本周一，在芝加哥舉行的《財富》年度頭腦風暴重塑大會上，嘉吉公司（Cargill）副總裁兼全球分析業務負責人詹姆斯·威德解釋了嘉吉與數據分析公司笛卡爾實驗室（Descartes Labs）合作的緣由。位于美國新墨西哥州的笛卡爾實驗室，是一家專注于應用機器學習等AI技術分析衛星圖像數據的初創公司。

威德說，與笛卡爾實驗室合作很有意義，通過合作，嘉吉可以了解衛星圖像技術是否可以用來更好的預測農作物產量。

威德表示，目前有很多公司聲稱擁有AI和機器學習技術，具備引領潮流的多種熱門能力。聲勢浩大的宣傳令大企業了解合作方難上加難。

據介紹，嘉吉與笛卡爾實驗室的合作開始于一些未指定的測試試驗，測試結果也讓嘉吉感到滿意。

一些外界人士會問，如果測試結果那么好，嘉吉為什么不直接收購笛卡爾實驗室。威德解釋道，這主要是擔心笛卡爾實驗室這樣的小公司會在一家巨無霸公司內部官僚體制內迷失方向，其具有的“價值會消磨一空”。

作為衛星圖像領域的初創公司，笛卡爾實驗室能夠以靈活、高效的方式運作，威德擔心，一旦被大企業招入麾下，這一優勢將會消耗殆盡。

“因此我們采用了合作的方式，讓他們獨立經營。”威德這樣表達嘉吉的決定。他認為，合作方式讓嘉吉可以和笛卡爾實驗室共同開展多項測試，而不是受其龐大業務的影響。

據媒體報道，嘉吉除了是笛卡爾實驗室的客戶，還在2017年參與了該公司規模3000萬美元的一輪融資。（財富中文網）

譯者：Pessy

審校：夏林

Speaking at Fortune’s annual Brainstorm Reinvent conference on Monday in Chicago, Cargill’s vice president and leader of global analytics James Weed explained the reasoning behind his company’s partnership with the data-crunching startup Descartes Labs. The New Mexico startup specializes in using AI technologies, like machine learning, to analyze satellite imagery.

It made sense for Cargill to sync up with Descartes Labs so the food giant could learn whether its’ satellite imagery technology could be used to better forecasts crop yields, Weed said.

Weed said that there’s currently “a lot of companies promising AI and machine learning” as well as “all of the different buzzwords” that are trendy. This amount of noise makes it “challenging for big companies to know who you partner with.”

Cargill debuted a few unspecified test trials with Descartes Labs, and was pleased with the results.

Weed said that outsiders asked him why Cargill didn’t simply buy Descartes Labs, if the results were so good. Weed explained that his main concern was that the tiny Descartes Labs would get lost within the bureaucracy of a giant company, and that “the value would disappear.”

The satellite imagery startup is able to operate in a fast and agile way, and Weed was worried that its speed and efficiency would wither if it was absorbed into a big company.

“Let’s partner and keep them separate,” Weed said of the company’s decision. This partnership lets Cargill conduct multiple test runs with Descartes Labs “instead of doing this big shock and awe with our business,” Weed said.

Besides being a Descartes Labs customer, Cargill also contributed to a $30 million investment round in 2017, according to media reports.