LXT is a provider of industry-leading AI data solutions to power innovation for top 10 global technology companies and Fortune 100 organizations. Pulse 2.0 interviewed LXT co-founder and CEO Mohammad Omar to learn more about the company.
Acquisition Of Clickworker
Why did LXT acquire clickworker? Omar said:
“LXT acquired clickworker to bring together two of the most experienced players in the AI data space – a move that combines our global data and operational capabilities with clickworker’s automated technology platform and vast crowd to provide an industry-leading suite of AI data products and services.”
“The new LXT will strengthen its position in the AI data industry with a customer base that includes top 10 global technology companies, Fortune 100 organizations, and startups, a presence across six continents and more than 150 countries as well as a crowd workforce of over than 7 million.”
Combined Company Offerings
What evolved products and services will the combined company offer? Omar explained:
“To enhance its managed data solutions that power traditional as well as generative AI applications for the world’s largest tech companies, LXT will deliver an advanced technology platform with self-service features, marketplace, API integrations and more to empower its customers.”
“The company will leverage the platform and its extensive community building and management experience to develop Domain Specific Super Expert communities, allowing the crowd to deploy their expertise more effectively.”
“Customers will gain access to expanded solutions across new data types, modalities, and industries, along with enhanced automation that drives faster data delivery, improved quality, and cost efficiencies. The combined company will leverage operational synergies to deliver 24/7 global support.”
Mohammad Omar’s Background
Could you tell me more about your background? Omar shared:
“I have an operational background across continents. My first experience after graduating from college was as a project manager with a localization company, at the time an extremely high growth industry. In that role I succeeded in signing a deal with one of the world’s largest technology companies. We wound up supporting the translation and localization needs for this organization in all corners of the globe.”
“That experience opened my eyes to all kinds of possibilities. I worked with a lot of the client’s project managers, and importantly, I maintained many of those relationships long after I had left the localization industry.”
“In the years that followed, I went to Europe to study and gained what later turned out to be extremely useful experience while working at the United Nations followed by another amazing hands-on experience working in Shanghai, China. Towards the conclusion of my MBA, one of my contacts at the large tech organization reached out to me, and I joined their team as a linguist.”
Formation Of The Company
How did the original idea for the company come together? Omar noted:
“As soon as I began this new role, I started seeing opportunities beyond being part of the in-house localization team. I could see a huge volume of Arabic work in the pipeline, and a significant gap in the supplier market to address it.”
“At that time, there was not an abundance of vendors working on these projects like today, and the work was quite secretive. Everyone was possessive of what they were doing, and there wasn’t a lot of information shared because the projects were supporting the development of prototypes for groundbreaking new products that are now ubiquitous. Once I started working on these projects and the vendor gap became increasingly clear, I jumped on the opportunity to deliver a much higher value proposition. I already knew what the requirements were – fast data collections with high quality at an affordable price – and I knew I could deliver what the company needed.”
“So, I quietly submitted my resignation, set up my own company, and let my former manager know that I had a solution for her most challenging projects – and they were exactly what she ended up giving to us. In hindsight, it’s interesting to think that she took a chance on me as our company was brand new and unproven, but it demonstrates the strength of the relationship we had built, and the importance of relationships in business generally.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Omar reflected:
“Looking back, every big challenge we overcame became a cherished memory. I am fond of the early days of founding the company and delivering very challenging projects amid the Arab spring, a turbulent time in the MENA region.”
“These same early projects came up in conversation ten years later when I met Phil Hall, a longtime veteran from the AI training data company Appen who is now our Chief Growth Officer, and it has become one of my favorite anecdotes from the early days.”
“I told him the story about those first jobs for LXT, and he said, ‘wow, I know the exact projects you are talking about. Our customer told me at the time that we had competition we didn’t even know about. I suspected she was bluffing and stood firm on our price, thinking that we would win the business – now I know where it went and just how much market share Appen lost due to sticking to that position.’”
Challenges Faced
What challenges have Omar and the team faced in building the company? Omar acknowledged:
“The rapid advancement of AI technology, and in particular gen AI, is changing the way that we approach our solutions for our customers. What is needed to train the most powerful large language models (LLMs) and specialized AI agents is new and always evolving. In some ways it reminds me how we approached the expansion of our early language coverage.”
“After successfully delivering an initial series of data collection projects in my first language – Arabic – my client started asking about other languages. ‘Hey Mo, you lived in France. Can LXT do French? You can? Great, how about Dutch?’ and so on. No matter what the language or service type, my answer was always “sure, we can do that.” LXT thrived on difficult assignments, we accepted the challenges that came our way and figured out new and innovative ways to deliver. Our focus from the start has always been on providing customized solutions that deliver for our clients.”
“To handle the constant change in the market, we stay agile and adjust our approach to data collection, data annotation, capturing new domain expertise, applying human feedback and more. As we have in the past, we find new ways to turn what others see as challenges, or even unsurmountable deal breakers, into opportunities to establish points of difference and to gain competitive advantage.”
“With the addition of clickworker, we are more ready and able to deliver than ever before.”
Revenue
When asking Omar about the company’s revenue details, he revealed:
“LXT has achieved tremendous growth of 4x over the past 3 years. clickworker contributions will help LXT to boost its revenues again in 2025, deliver significant operational efficiencies, and cater for longer term strong double digit top line growth. Analysts expect the transaction to upgrade LXT to a medium-sized operator in our growing industry. This deal adds more than 500 enterprise clients to our portfolio, increasing our customer base and significantly broadening our global footprint.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Omar assessed:
“By combining forces with clickworker, LXT will expand its total addressable market to more than $20 billion, creating opportunities for sustained growth in untapped sectors. The integration is expected to position EBITDA margins among the most profitable in the industry.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Omar affirmed:
“A key component to our early success in growing the business was that I had worked hands-on delivering exactly what I was relying on our remote crowd workforce to do. I had figured out ways to collect and annotate data in challenging locales across the globe, and now our team replicates this daily at a massively increased scale to meet the needs of our biggest clients.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future goals? Omar concluded:
“By bringing together LXT and clickworker, our goal is to power innovative AI and gen AI applications that will allow our customers to transform their businesses, and society at large. At the same time, we will provide new opportunities for our employees to grow and work on cutting-edge projects, and for our vast crowd to leverage their expertise and contribute in new and exciting ways.”
