At the end of 1939, James Joyce finished writing Finnegans Wake, after two decades. It is considered the book strangest in literature. That work, precisely, changed the way Blas Briceño thought and looked at the world. He is a graduate in Computer Sciences from the UBA, who also studied literature, a mixture from which the name Finnegans arose for his company that is dedicated to use Artificial Intelligence to save companies and also jobs.
Among its clients are Oliovita, Arcor, Bio4, Adecoagro, Rossi Diagnostic Institute, Molinos, Syngenta, and the Insud group to name a few in Argentina.
They claim that some 7,000 organizations in 15 countries They use Finnegans technology. Each of the 16 floors of the building that is its headquarters in the heart of that part of Chacarita that became fashionable, shows that pulse so typical of those who seek creativity. From an auditorium, to its own streaming channel, to the operation of various workshops, some NGOs such as Ashoka or the Food Bank and programs at the University of San Andrés. Everything, with designer furniture, sculptures and paintings by established and emerging artists.
Briceño, born 60 years ago in Concordia, started as an entrepreneur at 19 and went from success to failure until he founded Finnegans in 1992.
“Inspired me by Joyce Porque dismantles the linear narrative and it turns it into something similar to browsing the Internet, to non-linear routes,” he explains to Clarín.
Thus, he defines his work: “We make digital business management platforms and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is included. From commercial management, financial planning, monitoring of production processes and coordination of commercial actions. AI is a tool that enhances management.”
Finnegans is the local competition of operating systems such as the German SAP. “Our difference is not only costs, but also that we are focused on people starting to use the platform quickly, and we are very flexible to change, adapt to the needs of the business.”
It counts 320 people divided into Buenos Aires and Concordia. They are disembarking in Mexico.
-How do your Argentine clients experience the technological transformation in the midst of a change in economic regime?
-These are two moments that overlap today. There are many who began to suffer from not being able to support themselves financially. For those who are financially healthy, going digital is a way to make the process more efficient, to improve the quality of management in all areas. We see ourselves as a potential remedy in uncertainty for situations of weakness.
-How does AI operate in these cases?
-A classic example is that instead of a person answering the phone, AI does it. But from there there are other levels since the customer’s information is available to generate the conditions for an improvement in the service, the product, see the bottlenecks, see where the failure is. And AI helps do it better. People run this. In financial and process planning it is a tool that helps decide.
What is new in Finnegans’ case is the emphasis on caring for human work. In the company itself they decided to retrain code developers supplanted by AI with new skills. “Today I know learn critical thinking, design strategies, process changes. “We are preparing to think better,” says Briceño, very convinced that his clients will follow that path.
And outwardly they launched a system of scholarships for students who needed a push to finish their degrees. “It takes six months, we pay a salary to study and we have done it systematically for several years. 90% of these scholarship recipients then find a job and not only because of the opportunities that our own clients provide them.” Briceño also bets on an imitation effect in this case.