As part of our continuing outreach to our diverse communities, AmaZix will hold Ask Me Anything (AMA) sessions our partners. As the theme suggests, this is the opportunity for you to get the latest developments, behind-the-scenes insight and industry comments from our partners, everything based on questions asked by the community themselves.
This week, we share some highlights of the AMA with Dejan Roljic, CEO of Eligma, the AI-driven cognitive commerce platform, hosted by none other than Crypto Sally. View the full AMA video on YouTube here.
AI-driven cognitive commerce platform? What did you just say?
Well it’s actually quite simple, according to Dejan, who explains that Eligma is trying to create a united platform for people to access different e-commerce and marketplaces all over the world with one search system. It’s all about optimizing shopping time — whether buying new products or selling used products.
“We integrated the AI that actually reads the blueprints and specs from every product… and tells you the optimum product to buy according to quality and price.”
Responding to a question on AI advantages, Dejan said that users generally do not know the real value or real worth of the products they want to sell, but AI can help with this. Users can add products they want to sell or that they own on a personal inventory and let Eligma tell them the the right time to sell them, taking into account product value, warranties and timing, preventing loss of value over time.
Why use blockchain?
Dejan points out that a blockchain-based solution eliminates the issue of trust, whereby buyers no longer need to trust a central authority when assessing if a product is of the quality or specification required.
“We found out one of the big problems with buying products is that you cannot have a digital certificate… but you can have all this information written in one simple block.”
As blocks are added to the sidechain, Eligma uses the sidechain hash and adds it into smart contracts on the blockchain. Information such as how much it was bought for or from whom it was bought will all be stored immutably on the blockchain.
“Then you cannot fool anyone when you want to sell this product in the future because it’s written .”
He described how sellers would use smart contracts, depositing money as a guarantee of product specifications. Buyers similarly enter the entire product price into a smart contract. Once the product is delivered and the buyer is satisfied, the smart contract is executed. Deposits are refunded and payments are released. This creates a trustless decentralized system for buying and selling.
Is Eligma ready for use?
Dejan happily confirmed that Eligma already has a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that works and is available on GitHub. He went on to say that the system currently works on categorization of products, which will be very important for their discovery (initial) period.
“People can see, if they write something, the AI is immediately categorizing where this product should be and how much… I’m very positive that in August, we’re going to launch… people developing this day and night!”
On Eligma’s location and size
Dejan reflected that there were still many variables in terms of market reaction and product performance that would affect eventual decisions in regards of management. However, he revealed that the current idea was to launch in London, UK as its “people are extremely adapted to the process of selling and buying online… and are waiting for the next level of e-commerce… something more advanced”.
Dejan also shared that Eligma maintained close networks with Silicon Valley, which they consider a second home and that it appeared an ideal location — but would be costly and required a lot of manpower.
On previous business experience
Dejan obviously gets asked this a lot! He maintains that he dedicated his life to startups and innovations, working with a live streaming company when he was only 16.
“Three years ago I founded ABC accelerator… last December, it became the best Central European accelerator… we invested in more than 60 startups and accelerated more than 80.”
He moved to Shanghai four years later, working in manufacturing control and quality assurance. It was from this work that he gained an understanding of how middlemen took a huge cut of profits in the sales cycle. That led to the initial conceptual ideas behind Eligma.
“I think for the next 10 years, I will be working only with Eligma.”
On Bitcoin City in Slovenia
It’s a real place, according to Dejan!
“It’s actually a concentrated area that has 450 businesses, 10,000 brands, 21 million visitors. It is a huge shopping area in Slovenia…”
He shared how he discussed with a co-founder the city and struck on the name to identify it as a testing model for the new technology.
“BTC City is now existing and it is becoming Bitcoin City as soon as we start implementing EliPay…”
On the EliPay payment system and merchant partnerships
Dejan explained that the EliPay payment system was shaping up with a focus on simplicity and a mobile-first mentality, with an aim to connect the offline and online worlds of commerce.
“This week we’re starting actually with a first transaction, so EliPay is coming to life… if I can show to my mom how this works… then everybody will be able to use it…”.
Dejan believed that the idea of payment cards were redundant (“they’re so yesterday”)because of mobile systems but conceded that if user demand for cards emerged, Eligma would consider rethinking its model.
“The whole team believes everything is moving onto mobile as it’s much more practical and much more convenient.”
The mother of all marketplaces
“The great thing about Eligma is that we don’t own any logistics, we don’t own any products, we’re not responsible for the after-sales process…”
Dejan said that Eligma is trying to position itself as a decentralized platform that will eventually be the best possible information provider in commerce.
“We’re the bridge between everything that already exists. We just sort it on one platform so you can use it in a simple way… adding AI and multiple layers and features… to make this platform the mother of all marketplaces!”
On the Eligma token sale
Dejan reminded that the Eligma token sale launched on April 17th, 2018.
“We’re going to dedicate 10 years of our lives to Eligma… when you contribute, you’re going to be part of this story.”
He urged users to continue giving feedback even if they would’t contribute to the token sale, insisting that they valued the community’s feedback as Eligma aims to build a marketplace that wants to be “the next big thing” in commerce.
The Eligma token sale is now live, with a 8% bonus activated. Learn more by visiting the Eligma website and reading the white paper.
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By AmaZix Editorial on April 23, 2018.
Exported from Medium on January 30, 2020.