For centuries, infrastructure maintenance has barely evolved. Since Roman times, it’s been reactive, manual, and inefficient—trapped in a time warp. BrightAI is here to break that cycle.

Our mission is to transform critical infrastructure management from reactive maintenance to proactive operations, using multimodal AI to anticipate and prevent costly failures before they happen. Today, we’re proud to announce $15 million in seed funding led by Upfront Ventures and reveal the potential of our Stateful OS platform – read more on Upfront’s investment in BrightAI. 

Currently, 50% to 80% of infrastructure operations costs are tied to labor and truck rolls just to assess conditions. Without a comprehensive understanding of asset health, operators are left scrambling to respond to power outages, water main breaks, bridge collapses, gas leaks, and even food contamination—failures that could be prevented with real-time information.

This data exists, and now hard working field teams can access it through Stateful OS, our new platform that turns complex infrastructure data into actionable intelligence.

Purpose-built for industries ranging from water and energy to pest control and manufacturing, our platform is already making an impact. With over 250,000 active AI endpoints and 25,000 AI locations—deployed at more sites than Starbucks stores in the U.S.— we have achieved $80 million in revenue. Remarkably, this growth was accomplished while remaining in stealth mode and  without raising any outside capital — until now. Stateful OS captures exclusive, real-time data that no other system can access. This data powers multimodal AI models that detect infrastructure flaws before they escalate, enabling workers to make smart, informed decisions regarding dispatch and repair. With Stateful OS, workers arrive equipped with insights equivalent to 30 years of experience on their first day—preventing failures, cutting costs, and building resilience. 

The Stateful OS platform offerings include:

1️⃣ Asset & Site Visibility

Imagine having 24/7 monitoring, diagnostics, and automated dispatch at your fingertips. Stateful OS provides continuous visibility into infrastructure conditions, empowering teams with real-time insights to anticipate and resolve issues before they escalate.

2️⃣ Workforce Wearables & Copilots

With our AI-powered wearable solution, field workers gain access to real-time guidance and reporting, supported by a comprehensive operations knowledge graph. This enables faster, smarter decisions on the ground, ensuring your workforce is both informed and empowered.

3️⃣ Autonomous Inspection

Leveraging autonomous robotics and drone systems, Stateful OS automates complex, dangerous, and repetitive tasks, increasing inspection accuracy and frequency while reducing operational risks.

For leaders managing critical infrastructure, these capabilities represent an opportunity to:

• Transition from reactive to proactive management, reducing downtime and operational waste.
• Empower hard working field teams with tools that enable smarter, data-driven decision-making.
• Scale inspection operations with unmatched precision while improving safety and cutting costs.
  
  

With deployments spanning water, power, energy, transportation, pest control, HVAC, and critical home services, BrightAI is already transforming how critical industries manage and maintain infrastructure. Today, it’s possible for large, traditional businesses to evolve into data-driven digital operating systems of their own—accessing and adopting solutions once reserved for multi-billion-dollar companies. Our technology is leading this shift, replacing outdated, reactive methods with proactive, AI-powered precision. The $15M in seed funding will allow us to scale even further, enabling us to bring these solutions to new industries, more regions, and businesses of all sizes. Together with our partners and investors, we’re shaping a future where infrastructure resilience and efficiency are accessible to everyone.  

With over 25 years of experience as a strategic business leader and Army Combat Veteran, Brett has honed his ability to work across disciplines and with diverse clients to drive channel and commercialization growth. His career spans large corporations, startups, and mid-sized companies, consistently focusing on technology and its transformative potential. 

Now, Brett is preparing BrightAI for its next phase of growth. He believes that BrightAI excels at demonstrating to traditional companies how technology can revolutionize their industries, address global infrastructure challenges, and deliver new value.

Why did you decide to join BrightAI?

BrightAI is truly solving real world problems. Everyone needs drinking water. Infrastructure is aging. You need safer environments. The labor force is aging. How are we inspiring younger generations to come into any industry that doesn’t necessarily have technology? They will be excited to enter into that space because of technology. That’s a pretty cool intersection.

I’ve always been a technologist, even before the buzzwords of AI and the Internet of Things (IoT).  My love and passions in my career have been around commercialization, partnerships, and driving scale and growth with revenue and BrightAI was at that phase of maturity and ready for the next chapter. 

BrightAI has evolved to address aging infrastructure globally, showcasing how technology can offer operational efficiencies. In many of the verticals we operate in today, such as HVAC systems and pest environments, we focus on understanding the real-time state of machines. Traditionally, these tasks required a human to drive to each site for monitoring. Now, with edge computing, we can monitor, understand, and obtain real-time data and analytics remotely. The ability to detect, predict, and understand problems remotely is transformational for any company.

What are your roles and responsibilities?

My role is building out commercialization with the customer. That can mean scaling a product post-pilot and development, to global expansion. We have a great customer that is now looking to extend the next generation of technology and  AI to the 26 countries they operate in today. That’s a massive plan of ongoing commercialization. You have to think about how you execute and deploy the technology at scale and make it repeatable. 

It’s pretty exciting. We’re going to start to see that flywheel effect of commercialization and helping our customers. This is new for them, and so we must be patient, but at the same time push them and drive them. We want massive adoption of those products.

I work closely with Nancy Li, our EVP of Strategy & Growth. She’s building our funnel of new customers. I think about what it is we’re trying to build, and what is the ideal transition period when we do a proof of concept.  We will execute a pilot with a customer where later in the process I become involved to get to know the customer because we know it’s going to move to a commercialization opportunity and we make sure there is a beautiful transition between that phase of development and proof points to take it to market and deploy it.

What do you enjoy most about the work you are doing? 

BrightAI has so many talented people! It’s fun to learn about our customers’ products, how they built them, and about the next iteration. When you bring the right collaboration of people with business and technical acumen to data and science, you’re going to be smarter, and you’re all going to learn along the way.

I’ve always had a fierce appetite to learn. I’m not an engineer by trade, but I enjoy working with engineers because of how much I learn. I also love bringing the insights of the customer into the business so that it doesn’t get lost in the new product development cycle. 

I love interfacing with the customers and building long term partnerships. I want to plan and know where we’re going to be in 3 to 5 years together. I view these partnerships as long-term with tremendous growth and enterprise value creation for our customers as well as BrightAI.

How do you make sure that all the verticals get the attention they need from you when you move between them with your skills?

I’ve just always had a natural ability to compartmentalize. We’re all grinding, and especially in my daily world, I’m pivoting to probably 10 to 12 different things per day and need fierce prioritization. You must have ‘think time’, and you have to be highly organized. That probably comes from being in the military for a long time. I’m very structured that way.

I block time for each vertical and understand where they are, and what’s needed, constantly thinking about what’s next and where we’re at. We have a lot of great tools that enable efficiency and productivity. You must carve out time and block out your calendar. 

What milestones speak to the success of BrightAI’s collaboration with traditional industries?

With pest control, we’ve moved into trials (tests) with very large customers like Nestlé, Rentokil, and Ecolab, brands that people know. It’s testing environments such as food processing plants, medical equipment, or medical test labs where safety is critical. 

In food processing that means trying to produce quality food without any opportunity for pest intrusion such as insects or flies that increase likelihood of bacteria or any type of virus that could impact the health of the manufacturing process. High-level traffic can shut down an operation.  We’re seeing some great early results with trials on our Gen I flylight product. 

We had a pest control operator who installed one of the digital flylights in a test lab for a customer. They couldn’t believe the number of recorded flies because previous reports were so low. There are so many possibilities for error with manual touch. We’ve applied technology to a product that looks very similar to what they’ve been buying for years but AI and data processing are identifying the count digitally. Then you have a proof point to say, here’s what a traditional flylight does, now look at the digital application. That’s a very powerful case study. Now we have that huge manufacturer saying this type of flylight will be the spec on all their buildings. It’s going to be super exciting.

The results we are getting give us the ability to speak to people at a much higher level with proof points where we can say, “Let us show you the difference.” That’s an absolute no-brainer for any type of customer.

What does BrightAI do in terms of commercialization that is unique, that you’re bringing to customers?

We’re anchored with the right partners that we can scale with and continue to drive new growth over time. To commercialize correctly you have to have those anchor partners, market leaders. Then, you build the tools to commercialize that product and take it to other companies. It’s a lot of work, a lot of development, building a playbook along the way. How does that go to customer two, customer three, customer four, customer five. And more rapidly, it’s not going to be as high touch. But you have to successfully commercialize one first. 

As you think about BrightAI in the future, what does that look like? 

It’s a larger go-to-market engine, which includes people who are passionate about customers and the success of a product. They’re passionate about taking that customer to the next level. It’s a very exciting journey because that’s where BrightAI starts to think “How do we scale even beyond that?” And building tools that customers can build against that, whether it’s APIs or SDKs, etc. Those are exciting because that’s what makes a company just a huge multiplier of success when you can commercialize using the right tools and with a team that’s passionate about success and putting our customer first.

 What are your hobbies outside of work? 

I love being off the grid with no phone. I think we have to be more conscious of that in the world that we live in, especially with human connectivity, and what we’ve all been through globally with the pandemic. Technology is incredible but we, as humans, have to strike a balance of interaction and human touch versus just a pure digital environment. 

I’m very active. I’m not one to sit around much. I’m very passionate about coaching. I’ve coached my son’s baseball team and all stars and football since he started playing. I love developing young players not just as athletes, but also as human beings. I think it teaches incredible things about teamwork, respect, and diversity. I love the outdoors and mountain biking, running, skiing and hiking with my family. 

After an impressive 25-year track record in autonomous driving, Kiran Bharwani has joined BrightAI as Executive VP of Engineering and Product. He explains why it’s not a giant leap to move to this innovative start-up. BrightAI’s whole ethos excited him at a time when he was ready for a new challenge.

Why did you decide to join BrightAI?

I am inherently driven by a disruptive spirit, a quality ingrained in my very essence, as evidenced by my transformative experiences at Caterpillar, and Rivian. The excitement of collaborating with like-minded individuals, passionate about rewriting the rules, fuels my professional journey. I thrive on reimagining possibilities and tackling challenges from unconventional angles.

The prospect of aligning with an organization committed to consistently pushing boundaries and nurturing disruptive thinking is what excites me. Joining this extraordinary team at BrightAI is a thrilling opportunity. BrightAI stands at the forefront of digitizing the physical world, unleashing unprecedented potential for business growth and societal betterment. My pursuit was not just a job; it was about finding a company with a visionary mission and a profound purpose. BrightAI’s commitment to challenging the norm and driving innovation with enduring impact resonates deeply with my aspirations.

Knowing what you do about BrightAI’s mission to disrupt and innovate, has anything surprised you about the innovation you have found now that you are part of the team?

The remarkable diversity of verticals that the company is actively engaged with. This presents an exciting opportunity to delve into how our technology can create a significant impact across a broad spectrum of domains. 

One of the other things that motivates me is the enthusiasm of our customers in their pursuit of innovation and bringing these ground-breaking ideas to the market. Talk to any customer and you can see their excitement: “When can I have this?” Imagine the potential this can bring about in our business!

What else do you enjoy about working for an innovative start-up like BrightAI? 

One very exciting thing is the pace we move at. I enjoy the agility to implement ideas quickly, the opportunity to directly shape the company’s direction, and the close-knit community of brilliant minds. Being part of a startup allows for rapid decision-making and experimentation, which is essential in such a rapidly evolving industry.

Do you have a typical working day at BrightAI? 

A typical working day for me at BrightAI involves a blend of strategic planning and hands-on involvement. Mornings are usually dedicated to team meetings and strategic discussions, while afternoons often involve diving into the technical details of our projects. I also make it a point to engage with team members to ensure a cohesive and motivated workforce.

What do you think is important as a leader?

As a leader, I value strong communication, adaptability, and a results-driven approach. Effective communication ensures my team understands our goals, fosters transparency, and promotes collaboration. My adaptability helps me respond to changing circumstances and encourages innovation by being open to new ideas.

I balance being ‘hands-on’ and maintaining a high-level overview by setting clear expectations and delegating responsibilities to capable team members. This empowers them to make decisions within their expertise, allowing me to focus on the broader vision. Regular check-ins and feedback loops keep me informed without micromanaging, ensuring alignment with our goals. This approach empowers my team to take ownership of their work and excel.

You’re known for assembling high-performing teams. Have you found there’s a particular type of person who is drawn to a company like BrightAI?

Definitely. While I believe that individuals with diverse backgrounds and skills can thrive at BrightAI, there are certain qualities that tend to draw people to our company. Many are attracted to BrightAI’s commitment to innovation and its mission to disrupt the status quo. Those who value the opportunity to work on cutting-edge technologies and have a passion for driving meaningful change are often particularly drawn to our organization. We also tend to attract individuals who are collaborative, adaptable, and have a strong desire to make a lasting impact in their respective fields.

You have had great success in getting products to market. What do you see as the crucial winning ingredients for managing this successfully? 

There are several crucial ingredients. The first one–and most important–is a deep understanding of the target market. What problem are we trying to solve by bringing this product into the market? This knowledge informs the product’s design and features. 

Once you have clarity around that, then the next key thing is effective project management. This includes setting clear objectives, timelines, resource allocation, and having the right resources on the project.

You also need to foster a culture of innovation within the team, and continuous feedback from users. Doing that drives product refinement and improvement. 

Ultimately, successful products are the result of a combination of market insight, effective execution, and a commitment to ongoing improvements.

BrightAI is a remote-first company. Do you find certain strategies more useful when working remotely with a team?

When working remotely, clear communication, effective time management, and organized schedules are important for both personal and team productivity. Using digital tools for collaboration and maintaining a sense of team spirit through virtual activities and recognition also play a key role. Don’t forget to take breaks, stay active, and unwind after work for your well-being.

I like taking breaks in between meetings or relaxing at the end of the day because sometimes remote work doesn’t have a well-defined start or end of the day. Meetings just come up at any time. Slack messages are there all the time. You need to make sure you take breaks to stay healthy. 

 What are your favorite ways to relax? 

I find relaxation in a variety of activities. One of my favorite ways to unwind is by immersing myself in a good book. I also enjoy taking long walks or hikes, connecting with nature, and letting go of the day’s stresses. Additionally, I find solace in practicing mindfulness through meditation, which helps me maintain a sense of balance. Spending quality time with loved ones, whether it’s through engaging conversations or shared activities, is another cherished way for me to relax. Ultimately, I believe in the importance of finding a blend of activities that cater to both mental and physical well-being.

Where do you see BrightAI in 5 years?

 I envision BrightAI becoming a leader in AIoT. We will continue to innovate and disrupt the industry by introducing groundbreaking solutions. Our goal is to expand our reach into new markets and continue to attract the best talent. We see BrightAI at the forefront of making AIoT more efficient but also a ubiquitous reality in various industries. Our commitment to innovation and excellence will drive our success in the coming years.