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## Uplift Modeling at a glance

Uplift Modeling uses causal inference methods to measure the influence of targeted actions or interventions on the behaviour of individuals. In other words, it aims to answer the question of how a specific contact (such as a marketing campaign or a political campaign) influences the probability of a desired response in an individual. Uplift Modeling is primarily used in areas where the aim is to optimise customer approaches (e.g. in direct marketing to increase conversion rates) or in medical research to evaluate different medications.

## Uplift Modeling in a Nutshell

- Uplift Modeling identifies customers needing treatment or incentives for purchase decisions.
- Excluding "Sure Things Customers" conserves marketing budgets significantly.
- Marketing budgets can be allocated much more efficiently to target groups that require an actual marketing treatment to make a purchase decision.
- Applications extend to A/B testing, multivariate testing, and clinical research.
- Uplift modelling is also referred to as Incremental Response Modeling or causal Impact Modeling.

## Understanding Uplift Modeling: A Closer Look

The basis for an uplift model is training data that contains information about how individuals reacted to a specific action or treatment. The training data is annotated according to individuals who have been exposed to a specific measure (such as a marketing campaign) and a control group that has not had this experience. By comparing the response of both groups, uplift modeling can be used to show what specific influence the action had on the behaviour or decisions of the individuals. It is therefore not just about recognising who has shown a positive reaction, but explicitly about understanding whether and how a specific response has contributed to this reaction.

In contrast to traditional methods of response modelling (e.g. product affinity models), which generally aim to predict the probability of a certain customer behaviour based on historical behavioural data or demographic characteristics, uplift modeling goes one step further. Here, the aim is not only to predict who has an affinity for a certain product, but also for whom a marketing campaign explicitly triggers a purchase decision. In this way, individuals who would make a purchase even without being approached can be excluded from being approached. 

Uplift Modeling divides a potential target group into a total of four segments:
- **Persuadables**: Individuals who need to be explicitly addressed in order to make a purchase decision.
- **Sure Things**: Buyers who make a product purchase even without being approached. This customer segment is excluded from the treatment by uplift modeling, but would be included in the target group in a classic product propensity model approach.
- **Lost Causes**: Individuals who have no affinity for a product and cannot be persuaded to make a purchase even if they are treated. 
- **Sleeping Dogs**: Individuals who only react positively if they are not actively treated.

The individual uplift modeling segments are shown again below in an illustration.


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The four segments in uplift modeling

## Unlocking Uplift Modeling: Various Methods Paving the Way to Success

Uplift modeling uses the methodology of causal inference to isolate and measure the direct effect of a specific measure on a person's behaviour in order to go beyond the mere prediction of behavioural patterns. A basic distinction is made in uplift modeling between the following modeling methods:

**Single-Model Approach (e.g. Uplift Tree):**
- With this method, a single prediction model is created that can directly predict the uplift effect.
- Special decision trees are often used for uplift modeling, which take into account the difference in probabilities between the response group and the control group.
- This approach enables a direct prediction of the uplift effect for each individual.
- Individuals who are to be selected as part of a customer treatment have a positive uplift score.

**Two-Model Approach (Propensity Score Matching):**
- This method creates two prediction models: one for the treatment group (and their response rates) and one for the control group (and their response rates).
- Both models calculate the probability of a desired behaviour, for example a product purchase.
- The difference in the predicted probabilities between the two models is calculated for each individual. 
- The uplift score is therefore the difference between the predicted probability in the treatment group and the predicted probability in the control group.
- Individuals who are to be selected as part of a customer treatment have a positive uplift score.


## Python Libraries for Uplift Modeling

There are various libraries for uplift modeling available in Python, with the **[causalML](https://causalml.readthedocs.io/en/latest/about.html)** and **[scikit-uplift](https://www.uplift-modeling.com/en/latest/)** libraries being particularly recommended. Both libraries offer single-model approach and two-model approach algorithms, including 

- **Decision tree-based algorithms** such as Uplift Random Forest or Interaction Trees

- **Meta-Learners** such as S-Learner, T-Learner, X-Learner or R-Learner 

- **Neural Network Algorithms** such as CEVAE or DragonNet

## Unveiling the Advantages: Exploring the Potential Benefits of Uplift Modeling

In a modern AI-supported direct marketing infrastructure, uplift models are a must. By using uplift modeling, target groups can be selected even more specifically and pointedly by analytically separating "the wheat from the chaff": "persuadables" are contacted, "sure things" are removed from the target group. This directly reduces contact costs while maintaining the same conversion rate.

The uplift modeling concept can also be used to create added value in many other direct marketing constellations:

**Couponing:** similar to the direct marketing scenario above, uplift modeling can be used to identify the individuals who need a coupon incentive to make a purchase decision. If the "sure things" can be reliably identified, "free-riders" can be avoided as far as possible. This ensures that marketing budgets are allocated to the target groups where product-specific incentivisation is needed to bring about purchasing decisions.

**A/B testing and Multivariate Testing:** With uplift modeling, different variants of online campaigns can be analysed, modelled and applied online as part of optimal offer management. The combination of multivariate testing and uplift modeling enables promising and sustainable optimisation options to ensure long-term and sustainable optimisation of conversion rates.

However, there are also beneficial areas of application for uplift modeling beyond direct marketing: in **clinical-therapeutic research**, the methodology is used in randomised controlled trials (RCT) to identify medications that have the best chances of curing various disease symptoms.

## Success Factors in Uplift Modeling Utilization

The successful use of an uplift model requires a carefully prepared training data set. In addition to sufficiently good data quality in the various input variables, the following aspects must be taken into account in the training data:

- A sufficiently large control group is required.
- Product sales must be present in both treatment group and control group. 
- In addition to product sales, the distinction between treatment group and control group must be clearly annotated.
- The treatment group and control group should be "structurally identical" as far as possible; the use of stratified sampling methods is recommended here.
- The modelling should be accompanied by explanatory AI methods (e.g. decision trees, SHAP values) in order to be able to check the plausibility of the models in addition to the causal effects.
- Sufficient test data should be available for each training run in order to be able to simulate and evaluate the cost effect of an uplift model in real use with Cumulative Gains Charts and metrics such as AUUC (Area under the Uplift Curve).

The AltaSigma Enterprise AI Platform provides modern and flexible AI capabilities to quickly and easily train, evaluate, deploy and automatically operate uplift models. REST APIs are available for each uplift model so that the uplift models can be easily integrated into third-party applications such as online shops or CRM systems.

Harnessing the power of AI and Uplift Modeling to drive personalized customer approaches, minimize scatter effects, and enhance campaign efficiency sustainably.

Uplift Modeling – Testing the impact of marketing treatments

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## Introduction to Explainable AI (XAI)

In today's era, where Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly employed in decision-making processes that influence our daily lives, a central question arises: How can we trust and comprehend the decisions made by AI models? When an AI model is based on a simple statistical algorithm, it is usually straightforward to understand how the results are derived. However, the scenario is different for complex models like Deep Neural Networks (DNNs). The structure and decisions of these models are often not readily understandable. Explainable AI (XAI) addresses this challenge. But how precisely can XAI unveil the "Black Box" nature of such models?


## Explainable AI in a Nutshell

- Explainable AI (XAI) aims to render the decision-making processes and functionalities of AI models transparent and comprehensible. 
- It empowers users and developers to trace the logic behind the predictions and decisions made by AI, which is crucial for building trust and fostering the acceptance of these technologies.
- XAI supports developers in rationalizing model operations through meaningful and accessible visualizations, contributing to the enhancement of AI models.
- End users gain confidence as the workings and decision-making of complex AI models become understandable.

## XAI - Insights into the AI Model

To understand the architecture of a specific AI model, there are methods and techniques aimed at making the internal mechanisms and functionalities of AI models transparent and comprehensible. This approach is crucial to unveil the complexity and the so-called "Black Box" nature of modern AI systems, especially Deep Neural Networks. This insight is vital for creating transparency and strengthening trust in the decisions made by AI systems. Particularly in critical use cases, such as healthcare or finance, understanding how a model arrives at its conclusions is essential.

**Surrogate models** are one way to approximate the functioning of an underlying AI model. Surrogate models are designed to be more easily understood and interpreted, without sacrificing essential information about the decision-making of the original model. The following illustration depicts a surrogate model in the form of a Decision Tree using the example of the AltaSigma AI Platform.

Another important element is the consideration of **Feature Importance**. This aspect delves into how individual features or input data strongly influence the results of the AI model. Analyzing feature importance allows us to identify which factors are most crucial for the model and how they impact predictions or decisions.


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Decision Tree as an explainable surrogate model of a DNN classifier

## XAI - Insights into decision-making

To make the decision-making processes of AI models comprehensible, it is crucial to understand both the internal structure and the specific mechanisms of decision formation. Various methodological approaches are available for this purpose.

**SHAP** (SHapley Additive exPlanations), based on game-theoretical principles, explains the output of any Machine Learning model. The underlying Shapley values were originally introduced in 1951 by American economist Lloyd Shapley for fair profit distribution in cooperative games. In the context of Machine Learning, Shapley values represent the relative contribution of each feature (considered as a "player") to the overall performance of the model (the "game"). The central idea of [**SHAP**](https://shap-lrjball.readthedocs.io/en/latest/index.html) is to assess the influence of a feature on the prediction by comparing how the model's prediction looks both with and without that particular feature. This difference, resulting from the presence or absence of a feature, is termed the Shapley value. Shapley values thus provide a quantitative assessment of the impact of each individual feature on the model's prediction. Through this approach, SHAP enables a deeper understanding of how various input variables collectively contribute to the performance of an AI model, significantly enhancing transparency and interpretability in the realm of machine learning.

[**LIME**](https://github.com/marcotcr/lime) (Local Interpretable Model-agnostic Explanations) is model-agnostic like SHAP but follows a different approach. In terms of functionality, it first slightly modifies the input example for which an explanation is to be generated to create a set of similar data points. It then observes how the model's predictions change for these modified data points. Based on these observations, it creates a simple, interpretable model (like a linear model) that is locally valid around the input example. For text-based inputs, these modifications may involve adding or removing words.

**Reason Codes** are special codes or brief explanations that elucidate the reasons for a specific prediction or decision of an AI model. They aim to make the outputs of AI systems more understandable for end users. For instance, in the finance sector, Reason Codes are used to assess loans and risks. In this context, they are also referred to as Credit Score Risk Factors or Adverse Action Codes. These numerical or alphanumeric codes are linked to various credit rating factors and are accompanied by short descriptions explaining what has the most significant impact on this score. Reason Codes are listed in a sorted manner, with the factor having the greatest influence ranked first. They are an essential component of responsible AI model management, playing a crucial role in establishing a framework for ethical and fair AI. They help identify and minimize biases and hallucinations in AI models by making the influence of discriminatory factors such as gender or age on model predictions transparent. This not only improves the accuracy of AI models but also strengthens users' trust in this technology.




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Model Inference with REST API and Reason Codes using the AltaSigma AI Platform

## XAI - Challenges and Perspectives for the Future

The primary challenge of Explainable AI (XAI) lies in navigating the tension between complex and highly precise AI models on one side and achieving a straightforward understanding of the model output on the other. Ethical considerations are gaining increasing importance as XAI is deployed in sensitive areas such as medicine and finance, where fair and unbiased decisions are crucial. In the future, XAI will be indispensable for fostering trust in AI decisions and ensuring their societal acceptance. The focus is on making AI decisions transparent, comprehensible, and ethically responsible.

Explore how Explainable AI sheds light on the inner workings of AI models, enhances transparency, and increases acceptance of AI decisions.

Explainable AI - building trust through insights into the operation of AI models

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## Campaign Optimization at a glance

On a daily basis, campaign managers grapple with the challenge of having a single customer qualify for multiple competing offers, necessitating the decision to approach the customer with only one offer. Frequently, product managers or customer managers establish stringent selection criteria, leaving the campaign manager to translate these into intricate parameters within a campaign management tool. Given that these criteria are typically defined based on a prioritization logic, they often fall short of considering the optimal selection of customers for planned direct marketing campaigns from the company's perspective.

To underscore the impact in terms of missed opportunities, we've prepared a sample calculation featuring three marketing campaigns and nine customers. Using AI-driven affinity models, we've computed customer- and product-specific expected values to demonstrate the potential effects.

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Choosing the right customers: Deciding When Faced with multiple enticing offers.

In the sections below, we introduce three distinct approaches to pick the ideal candidates for our three campaigns. In all methods, each customer is limited to one selection per campaign, and a maximum of three contacts can be chosen for each campaign:
- Campaign Prioritization
- Customer Prioritization
- Campaign Optimization


## Campaign Prioritization - when product managers set the rules for candidate selection

Campaign prioritization determines the hierarchy among campaigns, giving certain campaigns more weight than others during candidate selection. In this process, the top-priority campaign gains access to the full candidate pool initially, leaving the remaining candidates for the second-ranked campaign. Here's a practical example showcasing how campaign prioritization shapes candidate selection across three campaigns.

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Campaign Prioritization: a computational showcase

## Customer Prioritization - selecting customers based on campaign revenue potential

Customer Prioritization aims to capture the highest value customers across all campaigns, ensuring optimal resource allocation. Once campaign-specific target group limits are reached, no additional candidates can be selected. Below, we illustrate a customer selection process under the lens of prioritization. When the projected revenue from selected customers is tallied, customer prioritization emerges as the preferred strategy over campaign prioritization, offering greater returns for the organization.


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Customer Prioritization - a computational showcase

## Campaign Optimization - maximizing impact from a corporate perspective

As neither campaign prioritization nor customer prioritization alone can achieve the optimal outcome, our approach employs cutting-edge operations research algorithms to select candidates effectively. In the following example, we leverage an optimization algorithm designed to maximize total revenues across the three campaigns. This algorithm intelligently selects the best candidates while adhering to secondary conditions, ensuring each customer is chosen once per campaign and a maximum of three contacts per campaign. Through our calculation example, when the expected revenues of selected customers are aggregated, campaign optimization emerges as the clear winner, delivering superior results.

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Campaign Optimization - a computational showcase

## Campaign Optimization in action: realizing peak performance

In real-world scenarios, the process of allocating candidates to campaigns extends far beyond the simplified calculation example provided. Alongside maximizing target functions like total revenue, minimizing costs is equally paramount. With over a hundred campaigns vying for optimal contacts, numerous intricate constraints come into play, including:

- Budget constraints per campaignMinimum and maximum capacities (e.g., call center)
- Offer-specific minimum propensities
- Contact channel-specific ancillary conditions (e.g., email, mailing, call)
- Contact rules and strategies
- Fixed and variable costs
- Comprehensive secondary conditions (e.g., per product offer across all contact channels)

Below is a depiction of the administrator interface for the centralized management of various constraints within the AltaSigma Campaign Optimization Module.

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Fine-tuning campaign dynamics: configuring constraints in the AltaSigma Campaign Optimization module

## Framework, Interactions, and Ooutcomes: Navigating the Campaign Optimization Process

Campaign optimization leverages operations research methodologies, employing mathematical optimization algorithms to either maximize campaign revenue or minimize resource utilization across campaigns. Input for optimization scenarios includes manually selected campaign candidates and those assessed for product affinity using AI methods. By defining a target function and constraints, the optimization scenario calculates a mathematically optimal result, ensuring the optimal selection of candidates for planned direct marketing campaigns from the company's perspective.

Upon the completion of an optimization scenario, all candidates determined through the process are assigned to their respective campaigns, generating an automatically generated campaign candidate list. This list becomes available for the contact channels executing the campaign. The campaign optimization process, as outlined below, can theoretically run fully automatically. In the context of simulations involving various optimization scenarios, this automation can be paused until the final scenario is selected, aligning with AI-supported decision-making principles.

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Insights into the Campaign Optimization Journey

## Exploring Scenarios in Campaign Optimization

An optimization scenario represents a unique combination of an objective function, assumptions, and constraints that delineate the parameters of a decision-making challenge. These assumptions encompass a spectrum of factors, including future events, resource availability, or market conditions. Serving as the cornerstone for formulating and resolving decision problems within the realm of campaign optimization, a scenario, when aligned with the objective function and constraints, assumes a pivotal role. Typically, diverse scenarios are crafted as part of the campaign optimization process (e.g., by defining various constraints per scenario). This practice ensures the formulation of robust and reliable decisions, incorporating risks and uncertainties into the planning and execution of campaign optimization. The subsequent diagram provides a visual representation of a scenario analysis, showcasing the impact of four distinct scenarios on the allocation of candidates to their respective campaigns.


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Scenario Analysis: varied constraints illustrated through AltaSigma Campaign Optimization

## Why Campaign Optimization is set to revolutionize traditional campaign automation processes

In this article, we delve into the compelling advantages and enhanced value brought about by AI-driven campaign optimization through accessible examples. Rooted in a comprehensive project featuring over 200 competitive campaigns per run and a vast target audience spanning millions of customers, the application of fact-based, mathematical candidate allocation stands out against conventional, often manual, and subjective contact allocation strategies. This approach consistently leads to a noteworthy surge in additional revenues, ranging from 5% to 15% in each campaign run.

Furthermore, it's crucial to underscore the substantial cost savings achievable by automating traditional campaign selections and eliminating license fees associated with conventional campaign management tools. These tangible benefits, uniquely attainable through the implementation of mathematically robust methods, play a pivotal role in unlocking the full potential of campaign optimization.


Unlocking boundless potential: Artificial Intelligence and Optimization Algorithms Revolutionize Campaign Automation Limits.

Boost Direct Marketing Efficiency: Unlock Maximum Potential with Campaign Optimization

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## How companies can benefit from Generative AI

ChatGPT has made Artificial Intelligence popular within a very short time. Anyone can quickly and easily set up an account at OpenAI and get their own impression of the impressive functionalities and capabilities of the Generative Pretrained Transformers (GPT). The precision with which the majority of queries are answered is most impressive.

The question quickly arises as to how companies can benefit from the new AI technologies? After all, the fields of application of generative AI models in enterprises are manifold. These range from applications in the area of customer service and customer dialog, for example, in order to be reachable to its customers 24/7 by being able to answer customer queries automatically, to Speech2Text applications with integrated translation services, to ChatGPT-like query and analysis options for the company's internal data treasure trove. In the status quo, public AI services such as ChatGPT from OpenAI are yet difficult to imagine in daily enterprise use: on the one hand, this is due to the fact that ChatGPT models lack the domain-specific data of enterprises, and on the other hand, enterprises cannot and do not want to make their internal enterprise data available to a publicly available AI service for various reasons (e.g. data protection, regulation, competition). In this article, we would like to highlight the ways in which Generative AI models can be used to analyze confidential enterprise data and the options available for implementation - on-premise or in private clouds.


## Generative AI for the analysis of sensitive company data

The fields of application of generative AI models are manifold, which is primarily due to the flexibilities of using generative AI. Generative AI models can be used discriminatively in the sense of "Discriminative AI", e.g. by answering questions such as "Is the customer inquiry a complaint or a service request?". But above all to answer generative questions in the sense of classic "Generative AI" such as the dynamic extraction of topics from a customer query "Extract the top three keywords from the text and return only a list of keywords, use the following scheme: keyword 1, keyword 2, keyword 3". By integrating internal company data and domain-specific data, the precision and quality of LLMs will be significantly improved - a must-have for reliability in automatically generated answers. Furthermore, when running LLMs on-premise or in a private cloud, companies retain complete data sovereignty without being exposed to the risk of both data creators and data owners giving up control and thus the strategic value of their data resources.


## On-Premise Operating Model

One way to use generative AI to analyze sensitive enterprise data is to implement the technology on-premise. In this approach, LLMs and associated infrastructure are operated within the enterprise network. This operating model provides organizations with maximum control over their data and ensures compliance with internal security policies and standards.

The benefits of an on-premise implementation are obvious:

- Strong data security: confidential enterprise data remains within the enterprise boundaries and is subject to the strict security policies of the internal network.
- High flexibility: The infrastructure can be extended or adapted as needed to meet the specific requirements of the enterprise (especially relevant for operators of critical infrastructures or enterprises in the special public interest).
- Lower latency: Since data analysis is performed on-site, latency is minimized, enabling faster processing and analysis.


## Private cloud operating model

As an alternative to on-premise implementations, enterprises can operate Generative AI models for the analysis of sensitive company data in a private cloud. In this operating model, LLMs and required infrastructure are hosted in a dedicated cloud environment used exclusively by the enterprise. Private clouds offer similar benefits to on-premise deployments, but with additional flexibility and cost advantages, such as

- Better scalability: private clouds enable companies to scale resources as needed and adjust the necessary computing capacities according to requirements (e.g. on-demand use of expensive GPU capacities for model training).
- Cost efficiency: By using a private cloud, companies can save costs on purchasing and maintaining their own infrastructure.



## Implementation of Generative AI

For using generative AI in an on-premise or private cloud environment, so-called enterprise AI platforms such as [AltaSigma](https://altasigma.com/en) are recommended, which provide all relevant functionalities for the standardized development and efficient operation of generative AI models in one integrated toolbox, e.g.

- **Flexible chat UI** for entering prompts, visualisation of source references and confidence evaluation of sources,
- **Model repositories** for managing generative AI foundation models (available from [Huggingface](https://huggingface.co/models), among others),
- **Tools for creating retrieval augmented generation pipelines (RAG)** for querying structured and unstructured company data,
- **Vector database** for storing and updating embeddings,
- **Data management functionalities** to automate the preparation of relevant enterprise and domain-specific data,,
- **Transfer learning capabilities** to "inject" the company and domain-specific knowledge into AI foundation models,
- **MLOps functionalities** for deployment and operation of Generative AI models,
- **REST APIs** for seamless integration in 3rd party applications, and
- **Sophisticated role and rights management** to control access to LLMs as well as to underlying company data.

Enterprise AI platforms come with many functionalities and standards to operate domain-specific Generative AI models on-premise, with a similar precision and "look and feel" to that of commercial applications such as ChatGPT.


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Management of Generative AI Models in AltaSigma

## FAQs on Generative AI for the analysis of sensitive enterprise data.

#### How does Generative AI work when analyzing enterprise data?
Generative AI uses so-called deep learning algorithms to train models that can generate new data that resembles the original data. This generated data can then be used for downstream analysis to gain valuable insights.

#### What are the advantages of on-premise implementations compared to private clouds?
On-premise implementations offer organizations greater control over their data and enable tight integration with existing systems. In addition, specific security policies and standards can be better adhered to.

#### What are the benefits of a private cloud implementation?
Private cloud primarily offers enterprises flexibility in scaling resources as well as cost savings through on-demand use of expensive computing capacity (primarily GPU).

#### How can Generative AI contribute to the analysis of sensitive enterprise data?
Aligning Generative AI models with enterprise and domain-specific data enables organizations to significantly increase the precision and quality of Generative AI models. This can significantly improve the quality and reliability of automated decisions as well as the identification of trends and patterns.

#### What security measures should be taken when using Generative AI for sensitive  enterprise data?
It is important to take adequate security measures to control access to sensitive data, apply encryption techniques, and implement strict access and authentication policies. Usually Enterprise AI platforms comply with these security requirements.

#### How to develop custom generative AI models for enterprise data analytics?
Developing customized generative AI models requires a fundamental understanding of the specific requirements of the enterprise and significant knowledge of machine learning. Enterprise AI platforms such as AltaSigma provide all the functionalities to facilitate the development and operation of AI models in a highly resource-efficient manner.


## Conclusion

Leveraging Generative AI to process and analyze sensitive enterprise data enables enterprises to directly participate in current AI developments, with the advantage of gaining valuable insights based on their enterprise data and deriving better automated business decisions. Both on-premise implementations and private clouds offer secure and flexible options for implementing Generative AI, while ensuring data sovereignty. When selecting the appropriate operating model, organizations should consider their specific requirements, security policies, and integration with existing system environments. By properly leveraging Generative AI on their own data, organizations can improve their analytical maturity and significantly increase the quality of data analytics, which will have a positive impact on the current competitive landscape.


How enterprises can retain complete data sovereignty when operating Generative AI and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG).

Generative AI for the analysis of sensitive enterprise data

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## Federated Learning and Swarm Learning in a Nutshell

Training machine learning models usually requires large amounts of data. For many companies, sharing the necessary data with third parties is a step that is associated with risks in terms of data protection. Federated learning and swarm learning approaches can close this gap, as they bring together data protection on the one hand and efficiency in machine learning on the other. Both methods represent alternatives to the traditional, centralised training of machine learning models by being based on distributed systems. Both federated learning and swarm learning make it possible to train models across multiple devices without having to share sensitive data or store it centrally. Privacy by design is therefore a central focus for both approaches. While federated learning requires collaboration between local devices and a central server, swarm learning uses a peer-to-peer structure without a central coordinator.

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Centralised model training compared to federated learning and swarm learning

## What is Federated Learning?

Federated learning is a machine learning method in which a model is trained using several decentralised nodes. The data remains local so that data protection is ensured and no large amounts of data need to be transferred. In federated learning, each device trains a model on its own data and only sends the updates to the model parameters to a central server. This aggregates the updates into a global model, which is then sent back to the devices. This process is repeated iteratively. The basic requirement is an initial model that is initially available to all devices.

## What is Swarm Learning?

Swarm learning is an extension of the federated learning concept. Instead of sending model updates to a central server, the nodes communicate in a peer-to-peer network. If a device improves its local model, it shares the changes directly with all other nodes. This is done via gossip protocols with a low network load, for example. At the heart of swarm learning are blockchain technologies that are used to record and verify model updates. Every model exchange between the devices is recorded as a transaction in the blockchain, which prevents manipulation and creates transparency. Smart contracts can be used to define and enforce the conditions for the exchange of model information.


## Important Algorithms and Techniques in Federated and Swarm Learning

The aggregation algorithm is of central importance in federated learning. The predominant approach here is Federated Stochastic Gradient Descent (FedSGD). In this method, each participating node calculates the gradients based on its local data set and transmits them to a central server after each training step. The server then aggregates the gradients and updates the global model. FedSGD is highly suitable for scenarios that require real-time processing. However, it should be noted that the precision of the aggregated model can potentially be impaired, especially if there is a high degree of heterogeneity in the local data sets. An alternative is the Federated Averaging Method (FedAvg). This approach is an extension of FedSGD and is designed to increase the efficiency of communication by having each node complete several training steps before sharing model updates. The central server then calculates the weighted average of the resulting models.

## Implementing Federated and Swarm Learning: Practical Applications

AI frameworks such as TensorFlow [**Federated**](https://www.tensorflow.org/federated) and Open Minded's [**PySyft**](https://github.com/OpenMined/PySyft) enable the implementation of federated learning in Python. Intel's [**OpenFL**](https://github.com/securefederatedai/openfl) and NVIDIA's [**NVFlare**](https://github.com/NVIDIA/NVFlare) also offer flexible solutions and versatile model support.

A prominent example of **federated learning** in practice is Apple's implementation of word completion on its iOS devices. Apple uses federated learning to improve the word prediction function of their keyboard without compromising user privacy. Each iOS device trains the word prediction model locally based on the user's input. In this way, the text input and other sensitive data remain on the device and are not sent to Apple servers. By training on the devices, the models learn from real-life use and adapt to the individual writing styles and language habits of the users. When aggregating the local models, Apple benefits, among other things, by continuously expanding the central vocabulary and improving the word prediction capability. Periodically, each device sends model improvements - and not the text data itself - back to Apple. The updated, improved model is then distributed back to the devices.

**Swarm learning**, on the other hand, is still at an early stage of development. In a [**scientific study**](https://www.mse.rwth-aachen.de/go/id/ifmz/file/845570) conducted by the University Medical Center of RWTH Aachen, swarm learning was used to improve the accuracy of colorectal cancer diagnostics. The research team trained AI models using histopathological image data from patients in Ireland, Germany and the USA. These models aimed to predict genetic mutations that can lead to cancer from images. The performance of these models was validated with data from two independent datasets from the UK. The results of the study demonstrated superior predictive performance of the swarm learning models compared to models trained on local data only.


## Exploring the Horizon: Perspectives on Federated and Swarm Learning

Federated and Swarm Learning offer significant advantages in terms of data protection and data security, as they enable the training of machine learning models without centralising or sharing sensitive data. However, there are some challenges to overcome in order to successfully implement such a project. Not only efficient scaling of the system with a growing number of nodes, but also communication efficiency, i.e. minimising the network load and optimising data transmission, are crucial for success. However, the biggest hurdle is dealing with different data distributions across the nodes (non-IID problem) and the associated risk of client drift. The aggregation algorithm must be implemented with the utmost care in order to obtain a high-quality global model. 

In an age of ever-increasing data volumes and the importance of data security and privacy, these technologies will enable the efficient utilisation of data across different devices and institutions in the future without compromising on quality. This opens up new opportunities for data- and AI-driven innovation in sensitive areas such as healthcare that were previously not possible in this form.



Discover how federated learning and swarm learning techniques ensure compliance with stringent data protection regulations while updating AI models directly at the data source. 

Learning on the Edge - Federated Learning & Swarm Learning

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## Process Mining - Functionality, benefits, and fields of application

Process mining is a methodology for automatically analyzing and reconstructing process flows from digital event data. AI algorithms are used to X-ray business processes in order to uncover bottlenecks, detect idle times, identify deviations from target processes, and quantify optimization potential.

The areas of application of process mining are manifold, e.g. in manufacturing, logistics, service or health care, in order to analyze business processes and to monitor process conformity.

## Process Mining in a Nutshell

- Digital event data, so-called event logs, are used as the data basis for process mining.
- With process mining, you can perform an automated fact-based analysis of your actual process flows (process discovery).
- Process mining algorithms can reconstruct fact-based process models from event logs, which were previously constructed with comparatively high manual effort.
- The obtained process models can be used for monitoring and quantification of process conformance (e.g. in the context of continuous online monitoring) and for performance analysis.

## What is Process Mining?

In process mining, a fundamental distinction is made between **process analysis (process discovery)**, **process modeling** and the application of process models in the context of **process monitoring (conformance checking)** and **performance analysis**.

- **Process analysis** focuses on the extraction of process information from existing data sources (e.g. from event logs) or other records. The purpose is to survey the actual process flow, identify unnecessary steps or other problems in the process flow in order to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the processes.
- **Process Modeling** involves training a process model (e.g., in the form of a BPMN model) that reflects the actual steps, dependencies, and resource requirements that occur during the execution of a process. Process models can be automatically reengineered from event logs.
- **Process monitoring (conformance checking)** compares event logs of actual process execution to the process model to identify and locate discrepancies between the process model and actual execution. These discrepancies may indicate that the process is not executing as planned in practice or that the process model is outdated or incorrect.
- **Performance analysis** is used to identify patterns and trends in the process, as well as to identify bottlenecks, delays, or inefficient steps. Based on this analysis, improvements can then be made to the process to continually increase efficiency and effectiveness, thus optimizing process performance.


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AltaSigma Model Management - BPMN Process Model Viewer

## What are the most important algorithms in process mining?

Process mining algorithms are mainly used in the process discovery phase to extract process models from event logs as efficiently as possible. Common algorithms here are **α-algorithms**, **heuristic mining algorithms** and **inductive mining algorithms**. Due to their flexibility, scalability and ability to derive sound process models from event logs, inductive mining algorithms are the most popular methods in the context of process discovery.

## What added value do process mining algorithms provide in practice?

The application of process mining brings a number of benefits if the transaction data underlying the business processes is available and can be converted into an event log format, e.g.

- **Automated modeling of business processes**: time-consuming and tedious modeling of business processes (including with BPMN) is a thing of the past and can be extracted from event logs in the future.
- **Fast explorative analysis and visualization of processes**: Process flows can be easily filtered, visualized and analyzed multidimensionally, as is the case with classic BI applications.
- **Process compliance**: process mining tools can be used to automatically monitor process compliance by identifying process deviations and potential compliance risks at an early stage.
- **Identification of bottlenecks**: by analyzing process data, impending resource bottlenecks can be identified automatically to avoid the occurrence of process inefficiencies.
- **Measurement of process performance**: the analysis of process performance can be automated and continuous to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of processes.


## Where are typical areas of application for process mining?

Process Mining can be applied in almost every industry where complex processes exist and an efficient and sustainable process optimization helps to secure and strengthen the competitive situation. The following are examples of some application areas for process mining:

- **Financial Services**: Process mining is used in the financial sector to optimize and monitor business processes such as credit applications or compliance checks.
- **Healthcare**: in hospitals, for example, processes such as patient admissions, treatments or billing processes can be analyzed and monitored.
- **Logistics**: typical areas of application can be found in the optimization of order processing or warehouse management.
- **Insurance**: Process mining is used in the insurance industry in the context of claims reporting, billing processes or policy management.
- **Manufacturing**: by using process mining, processes such as material procurement, material flow or quality control can be optimized and an automated value stream analysis can be established.
- **Telecommunications**: applications of process mining can be found in termination management, complaint management, contract management, or incident resolution.
- **Public Sector**: Process mining is used in public authorities to improve processes such as applying for and issuing permits or monitoring rule violations.

The fields of application for process mining are manifold and especially beneficial where complex processes exist and efficient process optimization is required.

## What are the success factors for a successful use of process mining?

When selecting a process mining solution, great care should be taken to ensure that it can be used throughout the company for all relevant business processes. The following aspects in particular play a major and important role:

- Open interfaces as well as support of all common data formats and databases.
- Comprehensive visualization options for process flows, process models, bottlenecks, process metrics and temporal developments.
- Support of all common process discovery algorithms as well as interaction and combination possibilities with all state-of-the-art AI algorithms.
- Automated development of process models (AutoML) and support of standards such as BPMN and Petri Nets.
- Flexible and automated deployment of new and updated process models (MLOps).
- Process Model Governance and Process Model Lifecycle Management.
- Open interfaces (e.g. REST API) for online monitoring of live processes and easy integration of results into third party systems.

AltaSigma provides all these core process mining functionalities for analyzing, monitoring and optimizing processes from an open platform to make process management easier, faster, better and more efficient in the future.

How to use process mining to automatically visualize process flows, analyze value streams, and reconstruct process models from digital event data.

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Process Mining - Functionality, benefits, and fields of application