Cohere just launched “North,” its biggest AI bet yet for privacy-focused companies

connections released north today a secure AI workplace platform that directly challenges Microsoft co-pilot and Google Vertex AI in the corporate market. The company claims its new platform outperforms both tech giants’ offerings in finance, human resources, customer support and IT functions.

North combines large language models, search capabilities and automation tools in a secure package that enables companies to use AI while maintaining control of sensitive data. The platform operates in private cloud environments or on-premises installations and is aimed at regulated industries such as finance and healthcare.

AI security is becoming the key battleground for enterprise adoption

“The artificial intelligence market is maturing and companies have begun to understand the opportunity,” Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez said in a statement internal company letter shared on LinkedIn last month. “As consumers have fallen in love with the technology and are using it in their daily lives, companies are struggling to keep up.”

Royal Bank of Canada has already worked with Cohere to develop North for Banking, a dedicated version for financial institutions. This is one of the first large enterprise deployments of the platform.

Search technology promises to shorten workflows

North’s integrated search system, compassprocesses multiple data types, including images, presentations, spreadsheets and documents in different languages. Internal testing shows that the system reduces task completion times by more than 80% compared to manual searches.

“It’s becoming clear that it’s not enough for companies to simply launch or refine an off-the-shelf consumer AI chatbot for a work environment,” Gomez said. “They want something tailored to their needs. They want a real partner who will help them achieve their goals.”

The race for enterprise AI is shifting from pure performance to practical implementation

Gomez questioned the industry’s focus on computational scale, noting that “data quality and novel methods such as synthetic data have contributed far more to progress than scale over the last 18 months.” He claimed this approach made Cohere “an order of magnitude more capital efficient than our competition.”

The platform allows employees to create and customize AI tools to their specific needs without the need for technical expertise. Early testers include companies in finance, healthcare, manufacturing and infrastructure – sectors where data security has traditionally limited the use of AI.

North is currently available through Early Access Programtargeted at the financial, healthcare, manufacturing and critical infrastructure sectors. The launch could change the way companies implement AI technologies as companies increasingly value security and customization over pure computing power.

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