20+ Years ago I was hired by a PE firm to assess the viability and business case for one of the earliest use cases in Image AI…
The IP related to combining video footage overlooking a grocery check-out counter with synchronous capture of cash register entries as items were being charged. Apparently, case studies suggested there was as much as 2% shrinkage (employee theft and errors) to be recaptured. This was the Use Case that this company was touting as compelling with a $1BB+ TAM. Then came bar coding and scanning solutions that made some of this IP obsolete within five years.
Meanwhile, this Image AI concept quickly evolved to toll plazas, replacing the manned or tokenized toll-and-lift-gate with, what is today, the EZPass system.
Not soon enough did government see the potential for this Tech to track speed zone and traffic light enforcement. Frankly, for one who gets the occasional ticket through this type of technology, I am disappointed that government only uses this technology to punch us in the face with a fine. Imagine how much more pleasant life would be if I get a text from the County Supervisor saying: “Hey dude, saw that you slowed down to the speed limit while passing P.S. 252. Just wanted to thank you for being a law- abiding citizen and being concerned for the safety of our children. Have a great day and click here for a $5 Coupon for Coffee on all us parents in the County.” [sponsorship paid for of course by some brand]
Well, not sure we will ever see that, but I can guarantee that this technology and strategy is heading to the field services and building maintenance industry. The vehicles are already mounted with tracking technology and cameras inside and out. Property owners are beginning to realize that the integration of access control, barcodes, QR codes, RFID, BLE, IoT, and image AI is a game-changing opportunity to manage and measure work performance. As a result, don’t be surprised when all this data is married with AI to enable a new type of “speed” or “traffic” monitoring system at a “task” near you.
However, adoption will be a function of the gamification and reward system built into the user experience. It can’t be a world of tickets, fines, license suspensions and verbal floggings. It will have to be a place where encouragement, up-training, certification and advancement is benchmarked, automated and quantified in App. These stats and scores need to be transparent up and down the management hierarchy. This is how we will condition the vital and winning teams for tomorrow.
We know this works. We’ve seen our clients’ usage and completion stats jump one month to the next by 35% as soon as we rolled out our push alerts of monthly performance & encouragement to our senior property managers — we call this our “Atta-Boy-Girl-They Analytics”.
Figure 3 is a sample dashboard StringBean uses to promote compliance for our clients and their business partners using existing asset tags, low cost QR codes and RFID through a no-code workflow builder. Stay tuned for Image AI as well, as we “string” all the “beans” together, empowering all the Bean Counters with business intelligence to understand what’s happening to the bottom line (and whether you get what you are paying for and HOW to improve it).
I find that most founders who are fortunate to experience success in their venture, can point to their Product Roadmap as a blueprint or mural of many experiences throughout their career. Image AI is just one of them.
In my eclectic professional journey I have been fortunate enough to amas an extensive variety of paints and brushes to which we make the StringBean Mural. I am even more fortunate to have such a rich team, client base and network who bring their talents and contributions to our canvass. I presume that’s how you deliver Product-Market-Fit, but what do I know? 😊
Reuben Levine,
CEO and Founder of StringBean Technologies
