We sell to large, mostly state owned, corporations. In most cases that means going through answering Request for Proposals (RFP) where you need to show how you will meet a set of requirements for a price. Prior to issuing a RFP, often the organization will try to look for what is possible or what exists out there, this is usually done through a request for information (RFI). We usually try to build a relationship prior to these processes by regularly talking to people in these companies, helping them to solve some of their problems. That way they know about us and notify or invite us to answer when they issue an RFI or RFP. That all takes a long time, sometimes years, and you don’t get revenues for any of this.

Now this probably is not the most appropriate course of action for you. We initially started as a proof of concept for a branch of a large state owned company. If it’s small enough and doesn’t require too much spending or too much involvement, you can probably avoid the RFP process. But you need to know someone in charge inside, ideally more than one. You can try cold calling or meeting them in a conference but it is easier if you can use a network. If someone else in their industry or their company or maybe a well expert or industry researchers can vouch for you.

Also since it’s a potential ML project, if it’s a public organisation, you may be able to access the data though other means either because it is already public or by simply requesting it. In some jurisdictions, you may request data from public institutions. Once you have the data, you can build you proof of concept and pitch it to the organisation or someone you could use to network your way in.