In Vorarlberg, a new software company is emerging in the future-oriented field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The start-up feld.ai offers businesses of all sizes and industries an intelligent platform that uses AI to process data from a variety of business documents for automation and better decision-making. The platform addresses one of the most pressing challenges businesses face today: increasing competitiveness by effectively utilizing their own data. Renowned clients, such as the Swiss Kendox Group, a leading expert in digital document management, already rely on feld.ai.
Pictured: Martin Nigsch, founder and CEO of feld.at GmbH.
“Trust Is Crucial to Starting a Business”
“To start a business, you need not only start-up capital but, above all, trust,” says founder Martin Nigsch. “The trust of our first customers and, most importantly, our first employees has been essential to our journey so far. Support programs from regional and national agencies also offer valuable assistance at the outset. The DeepTech Program of Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws) was the first public vote of confidence in feld.ai by a distinguished jury. In the beginning, that kind of support is invaluable.”
Mastering the Information Overload
Data has long played a central role in optimizing business processes and driving company success. However, the growing flood of information from various documents and sources remains difficult to manage. “Too many document-based business processes are still handled manually,” explains Nigsch, citing recent customer examples. “Law firms, for instance, receive thousands of emails and letters that need to be manually sorted and assigned. Freight forwarders and logistics companies deal with millions of pages each year that must be processed.”
Reducing repetitive tasks not only alleviates workloads but also allows employees to refocus on their core, value-adding, and profit-driving activities. Nigsch highlights, “This is where feld.ai makes a significant impact.”
Humans Retain Responsibility
feld.ai’s platform is designed for complex challenges. It aims to simplify working with data from a mix of emails, spreadsheets, and text—often scattered across numerous documents with inconsistencies, contradictions, and duplicates. “What’s challenging for humans isn’t automatically easy for AI either,” Nigsch emphasizes. AI models learn through observation and imitation, making suggestions that users initially correct until they become reliable and consistent. Nigsch supports use cases where full automation is neither feasible nor desirable. “Humans retain responsibility; the AI supports them,” he explains.
A unique feature of the platform is its flexibility: depending on the client’s needs, the software can run in public cloud environments or private data centers.
Building Customer Trust and Early Support
“Trust is key to starting a business,” Nigsch reiterates, expressing gratitude to both customers and his team: “The trust of our first clients and employees has been instrumental in our journey so far.” He also acknowledges the importance of funding programs like the Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH’s Preseed-DeepTech Program and the Innovation Call from the state of Vorarlberg. “The aws DeepTech Program was our first public endorsement from a prestigious jury, which is incredibly valuable at the beginning.”
Confident in the success of his venture, Nigsch aims to make a visible contribution to Europe’s innovation and economic strength—particularly in Vorarlberg.
Background
For more about this exciting start-up, visit their website at feld.ai.
This article was published on December 13, 2024, as part of the “With Support to Success” series by WISTO in the Vorarlberger Nachrichten.
Text: © Belinda Zoppoth-Pölshofer, WISTO
Photo: © Markus Gmeiner, MATAK Studios