Cohere just launched ‘North,’ its biggest AI bet yet for privacy-focused enterprises

January 9, 2025 3:00 AM

Credit: Cohere

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Cohere released North today, a secure AI workspace platform that directly challenges Microsoft Copilot and Google Vertex AI in the enterprise market. The company claims its new platform outperforms both tech giants’ offerings across finance, HR, customer support and IT functions.

North combines large language models, search capabilities and automation tools in a secure package that lets companies deploy AI while maintaining control over sensitive data. The platform operates in private cloud environments or on-premises installations, targeting regulated industries like finance and healthcare.

Internal benchmarks comparing Microsoft Copilot, Google Vertex AI and Cohere North show significant discrepancies between automated and human evaluations of AI performance. While all platforms scored well in automated tests, Cohere North maintained consistent accuracy when subjected to human review, while competitors showed marked declines. (Credit: Cohere)

Security becomes major battleground for enterprise AI adoption

“The market for artificial intelligence is maturing, and enterprises have begun to understand the opportunity,” Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez said in an internal company letter shared on LinkedIn last month. “While consumers have fallen in love with the technology and use it as part of their daily lives, enterprises are struggling to keep up.”

Royal Bank of Canada has already partnered with Cohere to develop North for Banking, a specialized version designed for financial institutions. This marks one of the first major enterprise deployments of the platform.

Search technology promises to slash workflow times

North’s built-in search system, Compass, processes multiple data types including images, presentations, spreadsheets and documents across languages. Internal testing shows the system reduces task completion times by more than 80% compared to manual searches.

“It’s becoming clear that for enterprises, it is not sufficient to simply prompt or fine-tune an off-the-shelf consumer AI chatbot for a work environment,” Gomez said. “They want something customized for their needs. They want a true partner to help achieve their goals.”

Cohere North outperformed rival platforms across key business functions, with particularly strong advantages in finance and IT operations. Microsoft Copilot notably lagged in IT-related tasks, achieving only 29% relative accuracy compared to North’s benchmark performance. Graph shows relative accuracy normalized by maximum value for each platform. (Credit: Cohere)

Enterprise AI race shifts from raw power to practical implementation

Gomez challenged the industry’s focus on computational scale, noting that “data quality and novel methods like synthetic data have driven far more of the progress these past 18 months than scale.” He claimed this approach has made Cohere “an order of magnitude more capital-efficient than our competition.”

The platform lets employees build and customize AI tools for their specific needs without requiring technical expertise. Early testers include companies in finance, healthcare, manufacturing and infrastructure — sectors where data security has traditionally limited AI adoption.

Cohere North early access

North is currently available through an early access program, targeting the finance, healthcare, manufacturing and critical infrastructure sectors. The launch could reshape how businesses implement AI technologies, as companies increasingly prioritize security and customization over raw computational power.

“Going forward, every company will be an AI company,” Gomez said, emphasizing the need for secure, rapidly deployable solutions.

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