Discovering Professional Stories
Peter Vasilyev is an executive specialized in AI-powered image recognition for the retail and CPG industry. With extensive experience in management consulting and marketing, he brings a strong strategic focus to his role. He holds a master’s degree in leadership, strategy, business administration, and management.
When did you start working in Ailet? What is your role and responsibilities?
I joined Ailet three years ago. Initially, I led implementation projects, but later moved to the Commercial department. My current role is Business Development Director, where I am responsible for establishing communication with our customers and partners in Europe. This includes presenting the advantages of our solutions to potential clients, ensuring that our customers fully benefit from using Ailet technology, and guiding our product development to ensure the system meets current market requirements.
What attracted you to join Ailet and what has kept you here?
What we do at Ailet lies exactly at the intersection of the professional fields I am most interested in and have extensive experience in: modern technology, consumer goods and the retail industry, and sales & marketing. Therefore, when I saw the opportunity to join Ailet, I immediately took it and have enjoyed my journey here ever since. In my role, I especially enjoy the opportunity to work with multiple customers from diverse markets and industry segments and see the impact we make on how companies operate and improve their efficiency. Additionally, I like the commercial side of the business—being able to devise and implement a market strategy and achieve commercial results has always attracted me.
What technologies or tools have you found most exciting to work with here, and why?
Image recognition technology based on neural networks lies at the heart of Ailet's solutions. I was quite impressed by it when I first encountered it: I visited a supermarket and took 4-5 photographs covering several shelves. These photographs were processed almost instantly, and results on product availability and share of shelf were provided. I then discovered that the total number of product facings was more than 1,000! With my background in trade marketing, I immediately recognized that this level of accuracy and efficiency is impossible with manual data input. So, even though the technology has been around for some time now, I still find it exciting how it empowers field teams and provides valuable information for decision-making.
From your perspective, what distinguishes Ailet's product internationally?
As for the product itself, we have a large-scale platform supporting tens of thousands of users worldwide, with advanced functionality and high recognition accuracy. This alone allows Ailet to stand out in the market.
However, the service we provide is equally important. With experienced teams like our implementation department and product analysts, we can deliver large-scale projects for retail and distribution companies, covering tens of product categories and thousands of SKUs, and provide our customers with local support in various regions around the world.
How does our technology positively impact our customers’ success?
I would group the benefits of an Image Recognition (IR) solution into two main categories: Those associated with the process of collecting in-store data and the other related to data analysis and decision-making.
In the first one, the most important aspect is likely the composition and accuracy of the data we obtain. IR offers unparalleled accuracy and efficiency compared to manual methods, capturing detailed product information and reducing audit time. This empowers businesses with data-driven insights for improved decision-making and optimized retail execution. The second, based on data analysis and decision-making, implies how IR data empowers FMCG companies with insights into product distribution, OOS issues, and KPIs like SOS and Planogram Compliance. This enables data-driven decision-making for improved retail execution, increased product availability, reduced OOS, and better contract compliance. Manual methods struggle to achieve the same level of accuracy and efficiency.
What strategies do you employ to maintain strong client relationships and ensure long-term satisfaction and loyalty?
I adhere to three core principles. First, keeping customer objectives in mind: I always aim to align with what my client wants to achieve from a business perspective. This approach ensures solutions that deliver real value. Second, transparency and integrity: Transparency, honesty, and keeping promises build trust and customer confidence, and third, passion for what we do: At Ailet, we are fans of our solutions and enjoy working with customers, sharing technology that we know helps them succeed in the market. I believe our clients value this passion, energy, and flexibility, which is why they choose to continue using our services.
How do you handle client feedback and integrate it into product development processes at Ailet?
That is an interesting question. Ailet works with multiple companies across several regions, including Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. We receive a lot of demand for new modules and features from clients. This is a significant advantage, as we can compare various ideas and develop universal solutions that become accessible to all our users. However, it also adds complexity, as requirements need to be aligned and priorities defined.
Our product team centrally collects and analyzes feedback and new requests from all our clients. These features are then prioritized, and the general product roadmap is developed. This is an ongoing process involving regional representatives like myself, which helps manage product development dynamically and ensures the continuous improvement of our solution.
Can you describe the collaboration with internal teams (e.g., engineers, data scientists) to ensure successful delivery and implementation of Ailet’s product for your clients?
One of the things that amazes me about Ailet is that the company operates almost 100% virtually—most team members work remotely and have never met each other in person. Given the diversity of countries of origin, nationalities, and time zones, this presents an even greater challenge. Yet, people work effectively and deliver complex projects together.
To achieve this, we rely on essential communication, task and documentation management tools. However, what truly supports collaboration is our open and friendly corporate culture. Our colleagues are approachable and willing to help regardless of their grade, flexible in accommodating different time zones, energetic, and lead from the front when hard work is required.