- 3 years ago
Dr. Ann Marie Sastry, CEO & Founder of Amesite Inc., was recently interviewed by Benzinga.
Amesite harnesses the power of AI to build better educational platforms for institutions in higher education, businesses and government. The company creates custom solutions tailored to the specific needs of its clients.
Dr. Sastry spoke about the successes her company has earned over the past year and the exciting vision she has for 2024.
Amesite harnesses the power of AI to build better educational platforms for institutions in higher education, businesses and government. The company creates custom solutions tailored to the specific needs of its clients.
Dr. Sastry spoke about the successes her company has earned over the past year and the exciting vision she has for 2024.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - And welcome, it's Michael Murray with Benzinga.
00:04 I'm joined here once again by Dr. Anne-Marie Sastry,
00:06 the CEO and founder of Amisight.
00:08 Dr. Sastry, it's always an absolute pleasure
00:10 to have you with us.
00:11 How are you?
00:12 - Thank you, Michael.
00:13 Pleasure to be here.
00:13 - Always a pleasure to have you here, Dr. Sastry.
00:15 For any in our audience that aren't familiar
00:17 with Amisight already and haven't heard some
00:19 of the former interviews we've done with you,
00:20 can you give us a quick overview
00:21 of the company and what it does?
00:22 - Absolutely.
00:23 Amisight is an artificial intelligence software company.
00:26 We build ecosystems for colleges, universities,
00:28 and businesses and other organizations
00:30 so they can deliver online learning powered by AI
00:33 with efficiency and scalability.
00:35 - Terrific.
00:36 Now it's safe to say it's been a big year for Amisight.
00:38 Let's start by talking about your recent no-fee setup deal
00:42 for colleges and universities.
00:43 What does that deal look like for a potential partner?
00:46 And are there any recent additions through this deal?
00:48 - Yes, well, there are some recent additions,
00:50 and I'm glad you asked about the deal
00:52 because our feedback is it's the best deal in ed tech
00:56 and it's too good to be true and all these things.
00:58 And it's really not.
00:59 We walked here and it was a slog.
01:01 We invested very heavily in our technology
01:04 over a period of years in order to deliver this no-fee,
01:08 no downside offer.
01:09 The reason we are very confident
01:12 that when we sell into this network,
01:13 when we partner with colleges and universities,
01:16 particularly regional colleges and universities
01:18 that do most of the heavy lifting in this country
01:20 in terms of workforce development, they will win.
01:23 It's essential that every one of these partners
01:26 becomes a tentpole in their communities,
01:28 that they're offering just-in-time
01:29 workforce development learnings
01:31 that help people get into and stay in the middle class.
01:33 And most importantly, our thesis has been validated,
01:36 namely technology brings the cost of learning down, not up.
01:41 Technology shouldn't exclude people from education.
01:44 It should power more scalable education
01:46 and more accessible education, and that is true.
01:49 So not only do we have a no-setup fee and no minimums,
01:52 but we offer a small fee,
01:54 dollars per user per course per month,
01:56 so that our partners can bring down the cost of learning.
02:00 They make more at it than we do,
02:02 and we make money when they scale.
02:04 So as a for instance, every one of our regional partners
02:07 has thousands and thousands of employees
02:09 of large corporations, banks, hospitals, military bases,
02:13 within 10 miles of their campus.
02:15 With our technology and our AI-powered content generation
02:19 and our AI-powered student assistants,
02:21 they can deliver learning to all of those stakeholders
02:24 and win the business,
02:26 and that fulfills their public mission, so it's very exciting.
02:29 In terms of new customers, we're excited to report
02:31 that we have a few new ones.
02:33 Drake State Technical and Community College
02:37 in Huntsville, Alabama, amazing partner.
02:40 They have deep ties in the community.
02:42 Their president, Pat Sims, is a complete powerhouse,
02:45 and they are already up and running.
02:47 Another university, and they are an HBCU,
02:50 and they're part of our NAFIO-AMISITE Alliance.
02:53 We are the sole technology provider to NAFIO
02:55 that represents over 180 HBCUs and PBIs,
02:58 and my partner in that is Dr. Leslie Baskerville,
03:00 so that's very exciting.
03:01 Another NAFIO-AMISITE Alliance member,
03:04 Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina.
03:07 They are spun up, and they are teaching.
03:09 They had a very successful pilot with us,
03:12 and both of those entities, both of those colleges
03:14 have now signed five-year agreements with AMISITE
03:17 so that we can power their workforce development.
03:20 Another success story,
03:22 West Virginia Northern Community College
03:24 has signed on with us for five years,
03:26 and again, another example of a regional community college
03:30 that aims to be a powerhouse in its region.
03:33 Additionally, we've signed on
03:35 a Scottsdale Unified School District,
03:37 because another thing that we've been able to demonstrate
03:40 with our workforce development is that
03:42 we know how to upskill people now,
03:44 and we love to partner with organizations
03:46 that are doing that.
03:47 One of the biggest groups and most important groups
03:50 that needs to get up to speed in AI, teachers.
03:53 K-12 teachers need to learn this technology,
03:56 and with Scottsdale, we're doing teacher training on AI
03:59 so that their teachers can learn the technology,
04:02 deploy the technology to the benefit of students.
04:04 So it's a very, very exciting time for AMISITE.
04:06 - Fantastic.
04:07 Now, Dr. Sastry, your inbound calls
04:09 shot up 162% from October to November in 2023.
04:14 What's led to this increased interest,
04:15 and is it going to continue?
04:17 Are these being converted into sales
04:18 as you see these numbers go up?
04:20 - It's extremely exciting.
04:21 We were selling things that were much more expensive
04:26 as we were in development mode,
04:28 but now that we have this no risk offer,
04:31 literally phones ringing off the hook.
04:32 It's extremely exciting.
04:35 We're learning something new every day about our market.
04:38 Our customers and our targets are extremely enthusiastic.
04:42 And yes, we've converted, and already,
04:45 some of the success stories I told you about.
04:47 We're very, very pleased with our pipeline.
04:50 It's really a joy and a pleasure
04:51 to be able to walk into a sales meeting and say,
04:54 we're here to help you.
04:55 There's no risk.
04:57 We do exactly what you need to be done.
04:59 And having talked with enough partners
05:02 and enough customers that we know that that's true.
05:04 So we build cockpits for pilots
05:06 of workforce development programs.
05:08 That is something that we love and we know how to do.
05:11 And it's very, very exciting to see sales
05:15 be getting so very lively.
05:16 - Excellent.
05:17 In a recent independent evaluation,
05:18 Amazight stood out in its brand sentiment amongst consumers.
05:22 Can you tell us more about this evaluation
05:24 and how you earned that trust at Amazight?
05:26 - We were thrilled to learn about those data.
05:30 I don't think it's mysterious why our brand came out on top.
05:36 We're very transparent.
05:39 Our business deal is very easy to understand.
05:42 It's dollar per user per course per month.
05:45 We don't compete our partners,
05:47 our customers against one another.
05:48 So there are clearing house solutions
05:50 like edX, Coursera, Udacity, et cetera.
05:52 And you'll see colleges and universities
05:54 each having a program
05:56 and they're sort of competing in the same marketplace.
05:57 We don't do that.
05:58 We're white label, zero ego business.
06:01 We come in and build an ecosystem
06:03 so they can deliver on their own brand
06:05 and have that economic impact for their learners.
06:08 And I think part of this is just the joy
06:10 we bring to what we do.
06:12 We really are trying to make sure
06:15 that people can get lifelong learning
06:17 excessively and affordably.
06:19 And I think that that comes through
06:20 in everything the team does.
06:22 And I really give the team at Amazight full credit for that
06:25 because the people at Amazight are amazing.
06:28 We've won 19 Workplace Excellence Awards.
06:30 Everybody who's been on staff longer than six months
06:32 has been promoted.
06:33 It's a phenomenal team.
06:35 And they bring that joy to everything they do.
06:37 - Amazing.
06:38 Now you say that you're in execution mode,
06:40 integrating tools that your customers want.
06:42 What are some of these new features
06:43 that we can expect to see?
06:45 - We rolled out something called Analytics Hub.
06:47 And this also goes to our values.
06:49 We are believers that our customers
06:52 need access to their own data.
06:54 I know, right?
06:55 Revolutionary concept.
06:56 The reality is that a lot of software platforms
06:59 have taken the approach over the last few decades
07:01 of building an ecosystem and then training people
07:04 on using that ecosystem.
07:05 And then it becomes super sticky
07:06 because people know how to use that software solution.
07:09 They go through death by PowerPoint.
07:11 They train on it for months.
07:12 They have local experts, et cetera.
07:13 We think the world is going the opposite direction,
07:16 more towards social media.
07:18 You pick it up, you know how to use it.
07:20 Except unlike social media,
07:21 you get access to 100% of your data.
07:24 So one way of thinking about this problem is
07:27 let's build all of these APIs
07:29 or application programming interfaces
07:31 where you connect with other pieces of software.
07:34 The other way to think about this is it's your data, dude.
07:37 So we built something called Analytics Hub.
07:39 Our customers can go into Analytics Hub 24/7
07:42 and get down to the granularity of
07:44 what did Jane Doe answer on problem four
07:46 in section five of module six, 24/7.
07:50 That way they can take that data
07:51 and port it into any software package they need to.
07:55 Data is the new oil, it's been said.
07:57 And AI enables you to analyze that data
08:01 with rapidity that's unprecedented.
08:03 So by making that data available
08:06 and gearing all of our infrastructure to do that,
08:08 we really enable our customers to do more,
08:11 to take the reins and grow their programs.
08:13 - Understood.
08:14 Now, Dr. Sastry, what makes Ambicite's offering
08:16 to customers different from your main competitors?
08:19 - Well, first off, it's easy.
08:22 It's a two-page PO.
08:24 It's very, very easy to sign with us.
08:26 There's no risk, there's no downside, there's no minimum.
08:30 We don't take a rev share.
08:31 So unlike some online program managers
08:33 that'll take 80% of the revenue, we're a flat fee.
08:37 We have a catalog of offerings.
08:39 So if you're a small college or regional university
08:43 and you have three people on your staff
08:45 and you want to execute a workforce development program,
08:47 you can sign with Ambicite and pick out 20, 30 offerings
08:50 out of our catalog and have a robust ecosystem
08:53 very, very quickly.
08:55 We set up systems in 24 hours.
08:56 We do 100% of the training
08:58 and I think we're pretty good to work with.
09:01 - Outstanding.
09:02 Now, a final question here, Dr. Sastry.
09:03 Can you meet the demand for growth
09:05 without dramatically increasing your SG&A?
09:08 - Yeah, great question.
09:09 We've recently cut our operating expenses by almost half
09:14 as we drive to chase greater revenue
09:17 and ultimately profitability.
09:19 And the answer is we believe yes.
09:21 We set up this system,
09:23 it's like one of these racing sailboats
09:24 that's rigged for one sailor.
09:26 We've set up this system so our small crew
09:29 can do this again and again and again.
09:30 We've got our deployment time down to less than 24 hours.
09:34 We routinely roll out upgrades across the platform.
09:37 Those are cadenced.
09:39 We have achieved all of the integrated features
09:42 that are necessary
09:43 for a robust workforce development program.
09:46 I think it's fair to say that our engineering team
09:48 has been able to surprise and delight our customers
09:51 with AI-driven features that make their jobs
09:53 and their lives easier.
09:54 So we can do this again and again.
09:56 We are a Microsoft partner,
09:58 as some who've been following the story know,
10:00 and that was a big factor.
10:01 We're live on the Azure cloud.
10:02 We have access to Microsoft security,
10:05 privacy, infrastructure,
10:07 and our systems are scalable out of the box.
10:09 So we invested in our infrastructure precisely
10:13 so that our small crew could spin up customer
10:15 after customer after customer with alacrity.
10:18 - Phenomenal.
10:19 Dr. Sastry, as I said at the very beginning,
10:21 it's always a pleasure to have you here
10:23 talking about what's latest and greatest with Ambicyte
10:25 and what you're planning on doing next.
10:27 Dr. Anne-Marie Sastry, CEO and founder of Ambicyte,
10:30 thank you once again for joining us here today.
10:31 - Thank you so much, Michael.
10:32 I really appreciate it.
10:34 (upbeat music)
10:37 (upbeat music)
10:39 Bye.