HiveWatch - Experts & Thought Leaders

HiveWatch, the AI-driven physical security platform, announced it has appointed James Segil to its board of directors. Segil joins at a pivotal moment for the company following its recent $33 million Series B funding round, led by Anthos Capital with participation from Harmonic Growth Partners, Across Capital, and existing investors.  Segil’s addition to the board brings invaluable strategic guidance from someone who disrupted a major physical security category – turning smartphones into security credentials. His hands-on experience in enterprise sales, partner ecosystems, and go-to-market execution will be instrumental in accelerating HiveWatch’s growth post-raise. Prior roles of Segil Segil is a serial entrepreneur and technology executive with a long track record of building and scaling companies across access control, security, and enterprise infrastructure. Most recently, he served as President and Co-Founder of Openpath Security, a next-generation physical access control provider acquired by Motorola Solutions in 2021. At Motorola Solutions, Segil led marketing and inside sales for the Video Security & Access Control division, helping the organization expand its global footprint and product adoption. next phase of growth Prior to Openpath, Segil co-founded and led multiple technology companies to successful exits, including EdgeCast Networks (acquired by Verizon), KnowledgeBase Solutions (acquired by Talisma), and Virtualis Systems (acquired by Allegiance Telecom).  “Physical security is at an inflection point, and HiveWatch is at the forefront of defining what the modern GSOC should look like,” said Segil. “The team has built a platform that solves real-world problems for some of the world’s largest organizations. I’m excited to partner with Ryan, Jordan, and the HiveWatch board as the company accelerates into its next phase of growth.” HiveWatch's disconnected security tools HiveWatch brings together previously disconnected security tools - video, access control, alarms, sensors, threat intelligence, and more - into a single dashboard that fuels a streamlined security program. At the core is the company’s AI Operator, which learns each customer’s environment and dramatically reduces false alarms while accelerating incident response. HiveWatch protects assets across every continent, and an estimated 95% of Americans interact with a product, service, or brand protected by the company’s technology. Most complex enterprises “James has built category-defining companies across multiple verticals, and we welcome his valuable insights as we enter our next phase of growth,” said Ryan Schonfeld, Co-Founder & CEO of HiveWatch. “His track record scaling organizations will help us meet rising demand from many of the world’s most complex enterprises to protect their people and operations.” 

HiveWatch, a physical security software company reimagining how organizations keep their people and assets safe, announced a breakthrough in enterprise security operations using Anthropic’s Claude AI technology to transform traditional security monitoring from reactive alert processing into strategic intelligence operations. The new HiveWatch® AI Operator uses Claude’s advanced language understanding and reasoning capabilities to intelligently filter and contextualize security alerts, dramatically reducing false alarms while spotting complex threats. AI Operator AI Operator is customizable based on existing SOPs and is able to acknowledge, analyze, escalate The AI Operator is customizable based on existing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and is able to acknowledge, analyze, escalate, and respond to alarms in real-time. It does this while maintaining meticulous incident records, reducing the opportunity for human error. "Physical security teams protect some of our most valuable assets, yet they're drowning in data and false alarms," said Ryan Schonfeld, Co-Founder & CEO, HiveWatch. Physical security teams  Schonfeld added: "By collaborating with Anthropic to deliver the AI Operator to our initial Fortune 500 customer base, we're not just adding AI to existing systems – we're fundamentally reimagining how companies protect their people and assets in an increasingly complex threat landscape." Physical security teams manage over $300 billion in annual security spending, yet face a critical challenge: operators spend most of their time processing alerts, many of which are false alarms, leaving minimal capacity for strategic security work.  Impactful and preventative initiatives  The HiveWatch AI Operator is a force multiplier that reduces operator turnover, missed incidents The HiveWatch AI Operator is a force multiplier that reduces operator turnover, missed incidents, and cost, ultimately allowing the team to focus on more impactful and preventative initiatives to reduce risk for the business and keep assets and people safe. "Claude's ability to understand complex security protocols, reason about multiple data streams, and explain its decisions makes it uniquely suited for security operations," said Jamie Neuwirth, Head of Startups at Anthropic. HiveWatch's platform Neuwirth added: "Through HiveWatch's platform, Claude works alongside security teams, augmenting their expertise by rapidly processing alerts and providing contextual insights that help professionals make better-informed decisions." "When security teams and AI work together this way, professionals can focus their expertise on strategic threat analysis and critical response planning, while maintaining full visibility into the AI's decision-making process." Early adopters among fortune 500 enterprises The union marks a pivotal moment in updating an industry that has stayed largely unchanged The collaboration marks a pivotal moment in modernizing an industry that has remained largely unchanged as it releases to an initial group of Fortune 500 enterprises ready to revolutionize physical security through advanced AI integration. Initial early customers include a $300 billion public technology company, a $200 billion life sciences company, a $150 billion marketplace, a $30 billion Fortune 500 retailer, a $30 billion public gaming company, and a healthcare system – all of whom have requested to remain anonymous because of security implications. Strategic security analysts "HiveWatch stands apart with their enterprise-scale security platform," said the confidential $300B public technology company’s Chief Security Officer. "We anticipate their AI Operator will transform how we approach security operations, enabling our team of operators to evolve into strategic security analysts while strengthening our entire global security program." The HiveWatch AI Operator will be available to enterprise customers starting in January 2025. Early access programs have already begun with select Fortune 500 companies across the financial services, technology, healthcare, retail, and life sciences sectors.

Verkada, the pioneer in cloud-based physical security announced that it has added six new technology partners to its Integrations Program: Appriss Retail, Auror, Axon Evidence, CompScience, Extreme Networks, and RedBag.  This expanded range of supported integrations will empower Verkada customers across a range of verticals, including retail, law enforcement, manufacturing, and education, to address even more use cases with Verkada's platform and solutions. Verkada's Integrations Program "Verkada's supported integrations are making it even easier for our customers to leverage Verkada's powerful platform," said Brandon Davito, Senior Vice President of Product and Operations. He adds, "As we continue to add more trusted technology partners to Verkada's Integrations Program with deep expertise in verticals, we'll continue to unlock even more value for our more than 28,000 customers globally and across even more complex environments and use cases." Six new technology partners With Appriss Retail, a loss prevention and return management solution, retail customers can seamlessly pair their Verkada cameras with Appriss Retail's operational analytics to quickly identify and review suspicious transactions. With Auror, a retail crime intelligence solution, customers can easily export video archives from Verkada Command into Auror. By consolidating footage and reports through Auror, retailers, and law enforcement can more effectively collaborate to identify repeat offenders, trends, and organized retail crime networks. With Axon Evidence, customers can seamlessly export video archives from Verkada Command into Axon Evidence, Axon's cloud-based digital evidence management platform, simplifying and streamlining workflows for law enforcement and public safety agencies. Axon Evidence is designed to securely store, manage, and share critical video and multimedia evidence collected from body cameras, drones, and other devices, ensuring efficient collaboration and compliance with legal standards. With CompScience, a safety-driven analytics solution, customers can combine Verkada's high-quality video with CompScience's safety analytics to analyze work environments and identify potential safety hazards – ultimately enhancing operational efficiency, safety, and security in high-liability work environments. With Extreme Networks, a cloud-based network infrastructure and management solution, customers can provision Verkada cameras in a secure, multicast-enabled segment using a zero-touch setup to automatically apply networking policy rules. With Redbag, a silent communications tool that provides broadcast and two-way communication between the classroom and emergency responders, customers can connect their Verkada devices to RedBag's dashboards to enhance situational awareness during lockdown events and provide video access to first responders during a crisis. These new technology partners join 12 existing members including Fūsus, HiveWatch, SingleWire Software, and Sureview.

Data overload is real. Sometimes it seems we are bombarded by the sheer volume, velocity, and variety of data available in our personal lives, and in our work lives. The solution is to figure out how to make sense of the data and transform it into real information we can use. In the case of physical security systems, new opportunities are emerging every day to utilize data to make our businesses safer and better managed. We asked our Expert Panel Roundtable: What is the expanding role of data in physical security systems? Why does it matter?

A system's lifecycle is the journey it takes from planning and design through to decommissioning. Considering the entire lifecycle of a system can encourage integrators and end users to embrace higher-quality technologies with an eye toward maximizing their value over time rather than focusing on lower-priced equipment. For additional insights, we asked our Expert Panel Roundtable: How does consideration of system lifecycles impact the choice of physical security technologies?

In the physical security marketplace, artificial intelligence (AI) has evolved beyond the novelty phase. The emphasis has now shifted to the more practical aspects of implementing AI technology. That a system implements AI is no longer impressive in and of itself. The question becomes: What can this AI system do for me? How can it improve my physical security stance? We asked our Expert Panel Roundtable: How is artificial intelligence (AI) transforming physical security?