Saffron Technology

Saffron Technology, Inc., originally a technology company headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, developed cognitive computing systems that use incremental learning to understand and unify by entity (person, place or thing) the connections between an entity and other “things” in data, along with the context of their connections and their raw frequency counts. This approach provides a semantic and statistical representation of knowledge. Saffron learns from all sources of data including structured and unstructured data to support knowledge-based decision making. Its patented technology[1] captures the connections between data points at the entity level and stores these connections in an associative memory. Similarity algorithms and predictive analytics are then combined with the associative index to identify patterns in the data. Saffron’s Natural Intelligence platform was utilized by Global 1000 companies across industries including manufacturing, energy, defense and healthcare, to help decision-makers manage risks, identify opportunities and anticipate future outcomes, thus reducing cost and increasing productivity. Competitors include IBM Watson and Grok. Intel purchased the company in 2015 then shuttered it less than 3 years later.

History

Saffron was founded in 1999 by Dr Manuel Aparicio, a recognized pioneer in the field of Associative Memories, and Mr. James Fleming, a software engineer and leader in intelligent agent development.[2]

In 2000, former National Security Advisor Admiral (Dr.) John Poindexter joined the board with a focus of applying Associative Memory technology in the fields of National Security and Intelligence.[3]

In the first years, the company did most of its work with the U.S. Department of Defense, including in Iraq, analyzing and predicting where IED’s would be located so insurgent bombers could be proactively targeted.[4]

In 2010, the analyst firm Gartner identified Saffron as a "Cool Vendor" in Information Infrastructure for Enterprise Information Management [5]

In 2011, Forrester Research highlighted Saffron Technology as the leader of associative indexing in "The Dawning of a New Age in BI DBMS".[6]

On March 3, 2014 Saffron Technology raised a round of Series B funding.[7]

In October 2015, Intel bought Saffron Technology for an undisclosed price.[8] Intel offered the licensed software with engineering services contracted to develop client applications and support ongoing use.

In August 2018, Intel discontinued the Saffron software offering and supporting engineering services. Intel never issued a press release; it either reassigned or laid off all supporting staff and redirected the original URL to one that does not acknowledge Saffron's existence [9]

Executives

Gayle Sheppard, chairman and chief executive officer; former executive at PeopleSoft, Pleasanton, CA. and J.D. Edwards and Company, Denver, CO.

Manuel Aparicio, Ph.D., chief memory maker and evangelist, former chief scientist at IBM Knowledge Management and Intelligent Agent Center, Raleigh, NC.

James Fleming, chief software engineer, former software developer at IBM Knowledge Management and Intelligent Agent Center, Raleigh, NC.

Paul Hofmann, Ph.D., chief technology officer, former VP Research at SAP Labs in Palo Alto, CA.

National security

During the Iraqi insurgency Saffron was used by coalition forces in Iraq to help identify entities that were defined as people, places and things involved in insurgent networks. The tool mimicked human memory by recalling associations between those people, places and things. Unlike other tools, Saffron focused on context and frequency of association. Each word representing an entity in a set of data had its own memory about all the other words it had been used in association with. In this way, the tool could learn the way humans did.[3]

Saffron was contracted by DARPA to work on Project Genoa.[10]

Industry

Saffron's Natural Intelligence platform is utilized by Global 1000 companies across industries including manufacturing, energy, defense and healthcare, to help decision-makers manage risks, identify opportunities and anticipate future outcomes, thus reducing cost and increasing productivity.

A Global 100 manufacturing company uses Saffron Technology in a number of operational areas to leverage past engineering decisions and business experiences, such as component and part order optimization, failure root-cause analysis, and predictive maintenance.[11]

References
  1. "Event-Based Anticipation Systems, Methods & Computer Program Products for Associative Memories US 20090083207 A1". Google Patent Search. Retrieved 26 March 2009.
  2. "Company Overview of Saffron Technology, Inc". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  3. Harris, Shane (2010). The Watchers: The Rise of the Surveillance State. London: Penguin Group. p. 281. ISBN 978-1-101-19532-1.
  4. deBruyn, Jason. "Making a Computer 'Think'". Triangle Business Journal. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  5. Gartner. "Cool Vendors 2010". Gartner. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  6. "The Dawning of a New Age in BI DBMS". Forrester. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  7. "Saffron Technology Raises $7 million in Series B funding". Saffron Technology.
  8. "Intel buys Saffron AI because it can't afford to miss the next big thing in tech again". Fortune. 26 October 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  9. http://www.saffrontech.com/
  10. Mayle, Adam; Alex, Knott (2003). "Total Business Awareness: The Corporate Contracting Behind John Poindexter's Total Information Awareness Program". Center for Public Integrity.
  11. Evelson, Boris (3 June 2011). "It's The Dawning of the Age of BI DBMS". Forrester.
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