort, and helps people to focus more on the parts that need innovation.
Can you give some advice to entrepreneurs who have returned from studying abroad?
Tiger: Of course. Entrepreneurs returning from overseas generally feel that the Chinese market is extremely promising. I have lived abroad for more than ten years, but after returning to China I found that some foreign experiences are not entirely helpful for me to apply to the Chinese market. The reason for this is that the Chinese market is very Chinese, and it is very different to serve foreign companies compared to serving Chinese companies. It is very important to use a Chinese mindset to do business in the Chinese market.
