AI technology with a beneficial impact on biodiversity

Simula Consulting was founded for a main reason; bringing the fruits of technological research to society, and the ambition of CTO Omar Richardson is for Simula Consulting to become the go-to organisation for the most complex problems in tech.          

Omar Richardson, CTO Simula Consulting
Omar Richardson, CTO Simula Consulting.

The 2020-founded R&D consultancy company focuses on products and services in deep tech and AI.

Simula Consulting harnesses AI to solve its customers’ problems. An AI-driven underwater fish separator prototype, built by the Simula Consulting team in collaboration with local partners, achieved excellent results in classifying and catching fish when deployed last summer. 

The device uses computer vision to separate the indigenous Atlantic salmon from the invasive pink salmon, a species not wanted in Norwegian river ecosystems.

Receiving international acknowledgement for the novel product and its good results, Simula Consulting’s work contributes to biodiversity. 

Learn more about Simula Consulting below.

A short presentation of the company

My name is Omar Richardson, CTO of Simula Consulting. We are an R&D consultancy company that focuses on products and services in deep tech and AI. We aim to push beyond the state of the art by incorporating cutting-edge technologies into business-ready products and services. A subsidiary of Simula Research Laboratory, we were founded in 2020 and have grown rapidly.

How do you use AI in the company?

We harness AI to solve our clients’ most challenging problems. This can be either essential tasks that fall outside the core business or transforming how employees reach their goals. For me, deep tech really comes to life when you sit down with domain experts and work out what the innovation looks like together. You know you’ve made a difference when enabling something that wasn’t even considered possible before.

Tell about a recent success story from your company or an exciting project you are working on.

My team and I are building an AI-driven underwater fish separator that uses computer vision to distinguish between the indigenous Atlantic salmon and the invasive pink salmon, a species that has increasingly been wreaking havoc on the Norwegian river ecosystem in the last ten years. Our collaboration with local partners resulted in a prototype deployed in the summer of 2022 and did a fantastic job in classifying and catching fish. It has been incredibly exciting to work on and rewarding to see the international recognition it received for its beneficial impact on biodiversity.

What goals does the company have for the future?

My ambition is for Simula Consulting to become the go-to organisation for the most complex problems in tech. We were founded on one of the core values of the Simula group: bringing the fruits of technological research to society. I believe that our relentless team of data scientists and engineers, supported by the excellent research units in Simula Research Laboratory, are in a key position not just to bring value to our customers but advance technology as a whole.

Why do you sponsor the AI+ conference?

I believe that technology serves society and that it is our duty to do whatever we can to ensure it stays that way. The AI+ conference is one of the main platforms in Norway to share knowledge, have open discussions and connect with people on AI. It is vital to support such initiatives so that we can keep making conscious decisions about where technology should go.

Facts about the company:

  • Name of business: Simula Consulting AS              
  • Number of employees: 15
  • Location: Oslo
  • Industry: ICT
  • Briefly about the product/service: Cutting-edge deep tech development and AI consultancy