Yehuda Holtzman serves because the CEO of Cipia. The corporate focuses on picture processing and AI, with in depth experience in analysis, implementation, and optimization of algorithms for embedded platforms and the in-car automotive business. Cipia is headquartered in Israel, with world workplaces in the USA and China.
Yehuda brings over 25 years of enterprise, technological and managerial expertise as a CEO of know-how and communications firms to steer Cipia. In his most up-to-date function, Holtzman served as CEO of On Monitor Improvements Ltd. (OTI), a world supplier of close to area communication (NFC) and cashless fee options. In prior years he served as CEO of Mobilogy, overseeing its sale to the American ESW Capital fund. Yehuda was additionally a co-founder of the software program firm ExploreGate, the place he served as CEO from 2012 to 2016, in addition to co-founder of MobileAccess, the place he served as President of the corporate via its acquisition by Corning Included In 2011. Yehuda has a grasp’s diploma in administration from Ben-Gurion College and a bachelor’s diploma in electronics engineering from the College of Brighton in England.
Are you able to elaborate on Cipia’s imaginative and prescient for the way forward for in-cabin sensing options and the way you propose to realize it?
Cipia’s long-term imaginative and prescient leverages the alternatives and enterprise fashions created by every step on the way in which to completely autonomous vehicles. Specifically, progresses via three essential phases:
First, we’re targeted on decreasing accidents by monitoring the motive force and elevating the alarm if they’re drained or distracted. Subsequent, we’ll transfer to semi-autonomous autos, the place our techniques develop into much more essential as drivers could have to shortly take again management of the automobile. Lastly, in totally autonomous autos, we’ll shift to enhancing the in-car expertise via know-how that acknowledges the automotive’s occupants and remembers their preferences.
How has your earlier expertise at OTI and different tech firms ready you in your function at Cipia, and what are the most important challenges you’ve confronted since turning into CEO of Cipia?
My expertise managing a number of development firms has well-prepared me to steer Cipia, particularly throughout this vital part within the firm’s lifecycle. I’m significantly acquainted with the challenges and alternatives that include this stage. The twin give attention to each increasing the corporate and establishing a sustainable development technique is crucial. For example, since I joined Cipia, now we have elevated our gross margin whereas greater than doubling the variety of automotive producers amongst our clients. Our objective – and our greatest problem – is to be the chief in our area, and one in every of our key benefits on this technology-driven market is Cipia’s in depth expertise with pc imaginative and prescient and AI. The chance to use my experience in a market phase targeted on saving lives makes my work particularly significant.
How does Cipia’s know-how differentiate itself from different driver and occupancy monitoring techniques in the marketplace?
Cipia’s pc imaginative and prescient AI is constructed on in depth expertise with edge processing, which has lean {hardware} necessities as a constraint from the design part. This implies our algorithms are optimized to require fewer {hardware} assets, enabling deployment in techniques that in the end price much less to our clients and allow wider deployment.
Are you able to clarify some great benefits of lean edge processing in Cipia’s options?
The benefit of lean edge processing is twofold. First, it facilitates decrease system prices since fewer {hardware} assets are required. Second, it brings extra capabilities to the sting, which means that extra processing can occur domestically, guaranteeing no connectivity is required, and the information doesn’t must be transmitted elsewhere for processing. On the planet of automotive security techniques, this can be a arduous requirement. It allows low latency, security, and safety.
With distracted driving being a number one explanation for accidents, how efficient are Cipia’s options in decreasing such incidents?
Very.
To present only one instance of the information we’ve seen, in line with the director of transportation at a significant beverage firm, earlier than utilizing Cipia, an amazing 86% of their accidents had been attributed to human error. This firm carried out Cipia’s answer designed for fleets and noticed a 90% discount in telephone use whereas driving and a 70% lower in accidents.
How does Cipia guarantee its applied sciences adjust to the most recent GSR and Euro NCAP necessities?
Cipia employs complete validation strategies, together with on-track and on-road testing of its choices, to make sure full compliance with regulatory and security normal necessities. Gathering the required information in line with the assorted protocols takes time and assets, however that’s a part of the profit a long-time supplier of driver monitoring techniques gives. We’re additionally a member of the Euro NCAP tier 2 DMS suppliers workgroup and are very happy with our contribution to security via this vital work.
Past security, what are some potential purposes of Cipia’s AI know-how that would improve the driving expertise?
Cipia’s underlying software program allows personalized experiences for drivers and passengers. A number of the options automotive producers can implement with Cipia embrace mouth monitoring for voice instructions, guaranteeing the automobile responds completely to the motive force. Infotainment interplay detection, which tailors automobile controls based mostly on which person is interacting.
Driver’s gaze detection would stop distractions by pausing video content material when the motive force is peeking on the display screen. These are only a few of the handfuls of options enabled by pc imaginative and prescient AI that might improve the driving expertise.
How does Cipia make sure the privateness and safety of the information processed by its in-cabin sensing options?
Cipia’s embedded options are totally non-public and safe. Our options analyze the video stream in real-time, translating it to metadata. No pictures are saved, recorded, or despatched from the system. For TSPs and Fleets, the client could select whether or not to obtain text-based alerts solely or embrace video snippets earlier than and after an occasion. Beneath each instances, Cipia doesn’t obtain or retailer video information of any type.
What tendencies do you foresee within the automotive AI and pc imaginative and prescient business over the following decade?
Wanting ahead, I imagine the business will proceed to give attention to security, however we’ll additionally see a shift in direction of enhancing the general in-car expertise. This might embrace monitoring very important indicators, detecting if a driver is beneath the affect (even when they don’t seem to be actively driving), and bettering little one security options like detecting if a toddler has been left within the automotive.
We’re additionally more likely to see extra personalization, with AI techniques studying particular person behaviors and preferences to create an optimum surroundings for every person. Nonetheless, it is vital to notice that the business continues to be exploring these potentialities, and nobody is aware of precisely what is going to work finest.
A significant pattern we’re seeing is a shift in automotive producers’ enterprise fashions. They’re shifting away from merely promoting a automobile to promoting a set of options and companies on a recurring foundation. That is just like how the cell phone business developed from promoting units for making calls to promoting platforms for apps and companies. This shift presents new alternatives and challenges for firms like Cipia as we work to supply worth on this altering panorama.
Thanks for the nice interview, readers who want to study extra ought to go to Cipia.
