Sandip Weling & Parag Dhakan on Aptech’s plans to reshape the creative landscape

In a groundbreaking move at the intersection of education and artificial intelligence, Aptech Limited, a veteran in vocational training, has unveiled “Creval” – a pioneering AI-powered platform poised to redefine creative evaluation. This innovative tool leverages the power of generative AI, coupled with human insight, to provide real-time feedback on visual creatives. Built with robust security and privacy measures through Amazon Bedrock, Creval aims to empower both aspiring and established creative professionals globally.

In conversation with Adgully, Sandip Weling, Chief Business Officer, Global Retail Business, Aptech Limited, and Parag Dhakan, EVP and Head of Technology, Aptech Limited, speak at length about the inspiration, functionality, and future impact of Creval, how it is set to reshape the creative landscape, Aptech’s vision for AI-driven skill development, and more.

What inspired Aptech to develop a Gen-AI platform especially for the creative professionals? And what key challenges does it aim to address?

Sandip Weling: We have around 350 franchisee centers across India, onboarding approximately 35,000 students annually between Arena Animationand MAAC. An additional 15,000-20,000 students are currently in our two-and-a-half to three-year curriculum, undergoing multiple assessments and projects in animation, 3D, graphic design, VFX, UI, UX, and digital content. This creative work, being static, is typically evaluated by our academics team.

A key pain point observed over recent months is inconsistent or “over-the-shoulder” feedback, such as “static, creative”, which we feel isn’t effectively helping students improve their creative work quality.

The AI tool platform, Creval (Creative Evaluation), aims to solve this by providing consistent student assessment. Creval will offer pinpointed, qualitative feedback, detailing specific areas for improvement.

The desired outcome is better-prepared students who can improve their creative work. Ultimately, our commitment is to make students job-ready and facilitate placement, which we believe Creval will significantly support in developing them as professionals in the media and entertainment industry.

How do you envision this platform reshaping the creative industry and what kind of impact do you foresee on the traditional design as well as the content creation workflow?

Sandip Weling: Currently, Creval is active for static content across the genres mentioned, representing a significant canvas of existing students. We also plan to reach students directly through our online digital platform, ProAlley, targeting a wide range from 7th/8th/10th graders to working professionals seeking upskilling. This presents a substantial opportunity for both our current students and new users to experience assessment via this platform.

Regarding use cases, as mentioned, it is currently for static creative work. However, my team, including Parag, is working on expanding Creval's capabilities to include video content, which we anticipate will go live soon. This will significantly amplify the use cases, potentially benefiting individuals and organizations in the digital, advertising, architectural, and film/studio spaces we already engage with. The video functionality opening up in the coming months offers multiple possibilities.

What are some of the standard features of this gen AI platform and how does it differentiate from other AI powered creative tools?

Parag Dhakan: The primary feature of Creval is personalized feedback on submitted artwork. While freely available AI models can offer similar functionality, Creval distinguishes itself through its commitment to intellectual property (IP) protection. Within Creval’s ecosystem, student artwork remains their property and under the control of Aptech, unlike external models where user-generated content can be retained and used by the model developers.

Furthermore, Creval ensures a secure environment for student data. Built on Amazon Web Services (AWS) with established security protocols and guardrails, the platform safeguards the artwork and associated data submitted by students and users. This robust infrastructure provides a layer of protection absent in many freely accessible AI tools.

Finally, Creval is not a standalone solution, but an integral component of a broader suite of value-added services, all unified within a forthcoming mobile application for both Android and iOS. This ecosystem includes other AI-powered tools like chatbots and multiple-choice question generators, offering a comprehensive learning experience. This integrated approach and focus on security and IP protection differentiate Creval from generic AI models available in the market.

With AI being a disruptive force in multiple industries, how does Aptech ensure that this platform enhances creativity rather than replacing that human touch?

Parag Dhakan: It’s crucial to understand that our AI adoption isn’t about cost optimization or job replacement. Instead, we’re leveraging AI to replace Non-Value Added (NVA) activities within our system. These NVAs are repetitive, cumbersome, manual, and time-consuming.

Consider our MAAC Creative League (MCL) event. Over a two-week period, we receive around 14,000-15,000 image submissions. Currently, each image undergoes manual evaluation, taking at least 10 minutes per evaluator. Successful submissions then go to a second evaluator, forming a maker-checker jury. The sheer volume of time spent on this process within a tight two-week window – where we need to announce daily winners (“pick of the day”), regional winners, and a final event winner – is immense.

This is a prime example of how Creval will assist Aptech’s in-house employees and trainers. AI, in this context, isn’t a disruptor or replacement; it’s a tool to enhance our efficiency. This is just one of the many use cases where AI will support our sector.

How does the launch of this AI platform align with the broader business strategy of Aptech?

Sandip Weling: In the initial phase, Creval will be available to our existing ecosystem of approximately 50,000 students. The current launch price is ₹170 per Creval. We plan to introduce a subscription-based model in the future, which is currently under internal discussion.

To further expand and target new segments, we are leveraging our existing D2C platform, ProAlley, where this application will reside. We will undertake extensive marketing to reach our target audience, which, as previously mentioned, is a wide canvas. We will begin with introductory offers and eventually transition to a subscription model on this platform as well. This has the potential for significant scaling even in its current static content format. Furthermore, the upcoming launch of the video assessment capability will substantially amplify our target audience and market opportunities.

Given your extensive experience across various industries, how has your leadership shaped the approach to integrating AI driven innovation with this education and skill development?

Sandip Weling: Our current courses are all powered by generative AI, with the aim of training students in cutting-edge technology. The global discussion around AI potentially replacing human jobs isn’t our perspective. We believe repetitive tasks will move towards AI solutions, while creative work will remain human-driven. AI, in our view, will primarily be a productivity enhancer, not a job eliminator. The integration of AI in education holds immense potential.

Furthermore, AI itself creates new job opportunities. For instance, the need to train data for AI presents a new skill set and job profile, perhaps as “data trainable resources”.

Looking ahead at AI’s evolution in the creative space, Aptech has already adopted AI as a core tool across all our career courses. This integration into our pedagogy is a key differentiator, setting us apart from competitors. It’s our unique selling proposition.