Collaboration Between Solba and AI Arks to Launch New AI Advisory Service in Mie

Introduction of AI Advisory Service by Solba and AI Arks

Solba Corporation, based in Yokkaichi City, Mie Prefecture, has announced a partnership with AI Arks, a venture originating from the University of Tokyo, to launch a new service aimed at local businesses: the AI Advisory Service. This initiative is designed to overcome the challenges of hiring specialized digital experts in smaller urban and regional companies, providing them access to knowledge and support tailored to their specific needs.

For over 50 years, Solba has been involved in the construction industry, working closely with clients to maximize investment efficiency. With the introduction of this service, Solba aims to deepen its connections with local businesses, streamline management challenges, and offer support across various operational fronts. AI Arks will contribute its expertise in the areas of AI and digital transformation (DX), creating an accessible framework for implementing AI in regional enterprises.

Background of the Collaboration

The partnership stems from concerns about large companies leveraging AI and DX investments to gain significant competitive advantages. Regions have traditionally relied on lower labor costs to maintain competitiveness, but as large firms enhance their efficiency through technology, this advantage could diminish. Solba believes that local businesses need more than just expensive AI tools; they must also revise their business processes to foster a cycle of reinvestment in sales, recruitment, and internal improvement. However, hiring specialized AI and DX talent is a considerable challenge for SMEs. Solba intends for this partnership to provide local enterprises with easy access to the expertise they need.

What is the AI Advisory Service?

The AI Advisory Service is a monthly subscription-based support system that enables local companies to utilize knowledge from specialists in AI and DX that are typically hard to recruit in regional areas. Instead of merely implementing AI tools, the service focuses on identifying each business’s unique challenges and prescribing the most effective applications of AI tailored to their resources. It will clarify how AI can enhance productivity, reduce costs, address labor shortages, and streamline sales and recruitment efforts.

Notably, this service will not cover system development, bot creation, or API integration but will rather propose these components separately, depending on specific organizational goals and challenges.

This initiative seeks to allow local businesses to access specialized knowledge on a flexible basis, adapting it to their immediate demands such as time and topic requirements.

Features of the AI Advisory Service

1. Flexible Support: The service provides both online consultations and on-site visits upon request, ensuring comprehensive support for local businesses.
2. Affordability: The subscription model enables easier adoption for regional companies.
3. Proximity to Problems: AI specialists will work directly on-site to tackle challenges as they arise.

Upcoming AI Consultation Events

On May 31, Solba hosted an AI consultation event for local business executives, which included participants from various sectors such as manufacturing, wholesale, construction, and fisheries. The event highlighted the impact of AI and DX on improving operational efficiencies and cost structures. Topics covered during the event included:

- The evolving competitive landscape for local businesses due to AI and DX investments by large firms
- The need to see AI not merely as a tool but as a strategic theme for efficiency and cost structure
- Addressing the potential erosion of the price advantage that regional firms have historically held
- The importance of auditing internal operations to identify inefficiencies
- The necessity of tailoring expert knowledge to fit the scale of each company.

Solba plans to continue these consultations, keeping AI and related themes as focal points to assist regional leaders.