Will value of AI increase? Interview
with entrepreneur Maxim Silaev, owner
of Digital Dream Lab.





Author: Dom, COO IGT Group



This week we want to introduce you to Digital Dream Lab from Australia. They work to help clients optimise their business processes through an integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning, across all industries.





Hello Maxim. Please introduce yourself and your company Digital Dream Lab briefly so our readers get to know you a bit.


Hi. My journey started over 20 years ago, I stepped on this way

as a C++ software developer. I wrote a number of system-level utilities these days, and soon found myself in a cyber-security space. During the period I gained weight and status in this particular domain, I was always looking for a way to connect cyber-security, psychology and artificial intelligence. It wasn’t an easy way, not just a piece of cake,

I needed to proof customers I think differently and can create something outstanding, what others cannot do. And that is how Digital Dream Lab is built, that principles became the cornerstone of the company. I have founded. Now in Digital Dream Lab we research

new ways of integration AI technologies to people’s everyday life,

to retail industry, for example, with guarantee of privacy and security.


You have an extensive experience in so many fields such as financial technology, data science and software engineering. What was the path that led you to where you are right now?


I have been researching people behaviour for a long time. When I was

a university student, I worked as a waiter in a restaurant and constantly observed people and matched their orders with their behaviour and actions. I had collected a large statistics these days, by the way, which helped me to predict who (and how!) is going to order which meal

and a sort of beverage (from over 200 on the menu). These days it was only a game I played to entertain myself, but I was close to get 95% correct answers! This passion has grown up and now is not only set

of algorithms and observations, this is a union of technology, behavioural psychology and marketing. And this union helps us

to analyse and understand processes which happens everywhere

in the world - take market trading or retail industry, for instance. Once there are live people, majority of them are affected and controlled

by emotions and in fact we can read and predict their future behaviour, possessing only some historical observations.


Is there any specific type of businesses (a niche or a certain size of businesses) as clients your team is focusing on?


There are plenty of industries where human labor can be substituted with a machine to save money and guarantee quality. My team and I help business owners to introduce artificial intelligence to their companies, and, answering your question, it might be almost any industry, retail for example. For retail we launched a special product which we called “SmartView”, which is a smart offer complex: by analysing people behaviour and path on a trading floor, complex classifies customers and propose them individual offers in real time. Anything is taken into account: their clothes, time of day, how customers behave, which emotions do they show (face recognition) and, of course, many other factors. This increases the overall bill and store revenue up to 10%! SmartView has been well tested and currently is being integrated into our partner stores.


What’s your vision on the role and importance of AI in the broader spectrum of applications?


In above mentioned market trading industry, particularly, these “robot wars” will become more and more serious and there very soon will be no place for manual traders, on this market. In retail, for example,

we can see the changes right now, it is enough to visit any online store website and look at what do they recommend us to purchase - this output is based on out previous behaviour, out buying history, came through a prism of machine learning. The same is in an advertising world - user’s activity on websites is collected, processed

and distributed over a network to display exactly what is related to his prior search request. The retail industry is one of the most important - the number of customers grows every year and they become more

and more demanding and picky, so AI products need to constantly evolve with this market and even outpace it. It is not enough now just to supply customer with a personal offer, we need to read and analyse his behaviour, mood, emotions and even read thoughts to get him what he needs! There is a huge room to develop and we are going to fill this gap.


When it comes to machine learning, how do you think it will develop in the future, both from a technology and from a personal perspective?


The absolute value of AI will increase year by year. Technologies constantly evolve and a human eye, for instance, these days could be easily replaced with computer vision in a broad number of areas. Companies build driverless cars, planes take off, fly and land without pilots’ assistance, or even supervision, take drones for example. I bet in 5-7 years we will live in a totally different world. For retail business, for sure, it will be a seasonal trends analytics and more precise pre-order of merchandise during a low season. For restaurants it is a know-your-customer recognition, to earn a “customer bonus” score. Agree, it is pleasant when you come to a restaurant and they remember your name and know what you want to order? And even recommend you to try something from their menu which has a 100% match with your expectations? Will you come there again? I think yes. And these tools are real, my team and I are currently working on prototypes.


What are your business goals for the nearest future? What are you most excited about at the moment?


From business growth perspective, I am looking for customers on Australian markets. We can offer a product solutions line which is in high demand nowadays - from a customer behaviour analysis complex to data transfer solutions. From a technical point, I am going to dive into analytics back. I have an request of extended analysis of some blockchains, which implies processing and storing huge arrays of data. So in the nearest future I will need to think of how to accomplish it in the best way.


What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs?


I believe, the first thing is understand what you can do the best. The second is to understand which direction to take, where you can sell

the results of your labor. You will not be instructed by anyone where

and how to go, you are free to choose. It is not an easy way,

but “entrepreneur” means “independent” in the first place :)


Last word or final thoughts.


When it comes to either discovering new horizons or building a custom solution for existing business, my team and I have proven practice

and expertise of understanding client’s requests and requirements, form a plan and follow it with a guarantee that everything will be accomplished as scheduled.


The best way to contact Maxim is email to maxim@digitaldreamlab.com.