Tokyo, Tokyo-to, Japan

Overview As one of the world's leading industrial research laboratories, Microsoft Research (MSR) has more than 1,000 researchers and engineers working across the globe. In the past 30 years, Microsoft scientists have not only carried out world-class computer science research, but also transferred the advanced technologies into our products and services that have changed millions of people’s lives and ensured that Microsoft is at the forefront of digital transformation.

Part of Microsoft Research, Microsoft Research Asia (MSR Asia), established in 1998, is a leading research lab with major sites in Beijing, Shanghai and Vancouver. Over the years, technologies developed by MSR Asia have made a significant impact within Microsoft and also around the world, and new, innovative technologies are constantly being born from the lab. As one of the world-class research labs, MSRA offers an exhilarating, supportive, open and inclusive environment for top talents to create the future through their disruptive and cutting-edge research. (More information about Microsoft Research Lab - Asia - Microsoft Research).

Along with business growth, Microsoft Research Asia (MSRA) is increasing its presence in Japan, and looking for a Principal Research Manager who specializes in AI with an emphasis on Embodied AI and Robotics, AI Model innovations (NLP, vision, multi-modality), Societal AI, Wireless sensing, and Wellbeing. This is a unique opportunity to lead an ambitious research agenda and work with various teams to explore new applications of those research areas.

Responsibilities •As a leading and accomplished expert in a broad research area (e.g., Embodied AI and Robotics, AI Model, Multimedia and Vision), has a comprehensive understanding of the relevant literature, research methods, and business and academic context. •Defines and articulates a clear long-term research vision that is in line with MSRA strategic focus and drive research agenda landing with planned schedule •As a local representative, fosters cooperative relationships with local governments, academic communities, industry partners and business groups within Microsoft to establish MSRA presence locally and support future growth •Creates synergy among MSRA research groups in multiple locations to enable collaboration and creativity • As a people manager, hires and retains top talents. Deliveries success through empowerment and accountability

Location Sunnyvale, CA Bellevue, WA

Description Are you a passionate scientist in the computer vision area who is aspired to apply your skills to bring value to millions of customers? Here at Ring, we have a unique possibility to innovate and see how the results of our work improve the lives of millions of people and make neighborhoods safer. You will be part of a team committed to pushing the frontier of computer vision and machine learning technology to deliver the best experience for our neighbors. This is a great opportunity for you to innovate in this space by developing highly optimized algorithms that will work on scale. This position requires experience with developing Multi-modal LLMs and Vision Language Models. You will collaborate with different Amazon teams to make informed decisions on the best practices in machine learning to build highly-optimized integrated hardware and software platforms.

Vancouver

Who we are Established in 2017, Wayve is a leader in autonomous vehicle technology, driven by breakthroughs in Embodied AI. Our intelligent, mapless, and hardware-agnostic technologies empower vehicles to navigate complex environments effortlessly.

Supported by prominent investors, Wayve is advancing the transition from assisted to fully automated driving, making transportation safer, more efficient, and universally accessible. Join our world-class, multinational team of engineers and researchers as we push the boundaries of frontier AI and autonomous driving, creating impactful technologies and products on a global scale

Where you will have an impact Science is the team that is advancing our end-to-end autonomous driving research. The team’s mission is to accelerate our journey to AV2.0 and ensure the future success of Wayve by incubating and investing in new ideas that have the potential to become game-changing technological advances for the company.

As the first Research Manager in our Vancouver office, you will be responsible for managing & scaling a strong Science team in collaboration with other Wayve science teams in London and Mountain View. You will provide coaching and guidance to each of the researchers and engineers within your team and work with leaders across the company to ensure sustainable career growth for your team during a period of growth in the company. You will participate in our project-based operating model where your focus will be unlocking the potential of your team and its technical leaders to drive industry-leading impact. As part of your work, you will help identify the right projects to invest in, ensure the right allocation of resources to those projects, keep the team in good health, provide technical feedback to your team, share progress to build momentum, and build alignment and strong collaboration across the wider Science organisation. We are actively hiring and aim to substantially grow our research team over the next two years and you will be at the heart of this.

Challenges you will own Work closely with team members to develop career plans and growth trajectories based on each individual’s strengths and weaknesses and their own aspirations. Work closely with project leads to ensure team members are having strong impact and are set up for success. Work closely with project leads and Science leadership to ensure projects are resourced in a way that balances the needs of the business with the needs of the individuals. Offer coaching and technical mentorship to direct reports (especially project leads). Bring technical & project management expertise and experience to help accelerate our progress and decision-making. Challenge the status quo (both technical and organisational/process). Prioritize effectively and keep processes lean and effective. Partner with leadership to maintain a culture of cross-boundary collaboration, impact, innovation, and health. Grow the team as a hiring manager, to bring in complementary, diverse skill sets and backgrounds. Anticipate the needs of the business 6-24 months out, identify areas where additional resources are needed or we need to grow new domain expertise, and pitch this to leadership for investment. Contribute to the day-to-day running of the Science team’s operations and larger collaborative efforts.

Location San Diego

Description

Qualcomm AI Research is looking for world-class algorithm engineers in general domain machine learning, especially deep learning, generative AI, LLM, LVM. Come join a high-caliber team of engineers building advanced machine learning technology, best-in-class solutions, and user friendly model optimization tools such as Qualcomm Innovation Center’s AI Model Efficiency Toolkit (https://github.com/quic/aimet) to enable state-of-the-art networks to run on devices with limited power, memory, and computation.

Members of our team enjoy the opportunity to participate in cutting edge research while simultaneously contributing technology that will be deployed worldwide in our industry-leading devices. You will be part of a multi-disciplinary talented team working on on-device generative AI optimization. Collaborate in a cross-functional environment spanning hardware, software and systems. See your design in action on industry-leading chips embedded in the next generation of smartphones, autonomous vehicles, robotics, and IOT devices.

Minimum Qualifications: • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field and 4+ years of Hardware Engineering, Software Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related work experience. OR Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field and 3+ years of Hardware Engineering, Software Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related work experience. OR PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field and 2+ years of Hardware Engineering, Software Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related work experience.The R&D work responsibility for this position focuses on the following: Algorithms research and development in the area of Generative AI, LVM, LLM, Multi-modality Efficient inference algorithms research and development, e.g. batching, KV caching, efficient attentions, long context, speculative decoding Advanced quantization algorithms research and development for complex generative models, e.g., gradient/non-gradient based optimization, equivalent/non-equivalent transformation, automatic mixed precision, hardware in loop Model compression, lossy or lossless, structural and neural search Optimization based learning and learning based optimization Generative AI system prototyping Apply solutions toward system innovations for model efficiency advancement on device as well as in the cloud Python, Pytorch programmer Preferred Qualifications: Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field. PHD's degree is preferred. 2+ years of experience with Machine Learning algorithms or systems engineering or related work experience

Location Seattle, WA

Description Amazon's Compliance Shared Services (CoSS) is looking for a smart, energetic, and creative Sr Applied Scientist to extend and invent state-of-the-art research in multi-modal architectures, large language models across federated and continuous learning paradigms spread across multiple systems to join the Applied Research Science team in Seattle. At Amazon, we are working to be the most customer-centric company on earth. Millions of customers trust us to ensure a safe shopping experience. This is an exciting and challenging position to deliver scientific innovations into production systems at Amazon-scale that increase automation accuracy and coverage, and extend and invent new research as a key author to deliver re-usable foundational capabilities for automation.

You will analyze and process large amounts of image, text and tabular data from product detail pages, combine them with additional external and internal sources of multi-modal data, evaluate state-of-the-art algorithms and frameworks, and develop new algorithms in federated and continuous learning modes that can be integrated and launched across multiple systems. You will partner with engineers and product managers across multiple Amazon teams to design new ML solutions implemented across worldwide Amazon stores for the entire Amazon product catalog.

San Jose, CA

B GARAGE was founded in 2017 by a Ph.D. graduate from Stanford University. After having spent over five years researching robotics, computer vision, aeronautics, and drone autonomy, the founder and team set their minds on building a future where aerial robots would become an integral part of our daily lives without anyone necessarily piloting them. Together, our common goal is to redefine the user experience of drones and to expand the horizon for the use of drones.

Roles and Responsibilities

Design and develop perception for aerial robot and inventory recognition for warehouses by leveraging computer vision and deep learning techniques

Aid the computer vision team to deliver prototype and product in a timely manner

Collaborate with other teams within the company

Minimum Qualifications

M.S. degree in computer science, robotics, electrical engineering, or other engineering disciplines

10+ years of experience with computer vision and machine learning

Proficient in image processing algorithms and multiple view geometry using camera

Experience with machine learning architectures for object detection, segmentation, text recognition etc.

Proficient with ROS, C++, and Python

Experience with popular computer vision and GPU frameworks/libraries (e.g., OpenCV,TensorFlow, PyTorch, CUDA, cuDNN etc.)

Proficient in containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes) and container orchestration technologies

Experience in cloud computing platforms (AWS, GCP, etc.)

Experience with robots operating on real-time onboard processing

Self-motivated person who thrives in a fast-paced environment

Good problem solving and troubleshooting skills

Legally authorized to work in the United States

Optional Qualifications

Ph.D. degree in computer science, robotics, electrical engineering, or other engineering disciplines

Experience with scene reconstruction, bundle adjustment and factor graph optimization libraries

Experience with Javascript and massively parallel cloud computing technologies involving Kafka, Spark, MapReduce

Published research papers in CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, ICRA, IROS, etc.

Company Benefits

Competitive compensation packages

Medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and 401(k)

Flexible vacation and paid holidays

Complimentary lunches and snacks

Professional development reimbursement (online courses, conference, exhibit, etc.)

B GARAGE stands for an open and respectful corporate culture because we believe diversity helps us to find new perspectives.

B GARAGE ensures that all our members have equal opportunities – regardless of age, ethnic origin and nationality, gender and gender identity, physical and mental abilities, religion and belief, sexual orientation, and social background. We always ensure diversity right from the recruitment stage and therefore make hiring decisions based on a candidate’s actual competencies, qualifications, and business needs at the point of the time.

Excited to see you at CVPR! We’ll be at booth 1404. Come see us to talk more about roles.

Our team consists of people with diverse software and academic experiences. We work together towards one common goal: integrating the software, you'll help us build into hundreds of millions of vehicles.

As a Sr. Fullstack Engineer, you will work on our platform engineering team playing a crucial role in enabling our research engineers to fine-tune our foundation models and streamline the machine learning process for our autonomous technology. You will work on developing products that empower our internal teams to maximize efficiency and innovation in our product. Specifically, you will:

• Build mission-critical tools for improving observability and scaling the entire machine-learning process.
• Use modern technologies to serve huge amounts of data, visualize key metrics, manage our data inventory, trigger backend data processing pipelines, and more.
• Work closely with people across the company to create a seamless UI experience.

Natick, MA, United States

The Company Cognex is a global leader in the exciting and growing field of machine vision.

The Team: Vision Algorithms, Advanced Vision Technology This position is in the Vision Algorithms Team of Advanced Vision Technology group, which is responsible for designing and developing the most sophisticated machine vision tools in the world. We combine custom hardware, specialized lighting, optics, and world-class vision algorithms to create software systems that are used to analyze imagery (intensity, color, density, Z-data, ID barcodes, etc.), to detect, identify and localize objects, to make measurements, to inspect for defects, and to read encoded data. Technology development is critical to the overall business to expand areas of application, improve performance, discover new algorithms, and to make use of new hardware and processing power. Engineers in this group typically have experience with image analysis, machine vision, or signal processing.

Job Summary: The Vision Algorithms team is looking for well-rounded, intelligent, creative, and motivated summer or fall intern with a passion for results! You will work with our senior engineers and technical leads on projects that advance our software development infrastructure and enhance our key technologies and customer experience. You will get mentorship on tackling technical challenges and opportunities to build a solid foundation for your career in Software Engineering, or Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence.

Essential Functions: - Prototype and develop Vision (2D and ID) applications on top of Cognex products and technology. - Build internal tools or automated tests that can be used in software development or testing. - Understand our products and contribute to creating optimal solutions for customer applications in the automation industry. - High energy and motivated learner. Creative, motivated, and looking to work hard for a fast-moving company. - Strong analytical and problem-solving skills. - Strong programming skills in both C/C++ and Python are required. - Solid understanding of machine learning (ML) fundamentals and experience with ML frameworks like TensorFlow or PyTorch required. - Demonstrated projects or internships in AI/ML domain during academic or professional tenure is highly desirable. - Experience with embedded systems, Linux systems, vision/image-processing and optics all valued. - Background in 2D vision, 3D camera calibration & multi camera systems are preferred.

Minimum education and work experience required: Pursuing a MS, or Ph.D. from a top engineering school in EE, CS, or equivalent.

If you would like to meet the hiring manager at CVPR to discuss this opportunity, please email ahmed.elbarkouky@cognex.com

※Location※ South Korea Seoul / Pangyo

※Description※ 1) Deep learning compression and optimization - Development of algorithms for compression and optimization of deep learning networks - Perform deep learning network embedding (requires understanding of HW platform)

2) AD vision recognition SW - Development of deep learning recognition technology based on sensors such as cameras - Development of pre- and post-processing algorithms and function output - Development of optimization of image recognition algorithm

3) AD decision/control SW - Development of information-based map generation technology recognized by many vehicles - Development of learning-based nearby object behavior prediction model - Development of driving mode determination and collision prevention function of Lv 3 autonomous driving system

Mountain View

Who we are Established in 2017, Wayve is a leader in autonomous vehicle technology, driven by breakthroughs in Embodied AI. Our intelligent, mapless, and hardware-agnostic technologies empower vehicles to navigate complex environments effortlessly.

Supported by prominent investors, Wayve is advancing the transition from assisted to fully automated driving, making transportation safer, more efficient, and universally accessible. Join our world-class, multinational team of engineers and researchers as we push the boundaries of frontier AI and autonomous driving, creating impactful technologies and products on a global scale

Where you will have an impact We are looking for an experienced Research Engineer to help us in our journey to scale end-to-end neural networks for autonomous driving. You’ll be working across our research team to build, integrate, test and scale algorithms, tools, and machine learning solutions for autonomous driving.

What you will bring to Wayve 5+ years of software engineering experience in an industrial research environment Passion to work in a team on research ideas that have real world impact Strong software engineering experience in Python and other relevant languages (especially C++ and CUDA) Ideally with direct experience working in at least one of computer vision, robotics, simulation, graphics, large language models Ideally with several years working on large-scale machine learning algorithms and systems BS, MS, or above in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical discipline or equivalent experience

What we offer you The chance to be part of a truly mission driven organisation and an opportunity to shape the future of autonomous driving. Unlike our competitors, Wayve is still relatively small and nimble, giving you the chance to make a huge impact Competitive compensation Fully employer-covered medical, dental and vision insurance! Further benefits such as catered lunch, yummy snacks, and variety of drinks, life insurance, employer contributed retirement account, therapy, yoga, office-wide socials and much more. A dynamic and fast-paced work environment in which you will grow every day - learning on the job, from the brightest minds in our space, and with support for more formal learning opportunities too A culture that is ego-free, respectful and welcoming (of you and your dog) - we even eat lunch together every day This is a full-time role based in our office in California. At Wayve we want the best of all worlds so we operate a hybrid working policy that combines time together in our offices and workshops to fuel innovation, culture, relationships and learning, and time spent working from home. We also operate core working hours so you can be where you need to be for family and loved ones too. Teams determine the routines that work best for them.

Location San Diego

Description

At Qualcomm, we are transforming the automotive industry with our Snapdragon Digital Chassis and building the next generation software defined vehicle (SDV).

Snapdragon Ride is an integral pillar of our Snapdragon Digital Chassis, and since its launch it has gained momentum with a growing number of global automakers and Tier1 suppliers. Snapdragon Ride aims to address the complexity of autonomous driving and ADAS by leveraging its high-performance, power-efficient SoC, industry-leading artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and pioneering vision and drive policy stack to deliver a comprehensive, cost and energy efficient systems solution.

Enabling safe, comfortable, and affordable autonomous driving includes solving some of the most demanding and challenging technological problems. From centimeter-level localization to multimodal sensor perception, sensor fusion, behavior prediction, maneuver planning, and trajectory planning and control, each one of these functions introduces its own unique challenges to solve, verify, test, and deploy on the road.

We are looking for smart, innovative and motivated individuals with strong theory background in deep learning, advanced signal processing, probability & algorithms and good implementation skills in python/C++. Job responsibilities include design and development of novel algorithms for solving complex problems related to behavior prediction for autonomous driving, including trajectory and intention prediction. Develop novel deep learning models to predict trajectories for road users and optimize them to run-in real-time systems. Work closely with sensor fusion and planning team on defining requirements and KPIs. Work closely with test engineers to develop test plans for validating performance in simulations and real-world testing.

Minimum Qualifications: • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field and 6+ years of Systems Engineering or related work experience. OR Master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field and 5+ years of Systems Engineering or related work experience. OR PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field and 4+ years of Systems Engineering or related work experience.Preferred Qualifications: Ph.D + 2 years industry experience in behavior and trajectory prediction Proficient in variety of deep learning models like CNN, Transformer, RNN, LSTM, VAE, GraphCNN etc Experience working with NLP Deep Learning Networks Proficient in state of the art in machine learning tools (pytorch, tensor flow) 3+ years of experience with Programming Language such as C, C++, Python, etc. 3+ years Systems Engineering, or related work experience in the area of behavior and trajectory prediction. Experience working with, modifying, and creating advanced algorithms Analytical and scientific mindset, with the ability to solve complex problems. Experience in Autonomous driving, Robotics, XR/AR/VR Experience with robust software design for safety-critical systems Excellent written and verbal communication skills, ability to work with a cross-functional team

Location Multiple Locations

Description The Qualcomm Cloud Computing team is developing hardware and software for Machine Learning solutions spanning the data center, edge, infrastructure, automotive market. Qualcomm’s Cloud AI 100 accelerators are currently deployed at AWS / Cirrascale Cloud and at several large organizations. We are rapidly expanding our ML hardware and software solutions for large scale deployments and are hiring across many disciplines.

We are seeing to hire for multiple machine learning positions in the Qualcomm Cloud team. In this role, you will work with Qualcomm's partners to develop and deploy best in class ML applications (CV, NLP, GenAI, LLMs etc) based on popular frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow and ONNX, that are optimized for Qualcomm's Cloud AI accelerators. The work will include model assessment of throughput, latency and accuracy, model profiling and optimization, end-to-end application pipeline development, integration with customer frameworks and libraries and responsibility for customer documentation, training, and demos. This candidate must possess excellent communication, leadership, interpersonal and organizational skills, and analytical skills.

This role will interact with individuals of all levels and requires an experienced, dedicated professional to effectively collaborate with internal and external stakeholders. The ideal candidate has either developed or deployed deep learning models on popular ML frameworks. If you have a strong appetite for technology and enjoy working in small, agile, empowered teams solving complex problems within a high energy, oftentimes chaotic environment then this is the role for you.

Minimum Qualifications: • Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 4+ years of Software Applications Engineering, Software Development experience, or related work experience. OR Master's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 3+ years of Software Applications Engineering, Software Development experience, or related work experience. OR PhD in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field and 2+ years of Software Applications Engineering, Software Development experience, or related work experience.

• 2+ years of experience with Programming Language such as C, C++, Java, Python, etc. • 1+ year of experience with debugging techniques.Key Responsibilities: Key contributor to Qualcomm’s Cloud AI GitHub repo and developer documentation. Work with developers in large organizations to Onboard them on Qualcomm’s Cloud AI ML stack improve and optimize their Deep Learning models on Qualcomm AI 100 deploy their applications at scale Collaborate and interact with internal teams to analyze and optimize training and inference for deep learning. Work on Triton, ExecuTorch, Inductor, TorchDynamo to build abstraction layers for inference accelerator. Optimize LLM/GenAI workloads for both scale-up (multi-SoC) and scale-out (multi-card) systems. Partner with product management, hardware/software engineering to highlight customer progress, gaps in product features etc.

Location Multiple Locations

Description

Qualcomm's Multimedia R&D and Standards Group is seeking candidates for Video Compression Research Engineer positions. You will be part of world-renowned team of video compression experts. The team develops algorithms, hardware architectures, and systems for state-of-the-art applications of classical and machine learning methods in video compression, video processing, point cloud coding and processing, AR/VR and computer vision use cases. The successful candidate for this position will be a highly self-directed individual with strong creative and analytic skills and a passion for video compression technology. You will work on, but not be limited to, developing new applications of classical and machine learning methods in video compression improving state-of-the-art video codecs.

We are considering candidates with various levels of experience. We are flexible on location and open to hiring anywhere, preferred locations are USA, Germany and Taiwan.

Responsibilities: Contribute to the conception, development, implementation, and optimization of new algorithms extending existing techniques and systems allowing improved video compression. Initiate ideas, design and implement algorithms for superior hardware encoder performance, including perceptually based bit allocation. Develop new algorithms for deep learning-based video compression solutions. Represent Qualcomm in the related standardization forums: JVET, MPEG Video, and ITU-T/VCEG. Document and present new algorithms and implementations in various forms, including standards contributions, patent applications, conference and journal publications, presentations, etc. Ideal candidate would have the skills/experience below: Expert knowledge of the theory, algorithms, and techniques used in video and image coding. Knowledge and experience of video codecs and their test models, such as ECM, VVC, HEVC and AV1. Experience with deep learning structures CNN, RNN, autoencoder etc. and frameworks like TensorFlow/PyTorch. Track record of successful research accomplishments demonstrated through published papers, and/or patent applications in the fields of video coding or video processing. Solid programming and debugging skills in C/C++. Strong written and verbal English communication skills, great work ethic, and ability to work in a team environment to accomplish common goals. PhD or Masters degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics or similar field, or equivalent practical experience.

Qualifications: PhD or Masters degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics, or similar fields. 1+ years of experience with programming language such as C, C++, MATLAB, etc.

Redmond, Washington, United States

Overview Are you interested in developing and optimizing deep learning systems? Are you interested in designing novel technology to accelerate their training and serving for cutting edge models and applications? Do you want to scale large Artificial Intelligence models to their limits on massive supercomputers? Are you interested in being part of an exciting open-source library for deep learning systems? The DeepSpeed team is hiring!

Microsoft's DeepSpeed is an open-source library built on the PyTorch (machine learning framework) ecosystem that combines numerous research innovations and technology advancements to make deep learning efficient and easier to use. DeepSpeed can parallelize across thousands of GPUs and train models with trillions of parameters. Our OSS (Open Source Software) has powered many advanced models like MT-530B and BLOOM, and it supports unprecedented scale and speed for both training and inference.

The DeepSpeed team is also part of the larger Microsoft AI at Scale initiative, which is pioneering the next-generation AI capabilities that are scaled across the company’s products and AI platforms.

The DeepSpeed team is looking for a Senior Researcher in Redmond, WA with passion for innovations and for building high-quality systems that will make significant impact inside and outside of Microsoft. Our team is highly collaborative, innovative, and end-user obsessed. We are looking for candidates with systems skills and passionate about driving innovations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of deep learning systems. We value creativity, agility, accountability, and a desire to learn new technologies.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Responsibilities Excels in one or more subareas and gains expertise in a broad area of research. Identifies and articulates problems in an area of research that are academically novel and may directly or indirectly impact business opportunities. Collaborates with other relevant researchers or research groups to contribute to or advance a research agenda. Researches and develops an understanding of the state-of-the-art insights, tools, technologies, or methods being used in the research community. Expands collaborative relationships with relevant product and business groups inside or outside of Microsoft and provides expertise or technology to them.