Podcast Summary: The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström®
Episode #652: The Power of Multimodal AI with Dani Yogatama, Reka
Release Date: March 19, 2025

Introduction

In episode #652 of The Agile Brand, host Greg Kihlström engages in an insightful conversation with Dani Yogatama, CEO and Co-Founder of Reka. The episode delves into the transformative potential of multimodal AI in the enterprise sector, exploring how businesses can effectively integrate advanced AI technologies to enhance productivity and drive growth.

1. Guest Background: Dani Yogatama and Reka

Danny Yogatama’s Journey

Danny Yogatama introduces himself at [03:02] with a compelling background: “I grew up in Indonesia, went to grad school, received my PhD from Carnegie Mellon. Prior to Reka, I worked for seven years at DeepMind in London. My academic research focuses on multimodal models, memory systems, and reinforcement learning.” His extensive experience in AI research and development sets a strong foundation for Reka's innovative endeavors.

Founding Reka

At [03:46], Danny explains the inspiration behind Reka:
“We started Reka because we believe AI has the power to transform the world but only if it's built and applied in the right way. My goal has always been to ensure that this technology benefits as many people as possible, goes beyond research labs or big corporations, and is helpful for everyone in the world.”

Danny emphasizes the transition from research to practical application, highlighting the readiness of AI for mass adoption as a pivotal reason for founding Reka.

2. The Power of Multimodal AI in the Enterprise

Defining Multimodal AI

Greg kicks off the discussion at [01:11], focusing on the significance of multimodal AI. Multimodal AI refers to systems that can process and integrate multiple forms of data inputs—such as text, images, audio, and video—to provide comprehensive and intelligent insights.

Reka’s Multimodal Models

At [04:57], Danny details Reka’s flagship offerings:
“Our multimodal models, Raka Edge, Flash, and Core, are designed to enhance human productivity. Recently, we launched RekkaFlash 3, a 21 billion parameter model optimized for speed, efficiency, and quality. It competes with proprietary models like OpenAI's, offering developers and researchers a powerful yet lightweight tool.”

Enterprise Intelligence Platform: Nexus

Danny introduces Nexus at [06:00]:
“Nexus is a multimodal enterprise intelligence platform that focuses on creating and managing AI workers. These AI workers handle repetitive tasks—such as conducting topic research, processing invoices, generating sales leads—allowing human employees to concentrate on creative and strategic work.”

Capabilities of AI Workers

Nexus workers possess diverse capabilities, including browsing the web, searching internal files, writing and executing code, and analyzing various multimodal data sources like PDFs, audio recordings, and images. This partnership between humans and AI workers significantly boosts enterprise efficiency and productivity.

3. Common Mistakes in AI Implementation by Companies

At [07:43], Danny addresses the pitfalls organizations often encounter when adopting AI:

1. Reliance on Off-the-Shelf Models:
   “A common mistake is relying solely on off-the-shelf AI models without customization. Every organization has unique challenges and constraints, and a one-size-fits-all approach often fails to deliver real value.”

2. Lack of Integration:
   “Organizations should adopt models that can integrate seamlessly with their existing systems and internal data to maximize effectiveness.”

3. Limited Functionality:
   “AI should not just generate text outputs but also perform meaningful actions. Previous-generation models that function solely as chatbots fall short of expectations. AI needs to accomplish tasks to add real value.”

Danny emphasizes the importance of customizing AI solutions to fit specific business needs and ensuring that AI systems are capable of performing actionable tasks beyond mere data generation.

4. What Sets Reka Apart in the AI Landscape

At [12:37], Danny highlights Reka’s unique position in the competitive AI market:

1. Full Stack Company:
   “We are a full stack company that not only develops our own internal models but also builds products. This dual expertise allows us to deliver comprehensive AI solutions.”

2. Cost Efficiency:
   “As a lean startup with modest resources, our focus has always been on cost efficiency. Our models, like RekkaFlash 3, are developed with significantly lower budgets compared to competitors, making state-of-the-art AI accessible and affordable.”

3. Control and Customization:
   “Reka offers enterprises the ability to control the deployment process, choosing between using their own servers or ours. This ensures higher robustness and reliability, particularly for applications sensitive to downtime.”

Danny underscores how Reka’s emphasis on cost-effective, customizable, and controllable AI solutions differentiates them from larger, less flexible competitors.

5. Measuring Success in AI Implementation

At [14:00], Greg prompts a discussion on metrics for evaluating AI success. Danny outlines a multifaceted approach to measuring ROI:

1. Cost Reduction:
   Utilizing AI to lower operational costs.

2. Customer Satisfaction:
   Improving the customer experience through efficient AI applications.

3. Operational Metrics:

   • Latency and Uptime: Ensuring AI systems are responsive and consistently available.
   • Robustness: Minimizing downtime and ensuring reliability, especially for critical business applications.

Danny emphasizes that beyond model performance, businesses should assess how AI integration affects overall operational efficiency and user satisfaction.

6. Future Developments and Reka's Roadmap

At [16:55], Danny shares Reka’s vision for the future:

1. Agentic Era of AI:
   2025 marks the beginning of the "agentic era," where AI agents are expected to perform more complex and autonomous tasks.

2. Enhanced Multimodal Reasoning:
   Continuous improvement in multimodal reasoning to ensure AI agents are truly effective in assisting with business operations.

3. New Product Launch - Guardian:
   “Guardian is a video monitoring solution focused on real-time threat detection. It leverages our proprietary models and multimodal capabilities to provide advanced security monitoring.”

Danny anticipates that businesses will increasingly adopt AI in production environments, recognizing its tangible benefits and the decreasing costs of developing high-performance models.

7. Staying Agile in the AI Industry

In the final segment at [19:42], Greg asks Danny how he maintains agility in his role. Danny attributes Reka’s agility to:

1. Strategic Foresight and Adaptability:
   Staying ahead of technological advancements and being ready to pivot as needed.

2. Strong Feedback Loops:
   Incorporating feedback from internal teams, partners, customers, and the broader AI community to continuously refine and improve their offerings.

3. Empowered Team Culture:
   “A team that is highly empowered, has a sense of ownership and trust, will help us succeed. That is what our team culture is at Reka.”

Danny emphasizes that a cohesive and motivated team is crucial for maintaining agility and responding effectively to the rapidly evolving AI landscape.

Conclusion

Greg concludes the episode by thanking Danny Yogatama for his insightful contributions. Listeners are encouraged to explore more about Reka and Danny through the show’s provided links. The episode underscores the importance of integrating multimodal AI thoughtfully and strategically to unlock significant business value, highlighting Reka’s role in making advanced AI accessible and practical for enterprises.

Notable Quotes

• Danny Yogatama [03:46]:
  “We started Reka because we believe AI has the power to transform the world but only if it's built and applied in the right way.”

• Danny Yogatama [07:43]:
  “A common mistake is relying solely on off-the-shelf AI models without customization. Every organization has unique challenges and constraints.”

• Danny Yogatama [12:37]:
  “As a lean startup with modest resources, our focus has always been on cost efficiency. Our models are developed with significantly lower budgets compared to competitors.”

• Danny Yogatama [14:00]:
  “The ROI of implementing AI technology is actually multifaceted. From cost reduction to improving customer satisfaction, it’s essential to evaluate multiple metrics.”

• Danny Yogatama [19:42]:
  “Staying agile requires a combination of strategic foresight, adaptability, and a strong feedback loop. Our team’s sense of ownership and trust is crucial.”

Further Information

To learn more about Danny Yogatama and Reka, listeners can follow the links provided in the show notes. For additional episodes and insights on marketing technology, AI, and customer experience, subscribe to The Agile Brand and visit theagilebrand.com.