Aug 4, 2025

Podcast: Alex Hawkinson on Dealmakers — Betting Big on Physical AI

What does it take to build a company that doesn’t follow the typical SaaS playbook? On the Dealmakers podcast, BrightAI founder and CEO Alex Hawkinson talks with host Alejandro Cremades about scaling real-world AI, selling SmartThings to Samsung, and why the physical world deserves just as much innovation as the digital one.

🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

Aug 4, 2025

Podcast: BrightAI’s Vision for AI in the Physical World

On the latest episode of Inspired, Alexa von Tobel interviews BrightAI CEO Alex Hawkinson about building companies that reshape how the world works—from SmartThings to BrightAI, and his mission to bring Physical AI to essential industries like HVAC, utilities, and more.

They discuss why Inspired Capital chose to invest, what lies ahead for BrightAI, and, in a more personal moment, how Alex handles stress, stays grounded, and the kindest thing anyone’s ever done for him.

🎧 Listen to the full episode here

Jul 18, 2025

Press Release: BrightAI Raises $51M Series A to Scale Physical AI

BrightAI has raised $51 million in Series A funding to bring real-time intelligence and automation to the physical infrastructure that powers modern life. The round was co-led by Khosla Ventures and Inspired Capital, with participation from BoxGroup, Marlinspike, VSC Ventures, Rsquared VC, Cooley LLP, and others.

Full press release follows below.

Press Release

BrightAI Raises $51M from Khosla Ventures and Inspired Capital to Bring Physical AI to the World’s Essential Services

BrightAI adds $51 million in Series A funding from leading infrastructure and AI investors, bringing total funding to $78 million.
Backed by leaders from SmartThings, Rivian, and Microsoft, BrightAI equips frontline teams to outpace labor shortages, aging infrastructure, and climate risk.
A new San Francisco headquarters will support expansion into new industries, customers, and hires across engineering and operations.

San Francisco, CA, United States – WEBWIRE – Friday, July 18, 2025

BrightAI, the company bringing AI into the physical world to power smarter, more resilient infrastructure, today announced a $51 million Series A funding round co-led by Khosla Ventures and Inspired Capital, with participation from BoxGroup, Marlinspike, VSC Ventures, Rsquared VC, Cooley LLP and other strategic investors with deep operational experience across essential sectors like water, energy, and industrial infrastructure. Upfront Ventures led BrightAI’s Seed round, and this new capital brings BrightAI’s total funding to $78 million.

While AI has rapidly transformed the digital world, the physical infrastructure that keeps it all running—power grids, water pipelines, industrial systems—has been left behind. These essential networks are strained by aging assets, climate volatility, and deepening labor shortages. In the U.S. alone, pipeline leaks waste over 6 billion gallons of treated water every day—enough to supply 15 million homes—while power outages cost the economy more than $150 billion annually and equipment failures add another $50 billion in industrial downtime.

BrightAI was founded in 2019 with a bold mission: to bring AI into the physical world. Led by CEO and founder Alex Hawkinson, who previously founded SmartThings, BrightAI is replacing reactive inspections and manual maintenance with intelligent, always-on systems. The platform empowers field teams to anticipate and prevent failures before they happen, transforming the fundamental approach to infrastructure management for the first time since the Roman era.

AI will not only transform the digital world but our physical world as well,” said Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures. “BrightAI is using AI to monitor and maintain aging infrastructure, from power grids to pipelines and more, securing key assets for our future.

Despite touching the most essential parts of daily life, these systems are still monitored manually, with sparse data and infrequent inspections. Operators are often in the dark until something breaks—leading to costly, last-minute interventions. Risks like power outages or burst pipes remain difficult to predict and even harder to fix.

BrightAI gives field teams something they’ve never had before: true observability. While most AI systems are running out of new data to learn from, BrightAI is just getting started—unlocking billions of previously untapped signals from the physical world and turning them into real-time, actionable insights. With its platform, Stateful, teams gain always-on visibility into even the most remote physical assets.

BrightAI has solved a problem that’s lingered for decades—manual, reactive maintenance that leaves operators blind until critical failures occur,” said Alexa von Tobel, Managing Partner at Inspired Capital. “By deploying intelligent systems that can see, interpret, and act in real time, BrightAI brings the clarity and control these industries have long needed. This is real, high-impact innovation—built for the physical world.

Deployed across 50,000+ locations, BrightAI is building a dynamic, ever-expanding knowledge graph of the physical world. Its technology is embedded directly into the built environment—using sensors, drones, and wearables to continuously monitor asset health and deliver real-time, actionable insights. Field teams know exactly what to do before small anomalies become costly failures.

By transforming inspections and maintenance, BrightAI helps customers boost productivity, improve service quality, enhance worker safety, and navigate ongoing labor shortages. Here’s what that looks like in practice:

No more flashlight-and-clipboard patrols: BrightAI’s sensors and edge-AI monitor assets with expert insight around the clock, surfacing issues before crews ever step into the field.
No more repetitive, risky work: AI-powered robots take on dirty and dangerous inspection tasks, reducing safety hazards and freeing human teams to focus on skilled, high-value jobs.
No more steep learning curves: Wearables and mobile tools deliver real-time AI guidance, equipping new technicians with the know-how of a seasoned expert—on day one.

For decades, the physical world has lacked real-time awareness—teams have been forced to operate reactively, without the visibility they need,” said Alex Hawkinson, Founder and CEO of BrightAI. “We designed BrightAI to close that gap by continuously capturing and translating real-world signals into actionable intelligence. When you can truly observe what’s happening, you can get ahead of problems rather than chase them. That shift isn’t incremental—it’s foundational. And with the backing of Khosla Ventures and Inspired Capital, we’re scaling that transformation across the essential services that the world depends on.

This shift is already playing out across the real world. BrightAI has achieved product-market fit in sectors like power, water, pest control, HVAC, and manufacturing—surpassing $100 million in revenue. Its Stateful platform is built to learn and operate in any physical environment, and with fresh funding and an expanded leadership team, the company is scaling into new markets and accelerating commercial deployments. A new San Francisco headquarters opens next quarter, with plans to hire 50+ new team members over the coming year. The next chapter is about unlocking physical AI at global scale—to transform how the world’s essential systems are seen, understood, and managed.

To learn more, please visit: https://www.bright.ai/

About BrightAI
BrightAI is transforming essential services with Physical AI—real-world intelligence that drives proactive, data-driven operations. Built on the Stateful platform, BrightAI empowers operators of critical infrastructure to collect and connect sensor data in real time, uncover hidden insights, and make smarter decisions. From predictive diagnostics and autonomous robotics to digital twins and AI-enabled workflows, BrightAI solutions serve industries including water, power, gas compression, pest control, HVAC, and manufacturing. By turning complex physical signals into actionable intelligence, BrightAI is redefining how essential services are delivered and sustained.

Original press release available on WEBWIRE.

Jul 18, 2025

Announcing BrightAI’s $51M Series A to Bring Physical AI to the World’s Essential Services

Everyday systems—those that deliver power, water, clean air, and safety—are overdue for a smarter approach. BrightAI brings observability, automation, and intelligence to the essential services the world relies on every day.

BrightAI was founded to bring intelligence to the essential systems that power modern life. Today, we’re proud to share that we’ve raised $51 million in Series A funding to accelerate that mission. The round was co-led by Khosla Ventures, an early backer of OpenAI known for supporting breakthrough technologies that transform industries, and Inspired Capital, whose team brings deep expertise in scaling complex, operationally intensive infrastructure businesses. They’re joined by BoxGroup, Marlinspike, Rsquared VC, Cooley, VSC Ventures and other strategic investors with experience across energy, water, and industrial systems—exactly the sectors where change is most needed.

This milestone follows a year of rapid momentum: we’ve now surpassed $100 million in revenue, deployed over 250,000 AI endpoints across 50,000+ locations, and expanded into the essential sectors that keep homes, cities, and industries running.

The system is failing—and the fix is overdue

The essential services we rely on—power, water, gas, construction, pest control, and HVAC—are aging, overburdened, and increasingly vulnerable to failure. A cracked pipe doesn’t just leak—it shuts down neighborhoods. A blown transformer can take out a hospital or a city’s emergency response system.

For decades, we’ve operated under the same flawed framework: wait for something to break, then scramble to fix it. But today, the consequences of failure are compounding. In the U.S. alone, pipeline leaks waste over 6 billion gallons of treated water daily, enough to supply 15 million homes. Power outages cost the economy more than $150 billion annually, while equipment failures drive another $50 billion in industrial downtime. These systems are under increasing strain from climate volatility and a shrinking frontline workforce. The reactive model isn’t just inefficient—it’s unsustainable.

At the root of it all is a lack of observability. Unless someone physically inspects an asset, we’re flying blind. And by the time something’s visible, it’s often already too late.

Our focus is the physical world

While most AI has been applied to language, images, or software, we’re building intelligence for the systems that move water, deliver power, regulate temperature, and keep facilities safe. These are the core operations that modern life depends on—and they’ve gone too long without visibility.

Our platform, Stateful, acts like a real-time operating system for the physical world. It fuses edge AI, multimodal sensor data, and autonomous systems to give operators the one thing they’ve never had: true visibility into how essential services are functioning, right now.

This is what full observability looks like in action: sensors monitor field assets like power poles in real time, detecting early signs of stress or failure. That data flows into Stateful, which interprets live conditions and determines the appropriate response. Drones perform autonomous inspections, while field crews use wearables to access the same insights on the ground. Working together, these components create a continuous feedback loop—making essential systems fully observable, actionable, and resilient.

And that’s just one industry. With just a few weeks of initial data, our system adapts to nearly any physical environment. Power, water, gas, climate control, pest management—these aren’t background functions. They’re the foundation of modern life. When one fails, the consequences cascade. BrightAI gives operators the visibility to intervene before systems break down.

The future is observable

With this funding, we’re scaling commercial deployments, opening a new San Francisco headquarters, and hiring 100+ team members across engineering, operations, and go-to-market. We’re also continuing to expand Stateful, evolving it into the core intelligence layer for infrastructure globally.

The goal is simple: fix what’s broken, prevent what’s preventable, and reimagine how the world is maintained before it fails us. If you’re building, managing, or modernizing the world’s essential services, let’s connect.

BrightAI’s Series A was also featured in Bloomberg’s exclusive coverage of AI-driven infrastructure innovation.
→ Read the article

Jun 11, 2025

Press Release: BrightAI Surpasses $100M and Expands Leadership Team

BrightAI is accelerating growth with a major leadership expansion, appointing new executives to scale operations and drive deployment of its edge AI platform, Stateful. As part of this leadership team growth, BrightAI has surpassed $100 million in revenue and welcomed Gerald Choung as Chief Revenue Officer, alongside two senior engineering leaders: Phil Constantinou and John Dring. This marks a significant milestone in BrightAI’s evolution as a leading AI infrastructure company.

Full press release follows below.

Press Release

BrightAI Surpasses $100M in Revenue and Taps Microsoft, Evernote, and Intel Veterans as Chief Revenue Officer and SVPs of Engineering

BrightAI adds senior leaders across revenue, cloud, and hardware engineering to drive operational scale and accelerate deployment of its Stateful platform.
A new San Francisco headquarters will support West Coast expansion and continued hiring from leading companies across logistics, robotics, and enterprise technology.
With this leadership expansion, BrightAI transitions from core development to commercial scale, deepening market reach and preparing for expanded field deployment.

San Francisco, California, United States – WEBWIRE – June 5, 2025

BrightAI, the company bringing AI into the physical world to power smarter, more resilient infrastructure, today announced a major expansion of its leadership team as it surpasses $100 million in lifetime revenue and enters a new phase focused on commercial scale and platform deployment.

At the center of this momentum is the appointment of Gerald Choung as Chief Revenue Officer. Phil Constantinou has been appointed as SVP of Cloud and Mobile Engineering, and John Dring as SVP of Hardware and Firmware Engineering—two seasoned leaders focused on scaling BrightAI’s platform and operations. Their arrival builds on a leadership foundation anchored by CTO Kiran Bharwani, formerly of Rivian and Caterpillar, who leads the company’s technical vision and architecture.

Choung’s appointment signals BrightAI’s deep commitment to building the commercial and operational capacity required to meet accelerating demand. With more than two decades of experience building and leading revenue organizations across enterprise software, IoT, and infrastructure, Choung will lead all go-to-market functions—including sales, marketing, and partnerships—as BrightAI enters a new phase of growth and deployment. His background includes leadership roles at Microsoft, Qualcomm, ESET, and most recently, as CRO at Platform Science and ActiveState, where he consistently unlocked new markets, scaled high-performing teams, and delivered durable growth.

I joined BrightAI to tackle the operational challenges that have held essential industries back for decades,” said Gerald Choung, Chief Revenue Officer at BrightAI. “These sectors haven’t had the benefit of modern, field-ready technology—and BrightAI is uniquely positioned to change that by improving efficiency, increasing quality and resilience, and delivering long-term value at scale.

As BrightAI builds on this commercial foundation, its technical leadership continues to expand in lockstep. Constantinou and Dring bring complementary expertise in software, hardware, and systems engineering. At Evernote, Constantinou helped scale the platform to over 200 million users. He later led mobile and cloud efforts for biosensor platforms in health tech. At BrightAI, Constantinou will lead development of the mobile and cloud layers of Stateful, an AI platform that fuses edge sensors, autonomous robotics, and multimodal functional models to modernize infrastructure and bring real-time field intelligence to the edge. His focus will be on delivering intuitive tools that connect frontline teams to real-time, context-rich digital twins.

Dring complements this work with deep expertise in embedded systems and connected devices. With senior roles at Intel and VitalConnect, he has led architecture and product development across hardware and cloud. At Intel, he helped build one of the first WiMAX chipsets, and at VitalConnect, he oversaw development of the HealthPatch wearable system. As SVP of Engineering, he will lead hardware and systems engineering for BrightAI’s autonomous robotics and wearables, developing intelligent systems that enhance precision, safety, and operational uptime.

The world runs on physical systems—power lines, pipelines, equipment in the field—and they’ve been left behind by traditional software,” said Alex Hawkinson, Founder and CEO of BrightAI. “At BrightAI, we’re building a new class of AI that lives where the work happens. That takes a different caliber of leadership. Gerald knows how to scale with precision. Phil and John know how to build systems that bridge cloud and edge. Together with Kiran, they form the team that will take BrightAI from breakthrough to backbone.

BrightAI is also expanding its physical footprint, opening a new headquarters in San Francisco to support continued growth. The office will open next quarter and initially house nearly two dozen employees, with plans to hire more than 50 additional team members in the next year. These appointments and investments reflect BrightAI’s readiness for expanded field deployment, continued platform evolution, and deepening industry engagement.

BrightAI has also attracted top contributors from leading companies across technology, logistics, and robotics—including TensorIoT, Humane, Google, Roku, Canoo, Ware2Go, Frore System, AvaSure, Brain Corp, and Offworld.

The future of AI is physical—and we’re building the systems that keep the real world running,” said Golda Hartman, Chief People Officer at BrightAI. “BrightAI is bringing together top talent from software, infrastructure, and embedded systems to modernize the essential services the world depends on every day. This is a purpose-built team transforming how critical systems are designed, deployed, and sustained.

Original press release available on WEBWIRE.

Mar 27, 2025

Press Release: BrightAI and Latham Bring AI Innovation to the Pool Industry

BrightAI and Latham, The Pool Company, have partnered to launch Measure by Latham Pools, an AI-powered scanning system that transforms how pool liners and covers are measured, quoted, and ordered. By eliminating manual tape measurements and reducing errors, Measure dramatically improves speed, accuracy, and customer satisfaction—setting a new benchmark for the pool industry.

Full press release follows below.

Press Release

BrightAI and Latham, The Pool Company, Partner to Bring AI-Powered Innovation to Pool Manufacturing

Measure by Latham Pools is powered by BrightAI’s technology to transform how pool liners and covers are measured, quoted, and ordered
AI-driven scanning eliminates manual measurement errors, accelerating order fulfillment and reducing production delays
The partnership brings automation and intelligence to pool manufacturing, enabling seamless ordering, faster installations, and improved customer satisfaction

San Francisco, California, United States – WEBWIRE – Thursday, March 27, 2025

BrightAI, a company bringing AI to the physical world to drive smarter, more efficient cities and industries, and Latham Group, Inc. (“Latham” or “the Company”) (Nasdaq: SWIM), the largest designer, manufacturer, and marketer of in-ground residential swimming pools in North America, Australia, and New Zealand, have partnered to create Measure by Latham Pools, an AI-powered measurement technology that transforms how pool liners and covers are measured, manufactured, and installed.

BrightAI is redefining how industries interact with the physical world, replacing legacy manual processes with real-time AI-driven intelligence. By optimizing industrial infrastructure and streamlining manufacturing, BrightAI delivers efficiency at scale. Now, BrightAI is bringing that same innovation to pool manufacturing.

No two pools are exactly alike, making precise measurements essential to ensuring a perfect fit. Yet, for decades, builders have relied on manual tape measurements and hand-drawn sketches—a time and labor-intensive process vulnerable to errors. Even the smallest miscalculation can result in costly rework, production delays, and frustrated customers. With every pool having unique dimensions and structural features, builders and manufacturers often face back-and-forth verification, creating bottlenecks that slow down the entire order-to-installation process.

BrightAI and Latham share a vision to digitize this process, eliminating inefficiencies and bringing AI-driven precision to pool measurement and manufacturing. By leveraging BrightAI’s AI-powered measurement system, Measure ensures accuracy the first time, streamlining workflows and cutting production timelines. The Measure system consists of:

M1 Scanner equipped with lasers to capture precise pool dimensions and structural details in real time
An iPad Air® running the Measure app for real-time data processing
A tripod for stable, secure setup in the field

Once measurements are captured using laser scanning technology, the data is automatically uploaded to Latham’s Builder Management Portal, enabling real-time drawings, accuracy verification, and streamlined quote and order processing. The laser scanning technology reduces the need for two-person crews at a pool site, allowing builders to measure with a single technician and helping dealers process orders faster—cutting manufacturing timelines from weeks to days.

Our partnership with Latham is a perfect example of how AI can transform industries that have long relied on manual processes,” said Alex Hawkinson, Founder and CEO of BrightAI.
“By integrating our AI, Latham has been able to digitize the pool industry and replace manual processes with real-time precision. Fewer mistakes result in fewer remakes, accelerating production and improving overall efficiency. This is exactly what BrightAI was built for—bringing AI into the physical world to solve complex industry challenges and drive real business impact.

The system has already delivered significant performance improvements, making pool manufacturing faster, more precise, and more scalable:

5x Faster Turnaround Times: AI automation reduces measurement time from days to minutes, improving workflow efficiency
Increased Accuracy & Fewer Errors: AI-driven precision eliminates costly rework and delays
Lower Labor Costs & Higher Productivity: Builders can measure with a single technician, rather than relying on highly paid, specialized crews
Seamless Manufacturing & Ordering Integration: Pool liners and covers are produced faster and more accurately, ensuring on-time delivery and installation

Beyond an efficiency upgrade, this is a category-defining transformation for the pool industry,” said Scott Rajeski, President and CEO of Latham Pool.
“With BrightAI’s technology, we’re digitizing a process that has remained manual for decades—bringing speed, accuracy, and automation to pool manufacturing. We see a future where pool technicians no longer need a measuring tape at the job site.

Latham plans to scale its AI-powered measurement technology across operations, modernizing the pool measurement process on an industry-wide scale. This expansion aims to set a new benchmark for precision, efficiency, and customer satisfaction in the pool industry.

For more information about BrightAI, please visit https://www.bright.ai.

About BrightAI

Our solutions serve industries such as water, power, gas compression, pest control, HVAC, and manufacturing—helping service providers and asset owners boost efficiency, minimize downtime, and anticipate emerging challenges. By transforming complex data into actionable intelligence, BrightAI is redefining how essential services are delivered and evolved.

About Latham Group, Inc.

Latham Group, Inc. [NASDAQ: SWIM], headquartered in Latham, NY, is the largest designer, manufacturer, and marketer of in-ground residential swimming pools in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Latham has a coast-to-coast operations platform of over 2,000 employees across 30 facilities.

Original press release available on WEBWIRE.

Nov 19, 2024

Press Release: BrightAI Launches Stateful OS to Modernize U.S. Infrastructure

For too long, America’s infrastructure has been stuck in a reactive cycle—waiting until the damage is done before springing into action. At BrightAI, we’re breaking that cycle.

Today, our team is excited to launch Stateful OS, an AI-powered platform transforming how infrastructure is managed. With over 250,000 AI endpoints deployed across 25,000 sites (more sites than Starbucks stores in the U.S), we’re equipping blue-collar workforces with real-time insights to spot and address risks before they escalate. From water and power to utilities, we’re empowering teams to take a proactive stance that keeps critical systems resilient, efficient, and ready for the future.

BrightAI has deployed over 250,000 sensors and achieved $80 million in revenue—all while staying in stealth mode and without raising outside capital. Until now. Today, we’re emerging from stealth with a $15 million seed round funded entirely by Upfront Ventures.

Full press release follows below.

Press Release

BrightAI Unveils Stateful OS, a Platform Leveraging Multimodal AI to Fix America’s Pipes, Sewers and Powerlines

The platform has over 250,000 AI endpoints deployed across 25,000+ locations, serving critical industries such as water management, energy, utilities, and manufacturing
Team brings experience in AI, IoT and autonomous systems from brands including SmartThings, Rivian, and Meta
Now, the company is taking on VC dollars and is announcing $15M in Series Seed funding led by Upfront Ventures, to accelerate the growth of the platform

San Francisco, California, United States – WEBWIRE – Tuesday, November 19, 2024

BrightAI, a leader in AI-driven solutions for critical infrastructure, today announced the launch of Stateful OS, its advanced AI platform designed to enhance productivity, resilience, and sustainability for infrastructure operators. The launch follows a recent seed funding round that will support BrightAI’s plans to extend the platform’s reach across key industries.

Traditional infrastructure maintenance is inefficient and reactive, relying on routine visits and manual checks to identify problems. With 50% to 80% of operations costs spent on labor and truck rolls, many organizations are forced to assess infrastructure conditions without real-time visibility into potential risks. This lack of comprehensive data leads to costly failures, such as power outages, water main breaks, and gas leaks, that could have been prevented with proactive management.

BrightAI’s Stateful OS platform offers blue-collar industries a forward-looking approach, enabling operators to move from reactive to proactive decision-making, and is purpose-built to serve industries including critical services, water, energy, transportation, construction, power, pest control, and manufacturing.

With over 250,000 active AI endpoints and 25,000 AI locations—deployed at more sites than Starbucks stores in the U.S.—Stateful OS captures exclusive, real-time data that no other system can access. This data fuels multimodal AI models that detect infrastructure flaws before they escalate into catastrophes. By allowing workers to act at the speed of machines, the platform equips them with the equivalent of 30 years of master technician experience on their first day, helping to prevent failures, reduce costs, and enhance operational resilience.

Stateful OS delivers a comprehensive set of capabilities, such as:

Asset & Site Visibility: Real-time insights through 24/7 monitoring, diagnostics, and automated dispatch, offering continuous visibility into infrastructure conditions.
Workforce Wearable Copilot: AI-powered field reporting and guidance, supported by a comprehensive operations knowledge graph, allowing workers to make real-time decisions in the field.
Inspection Autonomy: Autonomous robotics & drone systems that automate complex, dangerous, and repetitive tasks, increasing both inspection frequency and accuracy while reducing risk.

A leadership team with proven expertise in AI, IoT, and automation is driving this transformation. BrightAI’s founder and CEO, Alex Hawkinson, previously founded SmartThings, an IOT platform powering over 1 billion smart home devices that was sold to Samsung in 2014. He’s built a team of industry veterans, including Kiran Bharwani, BrightAI’s Chief Technology Officer, who developed Rivian’s autonomous driving platform from inception to IPO, and executing on the $1 billion Amazon delivery EV project. The leadership team also brings experience from Meta, Microsoft, and Frontdoor.

The physical graph has always been my long term vision to digitize the physical world. SmartThings focused on connecting millions of homes, while BrightAI is focused on outside of homes, solving for our critical infrastructure that human civilization relies on, from the water we drink to the power we consume. Our aging infrastructure is failing, and BrightAI will fundamentally change how it’s managed and maintained,” said Alex Hawkinson, Founder & CEO of BrightAI.
“With Stateful OS, we’re not just improving efficiency; we’re enabling a shift towards data-driven, sustainable infrastructure management. We’ve partnered with our initial customers to understand their roadblocks and ensure our platform can alleviate them, and now we’re ready to expand to improve infrastructure across industries.

In partnership with leading private equity firms in infrastructure, BrightAI is transforming six major industries and impacting tens of millions of consumers and businesses. Now, to further accelerate the development of its platform and grow its customer base, BrightAI recently secured $15 million in Series Seed funding led by Upfront Ventures.

One example of BrightAI’s impact can be seen in its partnership with Azuria Water Solutions, an early adopter of Stateful OS. Traditional methods of pipeline inspection relied on subjective, manual assessments, which can lead to costly errors.

BrightAI is building autonomous systems for infrastructure inspections and operations, and Azuria will deploy these robotic systems equipped with multimodal AI sensors, which will collect real-time data processed through BrightAI’s Stateful OS platform. These sensors will provide exclusive data that no other solution can access, which will enable Azuria to make faster, more precise decisions. Azuria expects substantial improvements in quality and job satisfaction. Through automated data collection, coding and greater accuracy through AI-driven precision, Azuria expects to reduce errors in measurements and cutting processes.

Technology helps yield better results and makes work more enjoyable. We’re working to supplement difficult and repetitive work that can pose safety risks with robots, so our people can focus on higher-value tasks,” said Rob Tullman, CEO of Azuria.
“We are not shrinking as a result of this; we’re growing. BrightAI’s solutions will allow us to operate smarter, faster, and more efficiently.

For more information about BrightAI, please visit https://www.bright.ai.

About BrightAI:

BrightAI is a category-defining infrastructure AI company on a mission to transform global infrastructure from reactive to proactive management, setting a new standard in resilience and sustainability. With its Stateful OS platform, BrightAI enables organizations to gather real-time data, see the unseen, and understand the true state of their infrastructure with unprecedented efficiency. The company’s offerings include a comprehensive infrastructure AI platform and a vertical application stack that delivers sector-specific AI monitoring, diagnostics, and autonomous systems for managing infrastructure health.

Founded by AI pioneers and infrastructure experts, BrightAI supports industrial and infrastructure segments globally, including large service providers, asset owners, and government agencies in sectors such as water, power, gas, renewable energy, transportation, waste management, pest control, HVAC, and critical home services. By leveraging cutting-edge AI technology, BrightAI is setting new standards for infrastructure management and maintenance, paving the way for smarter, more efficient cities and industries.

Original press release available on WEBWIRE.

Dec 18, 2023

BrightAI and Pelsis Launch Next-Gen AI Flylights Revolutionizing Pest Control

BrightAI and Pelsis joined forces in a multi-year partnership to infuse artificial intelligence into Pelsis’s highly successful flylight product lines, beginning with the popular Cobra LED model previewed in October 2023 at PestWorld in Honolulu, Hawaii. This launch represents a giant leap forward for intelligent pest control, especially for pest control operator sustainability and food & pharmaceutical safety. Powered by BrightAI’s infrastructure AI platform, the new AI flylights have advanced multimodal AI models for automated insect counting, size classification, real-time alerts, and audit analytics.

BrightAI, a trailblazing Infrastructure AI platform innovator, launched its strategic partnership with Pelsis, leading global pest control manufacturer and distributor, at the PestWorld conference. This partnership debuts the next-gen flying insect monitoring technology, combining the market leading Cobra LED insect flylight with automated insect counting and size classification insights through Pelsis’s intelligent pest platform powered by BrightAI’s “virtual master tech” platform. The fusion of cutting-edge AI technology and industry expertise promises to redefine the way we approach pest management, emphasizing early detection, real-time monitoring, and a proactive, sustainable strategy towards less chemical usage. Stay tuned as we usher in a new era in intelligent pest control.

A New Era in AI-Powered Pest Control

“Our partnership with Pelsis marks a significant turning point in the world of pest control. Traditionally, insect monitoring is a manual process, demanding valuable time and effort. Technicians climb up ladders and manually inspect from 25-250 flylights at each site, tallying the number of insects and assessing glueboard conditions. However, with routine service visits, often the discoveries come too late, resulting in costly infestations, factory shutdowns and increased chemical usage”, explained Nancy Li, EVP Growth & Strategy at BrightAI. “Pelsis Digital brings AI into the mix, transforming this process, reducing safety risks in the food and pharmaceutical industries, minimizing damage to brand reputation, and empowering pest management professionals to provide a more efficient, data-driven service.”

24/7 Pest Monitoring with Virtual Master Tech

Imagine having a virtual master technician at every food and pharma location, tirelessly working around the clock. The new AI insect flylight does just that. It acts as an ever-vigilant monitor, sending alerts when insect counts hit a customizable threshold. This not only gives customers peace of mind but also allows pest management professionals to intervene early, preventing pest activity from turning into full-blown infestations.

Leading Flylight Product, Upgraded with AI: Equipped with a high-res camera and AI sensors, this flylight provides 24/7 real-time monitoring of flying insect activity. Routine insect counting truck rolls become a thing of the past, as notifications guide technicians to the exact time and place for glue board checks.
Better-than-Human AI Models: The new AI flylights incorporate advanced multimodal AI models with extensive training and testing and proven to perform better-than-human automatic insect counting and size classification, which provides a good signal for potential root causes and remediations. BrightAI’s advanced multimodal AI technology delivers time-sequenced algorithms to increase counting accuracy particularly on crowded glue boards.

Early Infestation Detection & Proactive Service Alerts: The Pelsis Digital mobile app and online portal, included with the monitoring subscription, provide real-time reporting of flying insect activity while delivering insect count and size categorization, UV source replacement analysis, and temperature and humidity monitoring.
Digital Audit Reporting & Analytics: The Pelsis Digital portal provides immediate and accurate data for trend analysis and auditing needs, effectively reducing the amount of paperwork. The data can seamlessly integrate into existing pest management systems through Pelsis Integration APIs.

The Future of Pest Control

Commenting on the new product launch in their recent press release, Alex Ashmore, Pelsis Group CEO, said: “We’re delighted to showcase Pelsis’ commitment to driving new standards in pest management best practice, by launching our market leading digital insect light trap. The benefits of this intelligent product fit squarely within Pelsis’ vision to help move the sector to a more sustainable way of working alongside nature and our environment, while protecting public health.”

About Pelsis

Pelsis’ vision is to develop sustainable and innovative solutions, providing peace of mind and protecting public health, while working in harmony with nature. Their leading commercial and retail brands deliver innovative pest management and garden care products to a global customer base of more than 4,500. Pelsis employs more than 650 people across 14 sites in the UK, mainland Europe, USA and India, and their international team offers customer service, sales, technical and account support in more than 14 languages.
To learn more about Pelsis, visit pelsis.com.

About BrightAI

BrightAI is transforming essential services with Physical AI, enabling proactive, AI-powered operations. Built on our Stateful platform, BrightAI empowers operators of critical infrastructure to collect and connect data in real time, uncovering hidden insights and enabling smarter, faster decision-making. Stateful integrates multimodal data from sensors, wearables, and autonomous systems to deliver predictive diagnostics, automated workflows, and intelligent operational support. Our solutions serve industries such as water, power, gas compression, pest control, HVAC, and manufacturing—helping service providers and asset owners boost efficiency, minimize downtime, and anticipate emerging challenges. By transforming complex data into actionable intelligence, BrightAI is redefining how essential services are delivered and evolved.

Apr 5, 2023

Curiosity & Connection: The BrightAI Team Takes On Tampa

At BrightAI, it’s no secret our people are our best assets, and our teamwork produces truly extraordinary innovations.

However, in-person collaborations have been few and far between for several years due to the coronavirus pandemic.

That’s what makes our recent company-wide outing to Tampa, Florida even more special and meaningful. We are confident that there will be a lasting “Tampa influence” on BrightAI’s future.

More than three dozen team members from across the country traveled to Florida for this incredible, multi-day opportunity to meet and connect with each other face to face, experience the local culture, workshop new ideas and much more.

Day 1: Historic Ybor City & Bowling

While January is typically the coldest month of the year in Tampa, temperatures hovered in the 60s and 70s for most of our trip—which is prime shorts weather for a large group of team members who came from shoveling snow in Minnesota the day before!

After checking into our hotel, we made our way to historic Ybor City—a vibrant Latin district known for its boutiques, vintage shops, Cuban restaurants and, yes, cigars!

We took in our first sightseeing adventure aboard Tampa’s streetcar system from Whiting Station to Centennial Park Station. Then we had a fantastic team feast at Columbia Restaurant—the oldest Spanish restaurant in the United States, in operation for more than 117 years, and largest in the world with a whopping 15 dining rooms!

From empanadas and crab croquettes to an eclectic cocktail selection and flamenco dancing, our meal was delicious and our time here together was nothing short of spectacular.

Afterward, we boarded a private bus and continued our adventure to Pin Chasers in midtown—with 50 lanes, it’s a serious location for bowlers! We shared some unforgettable bonding—and just a little mischief—before calling it a night.

Day 2: Bright Ideas & Escape Rooms

Some of our early birds kicked off our first full day together in the city with breakfast at the hotel before heading to The Tampa Club for some business.

This 42-floor premier private event venue and lounge features breathtaking views of downtown—from City Hall to the Hillsborough River—Tampa Bay, and much more.

We spent the day brainstorming, discussing and goal setting. We couldn’t miss the opportunity for people to win some BrightAI merch—from frisbees to beanies! Bright Bingo got us up and moving around, and the puzzle break was highly competitive. The M&Ms on every table with our co-founders faces on them were definitely a talking point!

Workshops focused on what we are doing across the business, including operational plans and—importantly—thoughts from our customers.

The corporate yearbook was a highlight of the trip. This snapshot of BrightAI history will be incredible to look back on as the company grows. The book highlighted our team’s favorite snacks, sayings and TV shows, plus broke down what we all really do. We featured our families, our pets, spotlighted a few engineers and—of course—there were awards. (Some particularly amusing categories raised a smile!) There is already talk about this becoming an annual Bright tradition.

The offsite event gave everyone the chance to consider the exciting prospects for the year ahead. This is the point at which the foundation work starts to bear fruit, so commercialization featured strongly in discussions—getting things into the field, out ‘to the world’ and sharing what we do is an exciting prospect for 2023.

By the time 5 p.m. rolled around, we were ready to make our way to Tampa Pizza Company for a very casual family-style meal. Pass the pepperoni!

Afterward, we put our team-building to the test at The Great Escape Room Tampa.

With themes such as “poker night at the president’s bunker” and Houdini-esque seances, these rooms gave us a chance to do what we do best at BrightAI: think critically, work efficiently and shine a light on innovation where there otherwise hadn’t been.

It was also the perfect ending to a brief but enriching time together.

Powered by an Unmatched Team

The feedback from our team had one unequivocal conclusion—they want to do it again! More often. And for longer. In particular, with an extra full day to have even more time for functional teams to meet.

Every day, our BrightAI team leads AIoT innovations that revolutionize industries. What made this conference truly special was experiencing this reality alongside other team members, in person.

Our exceptional team fuels every single facet of what we do at BrightAI—helping a wide range of diverse industries revolutionize processes and unlock unimagined potential as never before.

Optimistic, curious, ingenious, passionate and relentless—we imagine new solutions to old problems, uncover dormant efficiencies and create a truly innovative future for our clients, and the world.

BrightAI is a platform powered by experienced minds with unparalleled knowledge of AI and AIoT. To disrupt your industry and unlock unimagined potential, contact us today.

Jan 4, 2023

Engineer Spotlight: Ryan Goss

When we asked our team at BrightAI ‘Who is your absolute most impressive teammate?,’ three names received the most votes. One of them was Staff Engineer, Ryan Goss.

COMMENTS FROM COLLEAGUES:

Ryan played a critical role on this project, helping on scoping efforts and swarming technical resources. As a result of his efforts, BrightAI was able to deliver the MVP and receive payment for this milestone in the beginning of 2022. This is a huge accomplishment for BrightAI and for Ryan and the team.

A significant portion of Ryan’s time was spent working with developers. He did a great job in taking high-level requests and translating them into tasks, which allowed us to effectively leverage staffing resources. Ryan exemplified the impact that a strong tech lead can have on solution integration. Furthermore, Ryan demonstrated his dedication and leadership skills by hand delivering scanners to the client, and continued a good rapport with them.

We chatted with Ryan about his background to find out where he developed the skills he brings to BrightAI.

On being in the top three and a ‘most impressive teammate.’

Getting that recognition means more because it comes from people who really care and see you as someone to look up to. I was surprised, because my team is pretty small compared to some others. It was super cool to get it because working hard and being easy to work with don’t always go together. What’s helped is leaning on each other more.

What I try to do as Tech Lead is make tough decisions. I take a practical approach, and we have lots of conversations with our customers.

The thing about BrightAI is that nobody needs to micromanage because we’re all so amazing at what we do. I don’t have to check up on what everyone is doing. You know who the experts are, you throw the balls at them, and they’ll catch them. On the flip side, when you need help, there’s always support.

On using personality strengths to deliver for customers.

I did a project in college called “Smart Tupperware.” It told you what cereal was in it, when it was going to run out, and then added it to your shopping list. I’ve always loved forms of automation. To me, it’s super cool to be able to enable that for more and more people across the world.

I’ve never been one to shy away from difficult situations or questions. Even my kindergarten teacher said to my mother, “Ryan asks too many questions.” I’m not rebellious, but if I see something could be more efficient, I will ask, “What if we looked at it from this perspective?”

Just because I question it, doesn’t mean I have to have it my way. It just means “let’s discuss it and work through it.” You may think something technically is better, and then the customer says no. But very rarely have I said we can make this faster, cheaper, and the company says “we don’t want to do that.” We bring them along, have a shared mindset with them, and travel together.

On being a defining project influence.

I have been on one project for 18 months, so I got to reshape it. It went through a whole experimentation, trial and error process. The overall goal was measuring, but the “how” was left open. There were going to be lasers, and other things, but all that had to be filled in. It’s so rewarding to see the finish line there, get this solution delivered and be used in the field. Now, our discussions have flipped, and it’s about how we optimize it.

The customer was thinking it would get incrementally better. We were talking vastly better. It’s extra rewarding when you get the product to them, and they see it working. This device is 100% customized. Every time, it’s been a process of discovery, finding a solution, and making improvements. Getting to this point is really exciting, such a triumph.

On collaborating to innovate.

We had to reevaluate the project. We were trying to fully automate it, so you would switch a device on and go. We were struggling, and eventually we said, “What is our ultimate objective?” We want to take this and digitize it and be accurate, repeatable, and easy. So we said, “What if we put a human in the loop, because we need somebody there, and we find a way to complement the human knowledge and the system we have and make it a harmonious method?”

It’s important to go watch how the user works, to experience the current operations and hear their “pain points.” We get to see how the legacy world does it, and then we go leaps and bounds over it, finding a myriad of ways to get the process into the digital realm—often accomplishing more than the customer can envision is even possible.

This approach with our customers builds trust. Because it’s collaborative, they have confidence in this device. It’s also a lot faster and better overall, and allows us to get more data, so eventually it will be purely automated.

On being part of a small (but mighty!) company.

It has a bit of everything. Being quite small, you get customer engagement, you get into the code and hardware. I physically get to hold devices in my hand and get out into the real world with this thing. I love that purpose, that perspective. It’s really enjoyable. It’s not sitting in front of a computer all day; it’s getting that interaction. What I like about BrightAI is we are half in the real world and half in the digital world. We’re digitizing the real world, and I like living on that boundary.

On big business versus start-up life.

My previous company had tens of thousands of employees, the majority in manufacturing. It was a giant company with lots of bureaucracy. It was manufacturing, with enough engineering to make the manufacturing better; but not highly innovative, not driving new things. For a while, we had a small start-up within the company, and at that point, we were having the best time. Three of those employees are now at BrightAI and were a big reason to come. I knew the people here were the top, and the things we were doing were exciting.

On working remote.

Our spare bedroom is like a spare parts bin. We have these big suitcases to store things; I’ve got tripods. I have so much stuff, it’s like I have a lab station at home. I do enjoy the at-home experience, and I travel to meet with customers regularly. I’ve seen everyone on our team face-to-face. It also helps that the person I work with most day-to-day is close to my house, three minutes away. We can still get together, brainstorm, get on the whiteboard.

On positive disruption.

I feel we are at a point where AI is disrupting these legacy industries in such a positive way. We’re doing something that offers so much value to everybody in the chain—the businesses, the users who are out in the field with it, and the end customer. Workers can be more efficient; AI is augmenting the situation. Nobody’s speciality is laying down using a tape measure. We are making workers more efficient, and better at what they do. A salesperson could then do the initial visit instead of the tech installer, so it is a better sales pitch. Across the board, I see these value deliveries. We don’t have a “product,” we have a “solution.” We’re making everything better, and that’s where there is such long-term value.

On changing the world for the better.

In an altruistic sense, what I see we’re doing is making the world better and more efficient. That’s super rewarding because, ultimately, efficiency is the way that humanity will work its way through a lot of challenges, whether it be climate or energy. I want to make the world generally better. It’s not just a job, it’s being part of that. I love it.

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