Commersant, Georgia’s first business radio station, has been making waves in the industry by integrating fascinating technology, such as AI, to its platform. After successfully introducing the first AI-generated reporter in the country last year, Commersant is now going to implement “some interesting ideas”.

Director of Commersant, Goga Samushia, shared upcoming projects in this interview with Golden Brand.

Q. Could you please tell us what project Commersant is going forward with next?

A. This would be our project Aria, which is the country’s first AI-generated reporter. Both the text and the visuals of Aria are generated by neural networks.

Artificial intelligence has a lot of potential. It has lived up to our expectations, which has led us to some interesting ideas. One of these ideas is to automatically record the digital version of our content and make it available on the Commersant platform.

Q. What is the significance of Golden Brand in the Georgian business community and how committed are you to supporting Georgian businesses?

A. I am grateful that we have been partners on this project for years. Golden Brand is a significant event in the Georgian business community. It serves as recognition of annual achievements and provides valuable participation opportunities to businesses. We are fully committed to supporting Georgian businesses. Our aim is to make this project a more extensive and influential award in the business sector.

Q. What is the purpose of Commersant and what does it aim to provide to businesses?

A. With its idea and content, Commersant is a business support entity that aims to provide practical solutions and useful partnership to its clients. We strive to inspire and be a source of motivation for our clients. Furthermore, we are committed to supporting all initiatives in the realm of business social responsibility.

Commersant is absolutely free from the interests of all kinds of political and business groups, so we deal with all topical issues that we consider interesting and important to the country, business, and consumers first.

Q. What challenges does the media market face today in your opinion?

A. The media market faces a major challenge due to the scarcity and concentration of business activity in one area. Additionally, there is high competition in this small market.

Unfortunately, business activity in the regions is limited to retail customers only. However, if activity increases in these regions, it will have a positive impact on their social and economic situation, leading to an increased demand for relevant information content. This, in turn, will boost the media market.

Finding qualified staff is a significant challenge for businesses in Georgia, and the media industry is no exception. Due to its relatively small and unstable nature, this market is highly sensitive to political and economic events. Many people only work in this profession temporarily and do not invest in high qualifications or self-development. A more stable market would likely regulate this issue over time.

Q. What kind of support would you need from the business sector?

A. Our media needs more communication and transparency from business due to our content. Active feedback enables them to generate practically usable content in different platforms that helps manage their business.

Q. How would you wish to develop Commersant as its Director?

A. My aim is to increase our audience and content availability by integrating more technology into larger social ecosystems.

Q. Commersant was created 16 years ago to ‘fill the gap’ back in 2008. How have you achieved this goal?

A. Yes, Commersant has been informing the business sector over economic developments in the country for 16 years and I can say that over the years it has strongly modified its content not only to inform, but to encourage the sector.

The idea of founding the radio station was dictated by the lack of information for businesses concerning economic news and processes in the county. We are growing and improving ourselves together with Georgian business.

Along with providing unbiased information in a professional manner, the Commersant staff is trying to feel the need for its content for business and therefore for the country. It is a big responsibility!