Catena Media CEO claims his firm is at the cutting edge of AI
Michael Daly highlights investment in unique technology as reason why affiliate can stay ahead of rivals, despite falling revenue and EBITDA in Q4
Catena Media CEO Michael Daly has claimed the firm will remain ahead of the pack when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI) due to its investment in the technology.
Daly’s comments came on an analyst call after the affiliate released its Q4 2023 results, which showed a drastic fall in adjusted EBITDA by 88% year on year.
Despite this, Daly said the firm will continue to invest in AI this year but admitted it will have knock-on effect on its bottom line in the coming quarters.
During the post-results investor call, the CEO was asked what makes Catena Media’s AI unique to the firm, and why competitors will be unable to replicate what is being done created Catena.
Explaining why rivals will find it difficult to catch up on AI technology, due to the levels of investment by Catena already, Daly said those in the industry must develop their own unique applications instead of using what is already out there.
He added that Catena is working with a company that has a history of developing AI which will aim to give the firm an additional edge.
Daly said: “Our AI investment in our joint venture focused on content and SEO work for personalisation and expanded amount of content is, as far as we can tell, a first for our industry in terms of developing this specific level of an application.
“It is early stages, it is unique in the fact that we are working with a group that have done AI development before and are experienced in this on multiple fronts.
“Is it something a competitor can copy? I don’t know that they can. They can start down a development path. They need to probably find AI resources that have the same level of skills. And then with AI, it’s a matter of playing catch up. Technical developments are difficult to catch up on as is. And AI is a learning curve,” he added.
As part of the affiliate’s results, the Stockholm-listed firm said AI would allow the group to resume organic growth by H2 2024 and power full-year EBITDA to between €20m and €30m.
This will include a new technical platform to launch in Q1, with a full roll out to follow in Q2, which will integrate AI language models and content production.
Catena Media said the project has so far been delivered at “high speed”, with a minimum viable product having been launched within three months.
Daly concluded: “The faster we are going and the sooner we are on it, the further ahead we will be on that curve. And that will be the hardest part, I think, for the catching-up process. If we’re always a few levels ahead then that puts us on the cutting front edge of this.”