Industrial IoT Spotlight

In this episode, we interviewed Matan Libis, VP of Product at SQream. SQream provides an analytics platform that minimizes Total Time to Insight (TTTI) for time-sensitive data, on-prem and on-the-cloud. In this talk, we discussed the value of modern database architecture for extracting insights from petaflops of data. We also explored the merger of traditional data warehouses with data lakes into lakehouses wherein large volumes of data are queried without duplicating to a warehouse. Key Questions: What are the unique architectural requirements for managing peta-scale data sets? How do data management requirement differ for the manufacturing, telco, and banking, industries? What is the difference between a data lake, a warehouse, and a lakehouse?

In this episode, we talked with Robin Farmanfarmaian. Robin is a professional speaker and healthcare entrepreneur. She is also the author of "How AI can democratize healthcare?" In this talk, we discussed AI's role in the shifting landscape of healthcare delivery towards telemedicine and healthcare. We also explored the interfaces between traditional healthcare products and service providers with the new generation of digital diagnostics and therapeutics companies. Key Questions: How do digital therapeutics work with the technology company and traditional healthcare providers? What is the current landscape of the ability of machine learning to make predictions accurate in healthcare products and services? How are the integrations across other applications work to enrich medical data sets? How does digital diagnostics impact the traditional healthcare industry and therapeutics companies, especially in hospitals and pharmacies?

Our guest this week is Nick Jordon, founder and CEO of Narrative. Narrative is a category creating company that has redefined data commerce by helping organizations acquire and monetize data more efficiently. In this talk, we deep dived into data monetization, from common use cases to marketplace pricing mechanisms and data quality assurance. We also explored how large, mature companies can monetize data from customer interactions with their products to improve margins. Key Questions: What are the buyer and seller dynamics of a data marketplace? Which use cases are mature today, and which are being tested? How are prices and purchase rules set rules on the platform, and by whom? What is the process to guarantee data ownership and accuracy?

This week we interviewed Cameron Worth, CEO and co-founder of SharpEnd. SharpEnd is an IoT agency and SaaS platform that supports CPG brands in connecting non-digital consumer products. In this talk, we discussed using QR codes, NFC, and augmented reality to drive consumer engagement and generate market insights. We also explored the challenges involved in rolling out large scale IoT campaigns that involve millions of products, thousands of sales points, and dozens of countries. Key Questions: What does the IoT application landscape look like today for CPG brands and retailers? Which "common sense" sales and marketing use cases should every brand consider? What are the significant differences in capabilities and cost between QR codes and NFC? How is NFC deployed to gather insights across the lifecycle of products?

This week we interviewed Jag Gattu, founder and CEO of UptimeAI. UptimeAI is an artificial intelligence-based plant monitoring software that combines predictive maintenance with explainable failure modes, recommendations, and self-learning workflows to mitigate equipment failures and performance loss in process industries. In this episode, we talked about the current state of artificial intelligence for system optimization and process manufacturing as we focused on performance degradation and equipment failure. We also discussed the need for energy improvement, efficiency, and long-term sustainability priorities. Key Questions: What is the value UptimeAI brings to the market? What are areas of confidence and challenges for predictive analytics and system-wide optimization? What are the steps a company should take to provide energy-efficient solutions? How do you see the data availability in the manufacturing industry?

Our guest this week was Martin Whitlock, CTO of Telenor IoT. Telenor IoT is a world-leading provider of managed IoT connectivity for cloud services that enable cost-effectively building and operating both large and small-scale IoT solutions. In this talk, we discussed the impacts of 2G and 3G sunsetting on IoT device manufacturers, owners and operators. We also explored how companies can minimize the effect of 2G and 3G phase-outs on their customers and how they can future-proof devices currently in design and production. Key Questions: What does it mean to sunset a communications technology? What are the practical implications of the 2G and 3G sunsets for IoT device manufacturers? How do existing products need to be modified to maintain functionality after the infrastructure sunsets are implemented? How will functionality be impacted for systems that have both cloud and embedded/edge capabilities?

This week we interviewed Dean Priebe, Senior Director of the Robotics Center of Excellence for Dematic. Dematic is an intra-logistics innovator that designs, builds and supports intelligent automated solutions for manufacturing, warehouse and distribution environments. In this episode, we discussed how robotics shapes the supply chain by improving e-commerce service levels, operational flexibility and cost structures. We also discussed the benefits of partnering with startups and tech giants. Key Questions: What are the areas of innovation for modern warehouse robotics? What is the business logic for solution integration between Dematic and Dexterity? Which automation use cases have the most reliable payback for mid-sized companies? Are SaaS-based robotic intelligence solutions becoming the norm for warehouse automation in North America?

In this episode, we interviewed Liam Bates, founder and CEO of Kaiterra. Kaiterra creates air quality solutions for healthy, sustainable buildings by providing innovative environmental monitoring devices, intelligent data analytics, and turn-key building integration. In this episode, we discussed how environmental data can provide insights, modify the behavior of operators and tenants, and enable system automation to reduce energy consumption. Key Questions: How can building operators use data analytics to identify the root causes of air quality and energy consumption problems? How is the technology stack evolving for indoor air quality analytics in commercial buildings? How are investment decisions made among the multiple stakeholders involved in building, owning, operating, and using commercial buildings? What is next on the horizon for smart building environment management?

This week we interviewed Daniel Young, Senior Manager of Product Standards at Toshiba. Toshiba provides innovative and cost-efficient technology solutions for multiple industries. Daniel is part of Toshiba's global Digital Innovation team, promoting digital transformation strategies and best practices across all of Toshiba's operating companies. In this episode, we discussed trends in manufacturing technology adaptation and common adoption challenges to address. We also explored how standards and microservices enable the development of solutions with significantly lower system integration costs and timelines. Key Questions: How would you characterize the state of manufacturing in the US today? How do you assess the financial viability of use cases and optimize them to meet ROI targets? What are common challenges in digitalizing industrial automation processes that are operated with legacy technology?

In this episode, we interviewed Brian Sathianathan, co-founder and CTO of Iterate AI. Iterate AI is a low-code rapid prototyping platform set up in 2013 that helps accelerate innovation projects with large enterprises by developing and employing digital solutions faster using the 465 pre-built software components. In this talk, we discussed how a low-code platform simplifies the completion of tasks by using components of AI and IoT tech stacks that are already pre-built. We also covered how low-code platforms can transform the go-to-market path for edge and cloud AI solutions. Key Questions: What is the difference between the traditional AI-development process and low-code platforms for enterprises? What are the unique challenges of deploying a platform for edge AI versus cloud AI? How can high volumes of data be efficiently tagged to train AI algorithms?