Deeli AI: Revolutionizing Tech Scouting to Prevent Innovation Blind Spots

CEO Hanson Chou (R) and CTO Abel Chen. (Source: Deeli AI)

Although innovation is so critical to high-tech companies, ironically, pathfinding for emerging technology has mostly been manual. With roots in both the US and Taiwan, Deeli AI saw the gap and stepped forward to provide its solution.

Deeli AI, co-founded by Hanson Chou, a former MediaTek AI department technical director, and Abel Chen, an AI engineer and now Deeli CTO, emerged from this critical need. Their experience within MediaTek's AI department, specifically in the strategic technology planning function, revealed the inefficiencies of manual technology scouting. This process was characterized by subjective keyword searches, a fragmented approach, and the risk of overlooking new technologies, often resulting in competitors adopting crucial technologies earlier.

“To ensure the future 3-5 years of long-term success, companies have to do tons of academic searches, attend dozens of international technology symposia and all the top conferences every year, but without a good tool, people’s searches are limited to what they already know,” said Hanson Chou, founder and CEO of Deeli.

Companies hire PhDs who graduated from top universities to explore strategic technologies and maintain collaborations with research institutes, to identify cutting-edge technologies and future trends, spending millions of dollars a year just to avoid missing out on the latest technologies. However, they are still lacking a sound tool to provide objective analytics to aid decision-making. “If they fail to persuade the boss why invest in certain technology now, they often miss out on crucial emerging technologies, leading to significant market disadvantages,” said Chou.

To validate their technology, the Deeli AI team conducted a successful proof-of-concept (POC) back testing by retrospectively analyzing data related to an emerging semiconductor technology from two years before MediaTek's investment decision. Their AI algorithm successfully identified the technology's rapid growth potential and the existence of commercialized products from other industrial players and startups. This POC validated the potential for a more comprehensive and objective approach to technology assessment.

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