EDGE AI Summit, a three-day virtual conference running Nov. 18 – 20, promises to present innovative, real-world use cases of hardware and software facilitating AI at the Edge, including timely topics such as the development of new edge AI solutions for a post-pandemic society.

The agenda for this third annual Edge AI Summit, presented by Kisaco Research, will feature top-tier global speakers and structured virtual networking.

Each day will present a different focus, all designed to illustrate the newest data available. Day one, Nov. 18, focuses on Sensor Edge, with speakers discussing the development of hardware and software solutions for energy-constrained ‘sensor edge’ conditions at the micro to milli-watt level, spanning earbuds, smart sensors, wearables and tiny IoT devices.

Day Two, Nov. 19, brings talks on Device Edge, for moderately energy-constrained ‘device edge’ conditions at the hundreds of milliwatts to single digit watts level, such as mobile phones, cameras, drones and autonomous vehicles.

On the third day, Nov. 20, Network and Server Edge will highlight solutions for non-energy constrained conditions at the 10s of watts level, such as on-premises servers, 5G network outposts and cloud servers.

“This year’s summit promises to be a virtual global gathering of the best minds working on the engineering challenges across the edge computing landscape,” said Ed Nelson, Portfolio Director at Kisaco Research. “We will be hearing real-world use cases from companies such as Uber AI, Google, Bosch, Magic Leap, Rakuten and many more. And, as always, we will have tremendous networking opportunities making this summit a don’t-miss event.”

Nelson pointed out that a 2020 report by Frost & Sullivan stated that 90 percent of industrial enterprises will be utilizing edge computing by 2022, making this year’s summit exceptionally timely and valuable. Thirty-three distinguished speakers are lined up, representing technology corporations, academic institutions and investment groups.

Notable presenters speaking at the event include:

Chandra Khatri, chief scientist and head of AI at Got It AI

Ashwin Swaminathan, senior director, perception, at Magic Leap

Sastry Malladi, CTO at FogHorn Systems

Ajay Nair, product lead, Edge ML, at Google

Registration is open here.

This past week The Cove at UCI Beall Applied Innovation held one of the best tech startup funding events that I’ve encountered in Orange County.

Called “Face to Face with Investors,” the event featured panels and roundtable discussions led by more than 40 venture capitalists and successful entrepreneurs from Tech Coast Angels, OCTANe, Mucker Capital, K5 Ventures, Cove Fund, Koa Accel and others providing advice and insights to tech startup founders and aspiring entrepreneurs.

It was standing room only in The Cove’s main venue with over 100 entrepreneurs, most seeking initial seed money for their ideas with a few ready for Series A investment.  There was lots of energy in the room, panel moderators kept things moving along with great questions, and the audience was fully engaged.

Here’s my takeaway of the top 10 tips for tech entrepreneurs seeking funding:

• CONVICTION – This word was mentioned several times by investors and company CEOs as the key to success. My take:  if it’s clear that you believe in your idea, others are more likely to as well.  How you tell your story – with a passion and confidence reflected in your eyes, voice and body language – can be as important as what your story is.

• TELL A GOOD STORY – While many tech entrepreneurs are engineers, they must get out of the mind-set of focusing on the technology alone and learn to communicate the emotional part of their company’s story. In other words, describe how it will help people, whether it will save lives or simply keep a customer from pulling their hair out. One investor said he’s seen the impact of good storytelling lead to funding without so much as a product prototype.

• EXPLAIN THE PROBLEM – Again, most tech entrepreneurs want to jump into the details of their solution. However, the solution is secondary to communicating the problem. Investors want to understand up front if the problem is compelling enough that people would be willing to pay for a product or service that solves it.

• THE ELEVATOR PITCH IS IMPORTANT – Yes, it’s true – don’t underestimate the power of a simple, brief pitch about your startup. Panelists recommended practicing your elevator pitch in front of a mirror, your friends, the cat – whatever it takes to tell an effective story in a couple minutes or less.  One entrepreneur said her elevator pitch to an investor at an event led to an introduction to decision-makers at Pinterest.  Have your elevator pitch down cold.

• GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE – Investors will take cold calls and read unsolicited emails, but nothing works better than a ‘warm introduction,’ i.e., you came up and spoke to them in person. For many tech entrepreneurs, this means getting out of your comfort zone and introducing yourself to everyone you can.  Starting conversations with strangers is an indispensable part of the funding process.

• INTELLIGENT FOLLOW-UP IS ESSENTIAL – Investors say that providing updates on your progress once a month or whenever it makes sense is necessary for success. Even if it’s an investor you met only once, or someone who has turned you down, indifference can turn into interest, and “no’s” can become “maybe’s” by hitting milestones and showing traction.

• KNOW YOUR INVESTORS – Seems like a no-brainer but investors said many entrepreneurs don’t start with the basic research on who would be the optimum VC for their idea. In addition to finding people who previously have invested in your space, also talk to funded entrepreneurs and get their insights on personalities, general funding practices, processes, etc.  Never go in blind to an investor pitch without thoroughly understanding your audience.

• FIND SMART ADVISORS – You don’t know everything – find people who can fill the gaps. Often this assistance will come from the investor. “Smart money” can be better for the long-term prospects of your startup than big money. Also, if you are still in early stages, join an incubator where expert counseling in accounting, law, HR and more is available.

• NEVER LIE – To a person, investors said this is a deal-killer. If they can’t trust you, investors won’t invest.  It’s understood if you’re projecting future growth that those are your best estimates, but don’t misrepresent even the most innocuous facts about yourself or your firm.  Pitch deck misspellings or messy capitalization tables can be overcome by a good idea and a compelling founder presence, but a lie won’t.

• GRAB THE BRASS RING – This tip is mine. My impression is that these investors are hungry for solid ideas and trustworthy founders.  I was surprised to learn that most of the VCs take everyone seriously and will get back to you on your pitch within a few weeks.  Don’t count yourself out.  They will provide funding for good ideas that will make their investors money.  So, if you believe in yourself and your idea, go for it.

My grandmother was born in Ireland in 1892 and lived a full, healthy life until her passing 100 years later.

When she was a kid living in the hills of County Mayo, there were no cars, electricity or airplanes. And if anyone had predicted that her and her siblings would live to see rockets in space with humans onboard someday, the proprietor of the local pub would have cut him off and sent him on his way.

I used to believe I would never see the magnitude of technological change that she saw in her lifetime.  Now I’m not so sure.

Just this month there was this headline: Flying Taxis Draw Some Consumer Support.  The story is about the results of a recent study about the consumer comfort level with autonomous flying taxis.  The reason for the study is because companies like Uber are already testing the technology with a target implementation as early as 2023.

There are of course an endless number of futuristic technologies already here – like virtual assistants, autonomous vehicles and AR/VR – as well as many on the horizon that will likely change society forever.

This rising tide of innovation is being driven by businesses leveraging advanced technologies and new processes to better compete, meet customer expectations and increase profits in a phenomenon collectively known as “digital transformation.”

What exactly is digital transformation?  There are almost as many definitions as there are pundits who are discussing it but here are several we found that may help nail it down:

“Digital transformation involves using digital technologies to remake a process to become more efficient or effective. The idea is to use technology not just to replicate an existing service in a digital form, but to use technology to transform that service into something significantly better.”

 Mark Samuels, ZDNet

“As digital technology evolved, people started generating ideas for using business technology in new ways, and not just to do the old things faster. This is when the idea of digital transformation began to take shape. With new technologies, new things — and new ways of doing them — were suddenly possible.  Digital transformation is changing the way business gets done and, in some cases, creating entirely new classes of businesses. Now we’re firmly entrenched in the digital age, and businesses of all sorts are creating clever, effective and disruptive ways of leveraging technology.”

Mark Edmead, CIO Contributor

“There’s a technological tsunami on the horizon and it’s about to shake every business to its core. This digital transformation will be bigger than any before it and will be on a global scale, transforming customer experiences along with their relationships with those they do business with. This transformation is being driven by seven major elements of the Internet of Things: artificial intelligence (AI), digital voice assistants, smart homes, drones and robots, connected cars, sensors, and virtual and augmented reality.”

                                                                                                                Chuck Martin, Net Future Institute

“Digital technologies enable the development of new or enhanced products and services along with new and better ways to deliver them to customers, along with vastly higher levels of efficiency. More importantly perhaps, they enable fundamentally new ways to organize business. What has emerged is digital transformation, the reinvention of a company – its vision and strategy, organization structure, processes, capabilities, and culture, to match the evolving digital business context.  This transformation, through digital technologies, is not only changing companies but redefining markets and entire industries.”

Vijay Gurbaxani, Director of the Center for Digital Transformation

UCI Paul Merage School of Business

“Love it or hate it, digital transformation is at the center of industry-leading organizations. Digital transformation is not simply a list of IT projects, it involves completely rethinking how an organization uses technology to pursue new revenue streams, products, services, and business models.”

Shawn Fitzgerald, Research Director, Digital Transformation Strategies, IDC

Read more on the topic here Why Communications Is Key to Digital Transformation or contact HKA to learn how we can help.