Multisided Business Model for Platform Offering AI Services

Abstract

AbstractThe development of B2B platforms has led to the diffusion of business models (BMs) based on the concept of sharing economy. In recent years, multisided platform BMs have become an important way of creating and capturing value even though the phenomenon remains undertheorized (Zhao et al., Long Range Planning 53(4):101892, 2020). Multisided platforms (MSPs) are present in an increasing number of sectors due to the development of the Internet, digital technologies, and artificial intelligence (AI). The manufacturing sector has not been untouched by this trend; however, it still struggles to establish value drivers to support small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the change. The objective of the proposed study is to present an ecosystem for the SME manufacturing sector, which will be based on the selected MSP offering AI services. An initial BM for the AI platform as a service will be design, and a revenue model will be proposed within it. The selected case allowed the use of a methodological approach (PDT – Platform Design Toolkit) to the design of an MSP business model based on a qualitative analysis of the dynamics governing the platform ecosystem. The originality of the research stems from the reliance on data obtained from the implementation of the KITT4SME project (H2020, GA 952119). The study results indicate that it is crucial to properly identify the needs of the platform’s stakeholders, and then precisely define the values and the mechanisms for exchanging them through MSP.