Host: Definitely accomplishments follow determination and hard work. Next up, Iveda is a leading cloud-based AI video search and surveillance technology provider. What motivated you to establish this company?

David: Well, we've been around for 23 years. And at the start, it certainly was not AI. But what motivated us from the start was cloud.

If you go back to the early 2000s, 2003, the internet was still expensive. Cloud was still a conversation, an up-and-coming concept just like AI. It was a buzzword.

So, what inspired me was, really, it all comes back to our customers. In the early days, the security industry, actually still to this day, we install a lot of what industry guys call boxes, right? Hard drives, computers, NVRs, DVRs, they're all the same.

They're computer boxes. Well, customers are tired of holding and buying and maintaining boxes. So, what inspired me to take it cloud was still provide the same video surveillance services and features that the end customer, we would expect, whether we own a small sandwich shop or we own a big logistics enterprise.

At the end of the day, we want convenience, and we want efficiency. That's never changed. It doesn't matter how old any industry is.

So, I took it to the internet. We provide customer security camera and video surveillance capabilities, but they didn't have to have the box. No one needed to buy a box.

They just needed a camera. And camera back then, we were one of the first companies. We call it a pioneering to send customer video to the cloud.

And in the early days, we actually leased data center space, had to manage our own big servers, right? The big boxes. And we hosted everything for our customers from 2003 to 2008.

You can imagine that's very early to talk about cloud services. But the inspiration was, again, making and simplifying our customers lives. Make it easy for people.

Host: The industry you targeted truly holds potential for growth and progression.

David: Absolutely.

Host: Moving on, how does AI integration in video search and surveillance work? What opportunities and risks does it impose?

David: Well, being in the security industry, it's very traditional for the purpose and use, right? It's about safety and security. But having AI, AI comes as a complement, as a force multiplier, and frankly, assists the people.

We, the human operator of such technology, are not perfect, right? Nor is AI. Please don't think I'm saying AI is perfect.

But AI comes and complements the services that we provide to make sure that our property is safe, our people are safe and secured. No matter what the observation may be used for, with the assistance of AI, one thing AI does is it doesn't fall asleep, right? We humans, on a job or a shift, we get tired.

Even though we switch off, humans tend to be distracted. We get distracted. We don't see everything we're supposed to see.

And again, I'll come back to it, we're not always consistent. But that's where AI comes into play, is AI is more accurate and more consistent. In the tasks that it performs on our behalf.

Now, just bringing it down to grassroots, Sudakshina, what it really means is, if you're looking for a car with a license plate XYZ123, well, the AI can do it for you just like that, right? Instead of relying on a human having to chase that down on the screen, or go back in two, three, four, five days, it would take hours, if not days. AI complements and makes any existing video technology that much better.

It makes it quicker for all the tasks that you would normally perform, and it sends more up-to-date alerts and data on the organization's behalf. So yeah, there's a significant support factor to where AI comes in to lay that helping hand.

Host: AI can remarkably be helpful, responsible enough too.

David: Yes.

Host: Approaching further, can you give us an overview of IvedaAI and its features? What advantages does this technology offer to overall security and operational systems?

David: Yeah, you know, we within the security and operational realm, traditionally would use cameras for many purposes. One of the most is safety and security. But operations leveraging video technology has really expanded throughout the past decades, is for efficiency of operations, monitoring assembly lines, monitoring worker efficiency, monitoring machineries.

Well, with the help of AI, you are now able to really set and configure what the outcome should be, and then the AI helps you monitor for outcome. And what makes Iveda unique is there's a lot of cameras around the world. There's a lot of existing video infrastructure.

The goal is to not rip it out or replace it, if at all possible. And it's highly viable now that almost any IP camera is going to be functional and compatible with IvedaAI. What we offer is an add-on, right?

We take existing infrastructure and we make it smarter. Now, to say that it sounds cool, but what makes us unique and stand out is not only does the IvedaAI platform improve your existing video, it does it easy for you. Remember, customers don't want to have to work so hard to leverage the value of technology.

And that's always the goal is to simplify things for the customer. You and I like that too. So why not do it for our customers?

What makes us unique? All that configuration that normally you would have to set up and configure and fine-tune to make sure that the solution actually works the way it's said to function, we do it automatically. Meaning our platform will take an existing camera, whatever the human eye sees on that screen, the platform will now automatically suggest the AI analytic feature that would be best for that scene.

Is it in a hallway? Is it in the front door? Is it a cash register?

The AI itself is now doing the suggestion of this analytic will be best for your business. Would you like to proceed? Now, imagine you have an organization with 200, maybe 600 cameras in different areas.

Imagine that automation and automatic support. Instead of a tech tech guy or an IT guy going around every store and clicking and configuring and looking and guessing, the platform does it automatically. And all you got to do is click yes or confirm.

Boom, your entire organization is now set up with a multitude of different configurations that will be in the best interest and function of that camera for you. That's what makes it special.

Host: That's amazing. So now let's shift our focus to IoT integration. IoT devices have advanced human-machine interaction. What challenges generally arise in seamless IoT integration and how can they be overcome?

David: Well, the Internet of Things has really helped us gather a lot of data, you know, information. Information that frankly already exists in all our operations, right? From public works to a warehouse, simple warehouse operation here in town.

But what makes it different is that now there's a lot of data. There's a lot of sensors out there. It collects a bunch of data.

I think one of the biggest challenges for us and for those who are operating within the realm is how do we organize that data and how do we make sense of that data? I think any operation, when we invest in technology, we want that technology to do something for us, right? It either alerts us of something.

It either calculates something for us. And remember, it's always about the results in return. And I think the challenge is identifying the outcome and configuring the desired results from such data.

So, when you have a small operation, it's easy. But when you have a large operation, this is where AI comes into play. The complexity of interpreting that data, maybe even doing some, let's say, prediction from that data to what may happen next, it's kind of like the weather, right?

10, 20 years ago, it says it's going to rain today. And all day, there's no rain. I think what's happening now, just like in the meteorology, is AI is helping accuracy.

We're processing data at a more rapid pace. And we're processing it with an abundance of data. So, I think AI will enhance the accuracy.

And it's going to assist with such challenges that we all still face today. So that's an application of data is making sense of all, I'm sorry, the AI is that it helps us make sense of all the data, therefore helping alleviate some of the challenges that we face today.

Host: That's excellent. Next up, according to you, what role does leadership play in establishing and managing businesses? And what qualities should a leader reflect to guide a team to success?

David: Well, as down to earth and simple as that question may sound, I think after more than two decades of doing what I do and experience with so many people all around the world, I think the best qualities is patience. And it's easier said than done is being true to self. I think we have to be upfront and frank and totally transparent in our communication with others.

And I've only learned, it takes a lot of experience for you to say this, is got to keep it real. And I advise working with people that truly want to be with you, who truly believe in your vision, whether they understand technically, whether people know specific how something works or not, all that can be taught. But a good leader learns to surround themselves with not just people who are better than them or that they can learn from.

That's, you know, that's cliche, but a good leader needs to be honest to him or herself and just be with people who they truly know want to be with them, want to work with them. Anything else, get rid of it. Don't waste time.

And that's called being honest. That's keeping it real. And don't fear what others think.

You'll never grow a business effectively if you fear what others think. Love your customers and love the people who want to be around you. Anybody else?

Get rid of them.

Host: That was perfect and strong leadership visionary. That was absolutely perfect.

David: Thank you.

Host: Moving on, customer satisfaction is a core value of Iveda. How do you measure customer satisfaction and meet diverse needs of your client?

David: Well, you know, we have yet to establish the traditional feedback. You know, what we see in most industries, you have the feedback and I'll be very transparent and honest. And we don't have that system.

But what we do have is people to people. We face our partners and at times our end users quite often. And we're still very hands-on as a technology company.

Even though we distribute our technology through a handful of global partners, we interact with people every day. And really that interaction is based on hearing what their problems are. You know, when things are good and everybody's fine, you don't hear from them.

You know, you hear from people when there's an issue. You hear from people when there's a problem. That's when they raise their voice most.

And we're happy to be there. And I think we measure satisfaction by how well we address problems. Not how well we've done good by others.

I think that's the... Fortunately, there's a lot of cool things happening. But we measure customer satisfaction by how well we address a problem when it arises.

You know, are we truly listening to the customer? How the customer responds to us during times of heightened stress, that's how you measure success. It's easy to sit around and say, yeah, I've sold 18 iPhones.

iPhones are great. Okay, cool. But what if you have innovation that you say will turn right and it doesn't quite turn right?

It just kind of stays straight. It doesn't mean it won't turn right one day. It's being able to address that with the customer and them coming back having trust and belief in you that the technology will work with proper care and support.

To me, that communication level and that existence of care is what shows us we're doing good. That's how we measure it. Because if we just ask people, how are you doing?

Good. Just like you walk around the street every day at Starbucks. Hey, how are you doing?

Good, great. Nobody's doing good or great. They're just giving you a generic answer.

They probably have a bunch of stress in their head, going to work or got to pick up the kids. Doing great. So how do you know when people are doing good?

Is when you spend time with them when they're stressed and when they have a problem that they need your help and you're able to satisfy them. That is customer satisfaction.

Host: That was perfect. Thank you so much, David, for sharing such valuable points with us. Your knowledge and expertise will surely help our audience to understand the video surveillance domain more distinctly.

David: Thank you very much again for having me.

Host: Thank you so much. Thank you everyone for listening to us in this insightful episode of ExtraMile by WisdomPlexus. I'm your host Sudakshina signing off for today.

Stay tuned for more informative conversations with industry leaders and include their wisdom on the technologies and trends. Until then, stay tuned.