Nine ambitious AI startups have been selected to compete in the AI Pitch Competition. The finals are on November 7, 2024, and Innovation Origins is portraying each contestant in the run-up to that event. The AI Pitch Competition is a Brabant-based initiative that aims to spotlight the most innovative AI solutions, offering startups the opportunity to present their ideas, connect with industry leaders, and accelerate their growth. Today, we show what Aevai Health has in store for the world. Naila Loudini, Chief Medical Officer, answers our questions.
Aevai Health has developed an intelligent chatbot, Alva, that simplifies the data collection process for biobanks. Instead of relying on lengthy and complicated questionnaires—which many participants don’t finish—Alva makes it simpler and faster for participants while reducing biobanks’ costs. A biobank is an organization that collects and stores biological data for researchers. This data is crucial for advancing medical research, but gathering it from patients can be complex, time-consuming, and expensive.
1. What specific AI technology or algorithm is at the core of your solution, and how does it differentiate from existing approaches in the industry?
“At Aevai Health, we’re pioneering the use of Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) to transform how biobanks engage with their participants. Instead of relying on traditional AI models that need extensive data training, our approach retrieves relevant information from a specialized, curated medical database. This ensures that Alva, our intelligent chatbot, provides accurate and consistent responses. Alva stands out by offering an interactive and personalized patient experience, moving beyond the static digital questionnaires commonly used in the industry. We believe that we can make a meaningful difference in participant engagement by harnessing RAG technology.”
2. How scalable is your AI solution, and what are the primary challenges you anticipate in bringing it to a global or large-scale market?
“Our platform is designed to be inherently scalable through a Software as a Service (SaaS) model. We’re piloting Alva with Lifelines, the largest biobank in the northern Netherlands. While this model allows for easy expansion, we recognize the challenges of adapting to different regional regulations, such as varying data protection laws. We’re committed to ensuring that Alva can seamlessly integrate with existing biobank infrastructures worldwide, making it easier for other organizations to adopt our technology.”
3. How does your startup address potential ethical concerns related to bias, fairness, or transparency in AI decision-making? Can you provide an example of how you mitigate such risks?
“Ethical concerns like bias and data privacy are at the forefront of our mission. Alva operates using a privacy-preserving language model that doesn’t store participant data; all information is transferred directly to the client’s servers. By utilizing proprietary, curated datasets specific to each biobank, we strive to keep the chatbot accurate and unbiased. For example, Alva provides responses based on customer-specific medical databases, ensuring participants receive personalized assistance while maintaining transparency and trust.”
4. In what ways do you believe your AI solution can positively impact society? Are there any unintended societal risks or challenges you foresee, and do you prepare to handle them?
“We are deeply committed to addressing the significant issue of high dropout rates in long-term biobank studies, which can reach up to 70%. By enhancing participant engagement through Alva, we aim to improve the quality of data collected for medical research, ultimately contributing to better health outcomes. To mitigate these risks, we conduct extensive user testing before deployment.”
5. Entrepreneurial journey: What has been the biggest hurdle in launching your AI startup, and how did you overcome it?
“Our journey hasn’t been without its challenges. One of the biggest hurdles was demonstrating the market need for Alva in a sector that’s often slow to adopt new technologies. Partnering with Lifelines for a pilot study was a pivotal step that allowed us to refine our technology in a real-world setting. This collaboration has not only validated our solution but also shaped our growth strategy as we plan to expand into more biobanks. We’re grateful for the support and are excited about the potential impact we can make together.”
6. Regulation and compliance: How do you prepare for the increasing regulatory frameworks around AI, such as GDPR, AI Act, or other data privacy laws?
“Compliance with data privacy regulations like GDPR and ISO/IEC 27001 is integral to our innovation process. We’ve designed our solution with data privacy at its core. This approach allows us to meet regulatory requirements without hindering product development, providing peace of mind to both our clients and participants.”
7. How do you see your technology evolving over the next 5 to 10 years, and what role do you expect your company to play in shaping the future of AI?
“We envision expanding our chatbot technology to more biobanks and exploring applications in other healthcare sectors over the next 5 to 10 years. Our goal is to evolve into a comprehensive patient interaction platform that automates additional aspects of patient care. By continuously enhancing our AI model, we’ll strive to provide even more personalized and precise responses through deeper integration with healthcare data systems. We believe that this will benefit biobanks and have a broader positive impact on healthcare as a whole.”
8. Why are you winning The AI Pitch Competition?
“Our innovation has been piloted through our partnership with Lifelines, and we’re focused on solving the critical issue of low participant engagement. With Alva, we are doing more than improving data collection; we are giving participants a significant role in medical research.
This approach not only improves the quality of research but also makes the process much more inclusive. We’re passionate about making a meaningful contribution to medical research and are excited about the opportunity to share our work with a wider audience.”
Collaboration
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