Remark Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARK) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Kai-Shing Tao: Yes. I mean we don’t do unpaid POCs, right? So that’s — it’s not — when we go through a proof-of-concept, they’re paying customers. So I think we’re kind of — we certainly feel we’re past that stage where we’re doing things for free, right? So — but as we expand, I think certainly with our partnerships that we mentioned with Intel and with Nvidia and the software partners that will there won’t be that upfront cost for, just say, additional salespeople because we’ll be able to leverage upon their existing sales team. As far as deployment, we will be covering as these opportunities are being presented. Of course, we’re working with local systems integrators, but a lot of times, we’ll need our guys on the ground as well.

So I could see certainly an expansion there. Certainly, the ability to handle so many different projects. I mean, I think we’re uniquely positioned to do that. So we didn’t — we’ve been doing this for almost 10 years now. So we didn’t do this spend all this time to just be a one-trick pony, right? So we had a vision 10 years ago to really build a comprehensive AI platform, and now we’re seeing that. And these opportunities are presented to us that no one else is able to execute. They may claim they do it, but when it comes to execution, it’s different. So, yes, so obviously, we would have to staff appropriately for that. But obviously, with these partnerships, that upfront cost will come at a lot lower number than what it would have been if we’re going to do everything ourselves.

Stephen Wagner: Okay. So — and again, I apologize. I was — I came into the call literally 20 minutes late. So I missed a lot of it. So it sounds like these are partnerships, as you mentioned, I think, with Intel and Nvidia that they will provide funding for. Is that — am I hearing that correctly?

Kai-Shing Tao: No, you didn’t hear that correctly. What they’re providing is their sales team, right? So I think each company has their own marketing program where say, for example, if there is a potential customer that’s a little bit hesitant on incurring the cost of a paid POC that company will come in and provide $300,000, $400,000 that would pay us to execute that, right? So obviously, that’s very — that’s — that’s exciting. Even more exciting is the fact that now we can leverage they have over 5,000 kind of a sales force and being trained on how to sell the Remark AI solutions obviously speeds everything up for us. We cover a lot of areas faster. I can get to the — frankly, get to the key decision-makers great. So I think in any type of enterprise account, you have to hit the company from a bunch of different angles. And I think this just makes our pitch more compelling.

Stephen Wagner: All right. Thank you very much guys.

Kai-Shing Tao: Thanks, Steve.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question will be coming from Ross [Silver] (ph), Silvan International. Please go ahead.

Unidentified Analyst: Yes. Thanks for taking my question. So a question I have for you is — you look at a lot of companies in the AI space, you don’t see a ton of execution. I look at Remark and I see you’ve already won an initial $6 million agreement for — with the Rio de Janeiro police cars. And then you’ve got a $1 trillion company in Nvidia, who you’ve joined this metropolis ecosystem. I mean what’s — how are you so differentiated from these other, like what’s differentiating you or what’s your secret sauce as it relates to these opportunities? And what’s making you stand out, I guess, is what my question is?