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Whisper Report: What are the best practices for integrating AI and machine learning into our security systems?
Published to clients: March 10, 2026 ID: TBW2074

Published to Whisper Club: March 10, 2026

Analyst(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

Photojournalist(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

Abstract:

“This Whisper Report address the question regarding the best practices for integrating AI and ML into our security Systems. It highlights how leaders emphasize protecting PII, using selective data movement, optimizing hardware, choosing the right models, and knowing when AI should not be applied. Insights come from LVT’s Steve Lindsey, Safr’s John Cassise, 360 Privacy’s Trinity Davis, Intel’s Mike Nielsen, RightCrowd’s Jason Bohrer, Bioconnect’s Edsel Shreve, Vaidio’s Marshall Tyler, and Databuoy’s Kathleen Griggs. “

Target Audience Titles:
- Chief Technology Officer, Chief Security Officer, Chief Information and Security Officer, Chief Trust Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Risk Officer
- Head of Product, VP of Product, Chief Marking Officer, Data Protection Officer,
- Enterprise Architect, Director of Data Protection, Director of Data Governance, Chief Privacy Officer
Key Takeaways
- Protect PII rigorously, as regulations vary widely and AI accelerates exposure risks.
- Use selective data movement and confidential computing to minimize PII transfer and strengthen security.
- Apply the three‑way test: AI must improve speed, accuracy, or cost efficiency to justify deployment.
- Choose NDAA‑compliant, learning‑capable hardware to ensure secure and adaptive edge performance.
What are the best practices for integrating AI and machine learning into our security systems?

We took the most frequently asked and most urgent technology questions straight to the cyber physical security experts gathering at ISC West 2025. This Whisper Report addresses the question regarding what are the best practices for integrating AI and machine learning into our security systems as depicted in Figure 1. Just in case anyone is not sure that AI has a place in security, LVT’s Steve Lindsey said it best, “physical security and the problems and threats we’re dealing with are just increasing and increasing the problem is our budgets to deal with those are staying the same so the mathematical equation says that we have to do more with less.” It’s a matter of simple math. Since we are dealing with the cyber physical world at ISC West, we will start with cautions specifically regarding PII information (personally identifiable information) and then highlight best practice recommendations.

1.      Protect PII

When it comes to the cyber physical security world and AI, one must keep in mind that some data is PII data. One cannot do anything with AI unless the PII data is protected. As Safr’s John Cassise called out, “we are talking about PII so that means that we’re dealing with people’s personal information and this is a situation that that changes from state to state sometimes even county to county so you need to have a platform that is flexible enough to accommodate.” At the same time, keep in mind as 360 Privacy’s Trinity Davis cautions, “we’re super concerned about AI. AI is actually bit driven by Big Data we’re actually seeing a lot of these language models actually turn up they expedite the process in which somebody can identify your PII.” Thus, the environment for PII is dynamic that varies by location while at the same time is increasingly under attack due to AI.

2.      Encryption and Select Movement

Safr’s John Cassise was quick to point out that it is about, “how we transmit data? Is it secured? Is it secure at rest in transit but also do I have the flexibility to decide that this particular piece of information isn’t necessary so I don’t need to move that around my system?” To that we would like to remind clients and subscribers, it is possible to do better than only encryption at rest and in transit. Specifically, it is possible to also be secure while computing leveraging confidential computing available in most public clouds. For additional research on confidential computing see, Industry Whispers: Public is Private – Confidential Computing in the Cloud | TBW ADVISORS.

In terms of selecting what data to move, Cassise goes on to further explain, “for instance the human readable face I don’t necessarily need to move for my system to operate so do I choose an a variation that allows me to not move that around but just the biometric signature.” This approach is also supported by Intel RealSense’s Mike Nielsen. “Authentication without distributing PII.. about 512 bytes that’s irreversible back to a human image now I would then go back to that camera it would evaluate me again generate a new template and then we compare those templates so we’re not comparing my face we’re comparing a template generated as 80 points and the relational distances of those points on my face.” While this is part of the standard, we heard about it often during our coverage for Conference Whispers: ISC West 2025 but did not hear about it during our coverage for Conference Whispers: Identiverse 2025. That said, once I inquired if the PII information was transferred to the badge or a hash – all confirmed the solutions kept to the standard.

3.      Three-Way Test

LVT’s Steve Lindsey got right to the point in terms of how he recommends selecting AI projects. “It has to make things faster, more accurate, and lower cost and if technology isn’t solving one of those three questions, then it’s really not useful to us.” Now those are three business problems most organizations can appreciate. As we have repeatedly advised, AI project must solve business problems – it is not just about using ‘AI’. If you are unsure if your project is a great candidate to solve with current technology, be sure to schedule your inquiry so a TBW Advisors expert can advise you appropriately.

4.      Controlled Agentic AI

RightCrowd’s Jason Bohrer recommends the ever-growing area of Agentic AI with a bit of caution. “There’s a lot of unique opportunities around how you best adopt some of the agent capabilities associated with AI right. It all has to be controlled and approved through the proper channels to make sure you’re driving efficiency, but it also has the proper approval processes associated with it too and we also have Incorporated that some of that into our platform as well.” Before one can dive into Agentic AI, one’s processes must be optimized and data cleaned. If this challenge is your Mt. Everest, be sure to schedule your inquiries with your analyst. At TBW Advisors we offer a lot of firsthand experience and expertise in process optimization and the creation and optimization of advanced data mesh.

5.      Select the Right Hardware

If your hardware can compromise your solution, this is a problem anywhere in IT. In the cyber physical world where the hardware can be located out on remote edges, hardware selection becomes even more critical. As Safr’s John Cassise stated, “number one we need to make sure that we’re using chipsets that are NDAA compliant right because we’re talking about privacy and we can’t be using chips from Chinese manufacturers that potentially are giving vulnerabilities.” But the hardware can do more than just stay compliant and secure. As Bioconnect’s Edsel Shreve declared, “these devices .. are learning devices they have an NPU chip whether you call it API AI or machine learning one of the things these devices do is every single time you use them they’re actually improving the template they’re learning and so over time you just get a stronger and stronger template.”

6.      Leverage Existing Assets

The best practice in any organization is to leverage existing organizational assets. For example, as Bioconnect’s Edsel Shreve explains, “We see AI tools and machine learning coming into place is taking all of the telemetry and data from these systems right just in terms of just this performance of the system or any issues about how they react on a network if servers or readers are dropping offline.” Leveraging existing organizational data particularly telemetry data, is a great practice for any organization. It is important to ensure the data has quality before looking for patterns or making decisions based on the data.

7.      Force Multiplier of Staff

One great practice when deploying AI within your organization particularly in the space of cyber physical security is ensuring the ROI. Specifically, as LVT’s Steve Lindsey pointed out, “what AI is helping us to be able to do is to start being a force multiplier for our people. And it doesn’t limit itself to just computer vision models being able to detect things. There has to be intelligence that consumes those detections and now can intelligently make a decision on what should I do with this. As intelligence gets smarter it can actually help deter and do things for us before humans get

involved in fact at LVT we find that up to 90% of the time an effective deterrence that is believable will get the person to go away which means that five 5 to 10% of the time we’re dealing with somebody who’s desperate or not lucid and they’re going to do it anyway.” Only bothering human security agents in 10% of the incidents when they are needed? That will enable staff to do more with less.

8.      Select Best Model

Selecting the best model for your use case sounds like an obvious best practice but it is more nuanced than one might think. As Viadio’s Marshall Tyler articulated, “technology takes different resources and there are a lot of different models out there you want tried and true model optimization based on your needs for how accurate how quickly and how cost effectively you want to be able to respond to different types of incidents. Technology takes different resources and there are a lot of different models out there. You want tried and true model optimization based on your needs for how accurate how quickly and how cost effectively you want to be able to respond to different types of incidents.” Its about accommodating the entire solution needs and how a given model fits into the solution requirements.

9.      Know When not to Use AI

Kathleen Griggs from Databuoy shared a brilliant best practice regarding the use of AI for security. “When it comes to a life safety situation, we’ve designed our system to get it right. To filter it out based on physics and what we know about the signal and that’s where we feel like it’s not the best place to put AI really.” In other words, when the exact precise math of physics can give you an exact answer, why use AI to approximate. This is particularly true in life and death scenarios.

10. Identify Behaviors

We often advise, it is never about if a specific model meets your needs. AI models will fail. It is about bringing together a collection of models to achieve the solution. It is always about the soluton succeeding. One valuable model to add into a solution is one that can identify behaviors. As Intel’s Mike Nielsen reportedv, “we’re seeing the industry do now is using some of the same techniques to

identify behaviors and objects and “ in the context of physical security to identify bad stuff that could be happening is it actually a gun that’s that there’s a high fidelity way to determine a weapon by looking at a weapon against a database of weapons behaviors like am I reaching for a gun that’s a much lower fidelity thing to do but it still allows Security Professionals to act and respond if a machine detects that somebody may be taking something out of a pocket that they should be doing so those same techniques that we apply to facial Biometrics we are seeing the same techniques being applied in the industry to detect objects detect behaviors and then detect emotions pull those three together and evaluate what action should be taken as a result.”

11. Convolutional Neural Networks or CNNs

A true best practice for layering together various models or algorithms is one commonly referred to as CNNs. As Intel’s Mike Nielsen highlighted, “we apply convolutional neural networks which is a classic but Advanced technique of evaluating an image through layers partitioning that to multiple algorithms to determine things like is it a human being face is that face an actual person is it a mask are they wearing glasses are they wearing a hat are they wearing a Covid mask and we use multiple layering technique with CNNs that allows the machine to learn exactly what is on the face is it an actual face and then applying additional techniques to determine whose face it belongs to.”

12. Leverage Experience

Last but definitely not least, Vaidio’s Marshall Tyler gave some really sound advice for a must follow best practice. “It’s really important you’re looking at one the pedigree of the company that’s been doing the AI. Is this something they just started are they trying to use fancy new Technologies? Make sure that you’re thinking about how fast you can get answers, how accurate those answers are, how efficiently and cost effectively you can drive those answers.” TBW Advisors LLC has witnessed countless examples of AI projects that wasted millions and months because they didn’t work with someone with extensive true experience. Reduce your risk and increase your success by scheduling your inquiry with your TBW Advisors expert to get the best advise available before charging ahead.

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©2019-2026 TBW Advisors LLC. All rights reserved. TBW, Technical Business Whispers, Fact-based research and Advisory, Conference Whispers, Industry Whispers, Email Whispers, The Answer is always in the Whispers, Whisper Reports, Whisper Studies, Whisper Ranking, Whisper Club, and One Change a Month, Vegas Convention Library; Leading Professionals, Real Questions, Real Time, are trademarks or registered trademarks of TBW Advisors LLC. This publication may not be reproduced or distributed in any form without TBW’s prior written permission. It consists of the opinions of TBW’s research organization which should not be construed as statements of fact. While the information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, TBW disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. TBW does not provide legal or investment advice and its research should not be construed or used as such. Your access and use of this publication are governed by the TBW Usage Policy. TBW research is produced independently by its research organization without influence or input from a third party. For further information, see Fact-based research publications on our website for more details.
March 10, 2026
Whisper Report: How can we ensure compliance with new and evolving Cyber Physical security regulations?
Published to clients: July 10, 2025 ID: 2075

Published to Whisper Club: December 19, 2025

Email Whispers Release: March 23, 2026

Public: March 24, 2026

Analyst(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

Photojournalist(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

Abstract:

Cyber-physical security, like healthcare tech, must carefully manage PII. Experts highlight privacy-preserving biometrics, user-controlled consent, and anonymous face matching. Regulatory compliance, such as GDPR, drives standardization and innovation. As laws vary by region, adaptable and consistent global system architectures are essential for scalable, secure, and compliant operations.

Target Audience Titles:
- Chief Technology Officer, Chief Security Officer, Chief Information and Security Officer, Chief Trust Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Risk Officer
- Head of Product, VP of Product, Chief Marking Officer, Data Protection Officer,
- Enterprise Architect, Director of Data Protection, Director of Data Governance, Chief Privacy Officer
Key Takeaways
- Privacy-first design: Cyber-physical systems must protect PII using encrypted biometrics, local storage, and user-controlled consent mechanisms.
- Anonymity matters: Face matching enables identity verification without revealing personal data, preserving user anonymity.
- Compliance drives innovation: Regulations like GDPR standardize data practices and encourage secure, privacy-focused system development.
- Global consistency is key: Scalable, compliant operations require adaptable, non-proprietary architectures across diverse regions and regulatory environments.
How can we ensure compliance with new and evolving Cyber Physical security regulations?

We took the most frequently asked and most urgent technology questions straight to the cyber physical security experts gathering at ISC West 2025. This Whisper Report addresses the question regarding how can we ensure compliance with new and evolving cyber physical security regulations? We will know explore the four signs you are on the correct path as depicted in Figure 1.

Data Privacy

One very interesting aspect of the cyber physical security space that reminds of healthcare tech is the handling of PII or personally identifiable information data. As Safr’s John Cassie shared, in the cyber physical space it, “has a lot to do with what we talked about as far as PII and how we manage data.” Or as LVT’s Steve Lindsey observed, “what we call private or data of sovereignty .. from a data security perspective the technology and the architectures of how these systems are built really have to be in place to address that the PII information really comes down to our use of AI.”

Fortunately, the regulations for privacy include related standards for vendors. As Intel’s RealSense’s Mike Nielsen noted, “I have been very excited about the Privacy preservation of biometric data is really possible now so I can get a template of a human being from their face that can be stored and encrypted it can be handed back to me so in my pocket.”

Managing user consent is a must to achieve privacy in the cyber physical space. Bioconnect’s Edsel Shreve argued, “in privacy where more and more controls going in the user’s hand to say yes I am allowing you to use my biometric. If I ever want to revoke that consent I need proof that you deleted my data and that it’s no longer being used.” He further explained, “we build in to both a upfront gather consent with an audit trail that says okay the user provided consent we didn’t just check a box and say yeah.” Furthermore, the solution must realize the full lifecycle of permission. Edsel Shreve further explained, “you can just do regular maintenance and go in and say who hasn’t authenticated in 6 months what are we going to do with that data right do we want to delete the template or just alert the person or alert an administrator.”

Anonymity

Anonymity has to do with the lack of the ability to identify the person. As LVT’s Steve Lindsey commented, “there’s a difference between facial recognition and face matching right.” Facial recognition includes identification while facial matching allows the face to remain anonymous. A great example was revealed by Intel’s RealSense’s Mike Nielsen.

“I’ve actually got a version of my this QR code is my face template. From this is 512 bytes it’s a it’s just a simple Vector map that looks at 80 points on my face but it’s mine. This isn’t siting in a database somewhere. This isn’t living on somebody’s server. This is physically in my pocket as a badge. I can then apply that (badge) by walking up to one of our devices – one of our cameras have the scan. It pulls in that QR code, evaluates what that template looks like. Then I look at the camera it pulls the template from my actual face and compares the two. The cool thing about the techniques that is it’s privacy preserving by definition it never leaves the device it can be dissolved immediately and you never have to send a picture or any personally identifiable info anywhere outside of me scanning my badge. Then the device makes sure I can unlock that door.”

Thus, this example achieves privacy and anonymity.

Regulatory Compliance

When it comes to cybersecurity and data governance – there are the things you want to do as an organization based on your public commitments such as your privacy statements. Then, there are requirements which are legal requirements sometimes coming from a location and sometimes defined based on your industry referred to as regulatory compliance. As LVT’s Steve Lindsey put it, “we think about the problem in the context of the of the compliance and Regulatory things that we have to have as we’re designing and building this stuff from the beginning.” Furthermore, since we are dealing with cyber physical security,

The best part about regulatory compliance according to Intel RealSense’s Mike Nielsen is, “they’re really well defined at least in the case of like GDPR so GDPR has very strange requirements on how to use PII but specifically how to use sensitive PII like biometric information one of the things that we’ve seen help move the industry forward ironically is having the regulation in place allows people to have a Level Playing Field.” That means that vendors will not be penalized for taking the more difficult road by protecting the customer as all must take equal precautions. Gary Chen of EverFocus noted, “to ensure that we have keep our regulations up to date, we need to keep advancing our technology and mostly from our end installers that will be the key .. also keep good connection with your customer.”

Requirements evolve by location as every product vendor will realize. “One of the things that’s occurring is that whether it’s in Europe or in each state coming up with new requirements for both security of data and compliance.” Edsel Shreve, Bioconnect. When faced with this challenge, it is always best to step back and see how to adjust the architecture to accommodate this capability as a configurable option vs to create a product branch. Today’s regulations in location A become tomorrow’s regulation in location Z. One can then configure at the system level as regulations evolve in different locations.

Finally, it is important to keep in mind the architecture must accommodate the cyber physical security space. who has “from an access control standpoint is not only managing who has access in and out of the mine but also incorporating some functionality around safety who’s completed what safety classes and if they haven’t completed the proper classes then we have the ability to manage access control based on what needs to happen.” Cyber physical security includes the physical safety of the employees themselves and all that goes into ensuring safety compliance regulations are met – in each location.

Consistent Architecture

The complexity of cyber physical security is magnified in organizations the wider the physical disparity across country and continental boundaries. As one might expect, different vendors have different footprints across the globe. For smooth global operations one generally recommends standardized solutions as opposed to propriety solutions. As Safr’s John Cassie explained, “would be nice if I could just capture that from the existing access control system and not have to do some extra procedure so that’s another element that allows us to have sort of this compliance across my entire security platform. As long as I am not using solutions that are pigeonholing me into proprietary solutions.” There may be slightly better solutions in this aspect or that aspect locally available but those frequently ruin the ability to have global clarity. It is critical to maintain a consistent architecture globally unless you want custom roadmap items for each and every change. If you are anywhere in the lifecycle of trying to realize such as solution, be sure to set up an inquiry plan so that an expert who has been there can provide actionable guidance.

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©2019-2026 TBW Advisors LLC. All rights reserved. TBW, Technical Business Whispers, Fact-based research and Advisory, Conference Whispers, Industry Whispers, Email Whispers, The Answer is always in the Whispers, Whisper Reports, Whisper Studies, Whisper Ranking, Whisper Club, Whispers, The Answer is always in the Whispers, Vegas Convention Library, and One Change a Month, are trademarks or registered trademarks of TBW Advisors LLC. This publication may not be reproduced or distributed in any form without TBW’s prior written permission. It consists of the opinions of TBW’s research organization which should not be construed as statements of fact. While the information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, TBW disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. TBW does not provide legal or investment advice and its research should not be construed or used as such. Your access and use of this publication are governed by the TBW Usage Policy. TBW research is produced independently by its research organization without influence or input from a third party. For further information, see Fact-based research publications on our website for more details.
July 10, 2025
Whisper Report: How can we enhance our cybersecurity measures to protect against emerging Cyber Physical threats?
Published to clients: May 20, 2025 ID: 2073

Published to Readers: May 21, 2025

Email Whispers: June 13, 2025

Video Edition: June 13, 2025

Analyst(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

Photojournalist(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

Abstract:

As cyber and physical security continue to merge, proactive, multi-layered strategies are essential to safeguard critical assets in interconnected environments. Secure data practices, including encryption for data in transit and at rest, during compute, and ensure compliance with high security standards. Architectural resilience is crucial, integrating cybersecurity from the outset rather than retrofitting outdated systems. Correlating physical and cyber events provides valuable context. Finaly, digitizing workflows streamlines response efficiency, minimizing the window of vulnerability during attacks.

Target Audience Titles:
- Chief Technology Officer, Chief Security Officer
- Chief Information and Security Officer, VP of Cybersecurity
- Director Cyber Physical Security, Security Analyst
- Cybersecurity Engineer, Incident Response Analyst
Key Takeaways
- Data must be encrypted at rest, in transit, and during execution.
- Cyber Physical security requires a securely designed architecture from the start.
- Cyber and physical threats must be correlated.
- Only a digitized workflow can respond with the required speed to cyber physical threats.
Secure data

As with all security, cyber physical security must also be concerned with, “ data security and encryption … that’s data in the device, data in transit, data in rest at the servers, and so all of those things we have the highest level standards and we also meet more advanced requirements, “ Bioconnect’s Edsel Shreve. The solution should be flexible enough to enable any data protection requirements that come into play. Edsel Shreve went on to further explain, “for example you need to do certificate rotation for things like TLS encryption So we can do those things not every customer wants them but those are the things that we’ve actually got in our system for the folks that have those higher level requirements so it really is the combination of how do we make sure that they’re cyber secure sitting on the network and then how do we make sure that they’re physically and the data is secure on the on the readers and devices themselves.” In addition, TBW Advisors LLC recommends confidential computing architectures for protection and privacy during computations. For additional information see Industry Whispers: Public is Private – Confidential Computing in the Cloud.

Secure Architecture

Taking a 1968 mustang and updating it to 2025 safety standards would be quite the challenge and likely land up with an ugly beast that is neither safe nor resembling of a mustang. Cyber physical security is no different than safety. It must be thought of and integrated from the very beginning. As LVT’s Steve Lindsey explained, “it starts with architecture if we can rethink our architectures and we can start building for cyber security in mind.” The challenge of physical cyber security is that, “for the longest time in the physical security space we’ve been using on premise systems and as we’ve lifted and shifted those into the cloud .. what complicates that is as we’re deploying these systems it’ not just cloud to end User, it’s Cloud to IoT (Internet of Things) device which is going through usually public cellular or satellite infrastructure itself and there’s other things that need to be done to address that” Steve Lindsey.

Correlate Physical Cyber Events

The real power of cyber physical security is the two areas working together to correlate events. Through correlation, context and a greater understanding is realized. An example shared by Advancis’ Paul Shanks demonstrates this best. “Someone loses their badge and falls out of their pocket and they’re logged into the network from home and their badge is used at the building. Those two events by themselves are benign but we take that together and create a an alert for the operator to look into whether is it a Cyber attack or is it a physical attack.”

Digitize Workflow

As early as 2019 TBW Advisors LLC has been advising clients to automate security responses when possible for the simple fact you must. Ransomware attacks were already taking place within a 35-minute window. In 2025 the cyber physical attack vector also calls for automation or a digitized workflow at the very least. As Advancis’ Paul Shanks communicated, “we can take that and make that workflow digitized so that all they have to do is read click and go. Simple as that.”

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©2019-2025 TBW Advisors LLC. All rights reserved. TBW, Technical Business Whispers, Fact-based research and Advisory, Conference Whispers, Industry Whispers, Email Whispers, The Answer is always in the Whispers, Whisper Reports, Whisper Studies, Whisper Ranking, The Answer is always in the Whispers, and One Change a Month, are trademarks or registered trademarks of TBW Advisors LLC. This publication may not be reproduced or distributed in any form without TBW’s prior written permission. It consists of the opinions of TBW’s research organization which should not be construed as statements of fact. While the information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, TBW disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. TBW does not provide legal or investment advice and its research should not be construed or used as such. Your access and use of this publication are governed by the TBW Usage Policy. TBW research is produced independently by its research organization without influence or input from a third party. For further information, see Fact-based research publications on our website for more details.
May 20, 2025
Conference Whispers: ISC West 2025
Las Vegas, NV March 31-April 4

Published to clients: April 7, 2025        ID: TBW2069

Published to readers: April 8, 2025

Published to Email Whispers: July 28, 2025 12pm.

Publicly Published with video edition: July 28. 2025 2pm.

Analyst(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

Photojournalist(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

Abstract:

After capturing almost 50 videos, over 150 minutes of content and countless shorts forthcoming, our coverage of ISC West 2025 closes. Attendees gathered for ISC West 2025 held in Las Vegas March 31-April 4. The event featured innovations in video surveillance, driver-assisted systems, palm vein identity solutions, edge AI, and gunshot detection. Exhibits included AI vision, camera intelligence, and layered security solutions. TBW Advisors was able to capture exclusive content from the live sessions as well as full details on top products at exclusive Press Briefings.

Cautions
- ISC West offers the option to print your badge at home. It is important to note that you not only need your badge holder and lanyard on site, but you still must wait in the registration line. Specifically, you must present and verify your ID to get a sticker on your badge for it to be useful. IF you only snag the badge holder, you will land up back at the long registration lines.
Conference Vibe

Our coverage of ISC West 2025 includes over 38 videos and over 150 minutes of video content spanning session summaries, product overviews, and answers to three urgent questions. There will be countless shorts forthcoming so save the entire Conference Whispers: ISC West 2025 playlists by clicking on the book mark symbol. Registration was quite interesting for the x attendees as one could print the badge at home but still required face to face registration to get the validation sticker. Held at Venetian, the customary Venetian Café Presse was open as well as the Venetian Food Marketplaces within expo hall if you got hungry. The event seemed to exceptionally crowded as you can feel as all waited for expo^* hall to open and was loud enough to trigger a 100db warning on my watch. Upon clearing security, endless exhibits featuring massive amounts of vision AI, AI video analysis, IoT sensor data, and complex security identity solutions bridging the physical and cyber worlds.

While at ISC West, we conducted research for three forthcoming Whisper Reports for our clients. The playlists are unlisted but available and will eventually fill in with the video version of the report so you may wish to bookmark these playlists.
Sessions and Press Event

We are excited to share that we have two exclusive pieces of content where the presenters gave a special overview just for TBW Advisors LLC, our clients, and subscribers. First, we have the session by Intel RealSense. This session focused on the combination the long history in vision and the long history of AI together to successfully create the current generation of facial recognition for the purpose of useful Identity and Access Management via the biometric field of one’s face. Keep in mind, data representing one’s face is PII or personally identifiable information. While not healthcare, the protection of PII requires the same care as all PII data as discussed during our coverage of Conference Whispers: HIMSS 25.

The second session summary we were also treated to includes a look at when cyber and physical security combine. Operations and IT coordinating to achieve a business function is quite common. As anyone who has been a corporate CIO in an organization with physical buildings knows, security is security. Physical security must interface with IT systems to understand who is permitted to do what. Historically, if physical security fails, IT systems are always at a higher risk due to information being left around or the increased attack surfaces made available via the ability to physically access a network terminal or a server itself depending on the organization. In 2025, the rush to get data from everything connected to survive the pandemic or to rush ahead with AI solutions has increased possible attack surfaces. The confluence of these scenarios together has made the Cyber Physical Security practice space blossom so expect to hear and see a lot more in this space for the foreseeable future.

Whenever given the chance, we try to bring unique content and details about the companies at the conferences to you. At ISC West we were able to attend a special, press only event held by Taiwan Excellence better known as Taitra. Taitra’s mission is to help spread the word around the world about innovations coming out of Taiwan by featuring some of their companies. The editor in Chief for Security Today Magazine, Ralph Jensen also spoke at this event to kick it off. We were able to capture the full 10-minute presentations for each of the 6 technologies featured!

The first technology featured is Cyberlink. Cyberlink provides extensive video surveillance capabilities including the ability to successfully track people. In the event of a violent attack or a lost child, finding the desired human being from all the surveillance video available can be quite timely without the right technology. Cyberlink’s people tracking works even if the face is not visible on the video through posture, clothing, or body movement signature.

Advanced driver-assisted systems (ADAS) are popular in automobiles but for larger vehicles it is still newer due to the complexity and size of semi-trucks. EverFocus gave the press an in-depth overview of their current solution including the company’s success in obtaining many Taiwan and global certifications enabling deployment.

The third technology presented at the event was Himax with their palm vein identity solution. As this contactless solution works even if a surgeon has scrubbed for surgery and put on their two pairs of surgical gloves, this technology could have easily been featured at HIMSS25 or Identiverse. Himax is not only known for their palm vein identity solution but also for their ultralow power AI processor that runs their solution and is available on the market as WiseEye.

The fourth and fifth companies presenting both featured edge solutions. Kneron featured a general-purpose secure full stack edge AI solution that support AI services at the edge for a large variety of use cases. One example is combing standard RGB video with thermal camera information for a cohesive image to properly identity living beings or animals in the camera’s view. Likewise, Vivotek specializes in IP Surveillance solutions including network cameras, network video recorders (NVRs) and related software solutions and accessories.

Exhibits

The product mix set at ISC West is interesting as it spans AI vision, Camera Intelligence, surveillance, and identity. Let’s start with the best in show new product two-time award winner, Vaidio. Vaidio provides an AI vision platform leveraging their deep AI expertise. Their belief is you should be able to point a camera at anything and make it safer. Safr is a vision AI solution focuses on facial recognition and liveness verification for live video including watchlist alarms. We also had an extensive booth tour by Intel RealSense. As you can see, their solution is quite easy to integrate for developers. Enrolment is quite simple. Their chip/software solution is integrated into many of the products on the floor. They also provided a live demonstration of their solution in action. If you are famous or a high NetWorth individual and you are not comfortable with your personal identity or other information floating around the web, 360 Privacy was there with their solution.

Advancis is 30-year-old company that provides a one-stop identity solution that focuses on integrating as many hardware devises as possible. It currently can integrate with over 550 hardware devices on which it can capture and verify credentials. They add support for approximately 30 devices each year. Also playing in the Physical Identity and Access Management (PIAM) space is RightCrowd. RightCrowd specializes in complex scenarios for organizations with many employees, many visitors across many locations. For those seeking a PIAM solution leveraging facial recognition or fingerprints, Bioconnect might be on your radar. Bioconnect integrates with the top 8 IAM platforms in the market. For a layered security approach, dormakaba provided TBW Advisors LLC with an exclusive booth tour walking through their offering and various layers. If any of the biometric or other identity information needs to be put on a secure card with any of the contact and contactless embedded technology, Dascom was on site. Their printer can securely hold up to 200 finished product cards until a batch is completed and retrieved.

Diving more into the physical security aspects, LVT provides a mobile security unit that is rapidly deployable. LVT’s low power solution leverages cellular connectivity and high scalability for future proofing its deployment. Underneath the surface, LVT leverage the latest in agentic AI capabilities within its solution to provide these advanced capabilities. Another agentic AI solution that

stops threats without human intervention based on video surveillance, Spot.ai might be on your radar. As an Agentic AI solution, Spot.ai not only detects an issue but can automatically handle the threat in 90% of the cases. Specifically, the solution will automatically be able to execute things like intimidating announcements, spotlights on, and following the potential threat as well as turn on sirens. The solution notifies a humans if the automation determents fail.

Finally, if safety and security means identification of a gun shot and its source, Databuoy was on hand. With technology funded by DARPA, their solution is just as effective in your closest metropolitan area as it is in a urban combat.

Next Year’s Conference

ISC West 2026 conference will once again be held at the Venetian in Las Vegas, Nevada. The dates are yet to be announced for 2026.

^*When vendors’ names are shared as examples in this document, it is to provide a concrete example of what was on display at the conference, not an evaluation or recommendation. Evaluation and recommendation of these vendors are beyond the scope of this specific research document. Other examples products in the same category may have also been on display.

©2019-2025 TBW Advisors LLC. All rights reserved. TBW, Technical Business Whispers, Fact-based research and Advisory, Conference Whispers, Industry Whispers, Email Whispers, The Answer is always in the Whispers, Whisper Reports, Whisper Studies, Whisper Ranking, The Answer is always in the Whispers, and One Change a Month, are trademarks or registered trademarks of TBW Advisors LLC. This publication may not be reproduced or distributed in any form without TBW’s prior written permission. It consists of the opinions of TBW’s research organization which should not be construed as statements of fact. While the information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, TBW disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. TBW does not provide legal or investment advice and its research should not be construed or used as such. Your access and use of this publication are governed by the TBW Usage Policy. TBW research is produced independently by its research organization without influence or input from a third party. For further information, see Fact-based research publications on our website for more details.
April 8, 2025
Conference Whispers: Smart Retail Tech Expo 2024

Las Vegas, NV April 24-25, 2024

Published to clients: May 14, 2024 ID: 2043

Published to Readers: May 15, 2024

Published to Email Whispers: January 14, 2025

Public: January 15th, 2025

Analyst(s) and Photojournalist: Doreen Galli, PhD MBA

ABSTRACT

After 400 minutes of filming, 30 videos, countless shorts and over 30 factchecks, our coverage of this years’ Smart Retail Tech Expo 2024 closes. Smart Retail Tech Expo is part of 5 conferences held at once at the same time and place: White Label, Retail, Supply Chain and Logistics Expo, Smart Retail Tech, Ecommerce Packaging and Labelling and Com Business Live. It was held in Las Vegas from May 8 to May 9 at the South Lower Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC). The event featured 5 theaters with each featuring 4-5 talks each day for a total of 47 keynote sessions. With discussion on distribution and logistics and vendors for every step of the journey, one could launch a new business with the contacts from this event alone.

Conference Vibe

After 2 days of filming some 400 minutes of content, 30 videos with endless shorts coming and over 30 factchecks, our coverage of this years’ Smart Retail Tech Expo closes. The event is five events held at once all together. White Label, Retail, Supply chain and Logistics Expo, Smart Retail Tech, E-Commerce Packaging and Labelling and Com Business Live. With row after row of exhibits*, the event was made whole by the balanced combination of talks and exhibits. Even better, there was 15 minutes in between the talks so one could catch the exhibits. Furthermore, all theaters schedules were once again aligned in the event you wanted to switch theaters as well.

The short two-day event packs a punch with 5 keynote theatres each featuring 4 or 5 talks a day for a whopping 47 sessions. The first day was supposed to be capped off by a presentation Presidential candidate Robert Kennedy but it was cancelled purportedly due to security concerns. We captured 30 videos that will result in a lot of great shorts so be sure to save the entire playlist of videos for Conference Whispers: Smart Retail Tech Expo. We were able to capture the walkabout of the entire conference right at the conference’s grand opening. If you are wondering what was to eat at the show, we have you covered with video of the food lines and menus.

Keynotes

The keynotes at this smaller event were quite impressive and featured talks from Google, AWS, Home Depot, Lenova, and ASCM (Association of Supply Chain Management) to name a few. Douglas Kent of ASCM (Association of Supply Chain Management) shared top supply chain trends during his keynote. Jesus Sanchez from Google show the many ways in which you can put Google AI to work for you for your retail solution. It is all about optimizing marketing expenses. He also shared the interesting statistic that 15% of all searches are unique. Amazon’s Justin Honaman shared the many ways AWS Gen AI is being leveraged for innovation in retail and CPG. Phil Pench of DHL ecommerce shared an interesting talk with the list of options for the end of the supply chain particularly for those importing goods.

Home Depot’s Paul Ganz shared the ripple effect of failing a customer. He reminded all that you only get one chance to take care of your customer. That once the customer bought the product, you are handling their item – not yours and it should be treated as such. Chewy’s Debarati Das gave a detailed talk highlighting the complexities of inventory management in the context of the corporate goals and customer satisfaction requirements. There were many people waiting to speak with this speaker following the talk. Kevin Lawton of @thenewwarehouse examined the question of doing fulfillment from the retail location versus a warehouse. Admittedly, this talk reminded me of a patent I was awarded as an IBM Engineer on this exact topic in the heart of the dot com era.

Exhibits

While many of the exhibits focused on the White Label portion of the show were captured in the walkabout, there was no technology for us to cover. Nonetheless, we discovered quite a bit of tech to capture. If you need to make a professional video to sell your wares or any other services in getting your product to market, newegg was on display with media, sellingpilot, and marketplace. If you are not sure about the size of the object you are selling, vMeasure was on site. vMeasure leverages cameras, sensors and scales with some great AI /ML models to provide the size of the object.

If one is selling something in a store, are instead display, Retail Media Management was there to share their digital signs and smart retail tags. One only needs to change the price online, and all price tags will automatically update. They are reported to have a 5-year battery life. Admittedly, we know days of batteries in such electronics is limited as glass can now capture energy from thin air as seen in our coverage at CES. Another digital sign company, Hongzhou had a smart menu kiosk on exhibit. This kiosk not only takes the order and payment but coordinates the order to the kitchen staff. Limited staff but want to open a pizza joint? Pzza has an automated solution to make commercial pizzas that only requires one employee to run the shop. This exhibit gave us flashbacks to the automatic stir fry tech we saw at CES, Techmagic. If you would like to bring home the bacon instead of serving it, Bacon Tech was on site with their staffing and employee management mobile application. If your retail business involves CBD, Argyle Payments was on hand to help you with your banking needs.

To secure a retail space, many require video surveillance. LVT remote surveillance with their solar panel powered solution complete with simple intelligence was on the floor. This intelligence is leverages to identify objects in the video and notify as appropriate. Is your business is looking for warehouse space AND will create 10 jobs or more? Global Site Location Industries collaborates with municipalities around the country. This collaboration allows Global Site Location Industries to offer their assistance for free.

If you warehouse scanners or other mobile technology is missing or you need an extra, ASR Tech was on site and can fix anything. If simply cannot find your products in your warehouse or want to monitor them through the supply chain, Lyngsoe Systems passive RFID has a solution for you. RFID has come a long way with stickers at just .05 each. We also heard about Cirro Fulfillment’s Smart robots as they were to enhance the supply chain. SRSI shared their automated storage and retrieval technology available in all 50 states. In fact, SRSI handles all technology available within the 4 walls of the warehouse. Goods was on display to remind you to focus on your business with their integrated solution handling inventory management, order management, and warehouse management.

As a conference about logistics, there were many logistics companies! Fellowship logistics shared that they can reach 99% of the US in 2 days and 75% in 1 day. Meanwhile, ExFreight was sharing that they provide 100% online capabilities for their entire service logistics offering to 175 countries. C&C logistics serves all continental US and Mexico and can move anything from a single pallet to an entire warehouse.

There were vendors on display with technology for every aspect of your retail business. Shopline intelligent offered a unified commerce platform. There was also a solution called iVision to automate customer loyalty. Admittedly, both solutions intelligence is not yet fully realized compared to many of the technologies analyzed at the Adobe Summit or even Fintech Meetup.

Next Year’s Conference

Smart Retail Tech Expo comes to Las Vegas every year. The next Smart Retail Tech Expo will occur April 16 and 17th, 2025, in Las Vegas, NV at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

^*When vendors’ names are shared as examples in this document, it is to provide a concrete example of what was on display at the conference, not an evaluation or recommendation. Evaluation and recommendation of these vendors are beyond the scope of this specific research document. Other examples products in the same category may have also been on display.

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©2019-2024 TBW Advisors LLC. All rights reserved. TBW, Conference Whispers, Industry Whispers, Vendor Whispers, Email Whispers, The Answers always in the Whispers, Technical Business Whispers, Whisper Reports, Whisper Studies, Whisper Ranking, Fact-based Research and Advisory, Galli’s Keys to Success, and One Change a Month, are trademarks or registered trademarks of TBW Advisors LLC. This publication may not be reproduced or distributed in any form without TBW’s prior written permission. It consists of the opinions of TBW’s research organization which should not be construed as statements of fact. While the information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, TBW disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of such information. TBW does not provide legal, or investment advice and its research should not be construed or used as such. Your access and use of this publication are governed by the TBW Usage Policy. TBW research is produced independently by its research organization without influence or input from a third party. For further information, see Fact-based research publications on our website for more details.

May 15, 2024