Uday Kiran Chaka Transcript
Clint Betts
Uday, thank you so much for coming on the show. It means a lot to have you here. You're the CEO and founder of Sentry AI. You have a degree in MBA from Duke University. You went to Indiana Institute of Technology. You have an incredible career and story, but tell us how you became the CEO of Sentry AI.
Uday Kiran Chaka
Yeah. I've always been passionate about solving real-world problems, and when I found an opportunity, I just could not stop myself. I guess this is a similar story for most entrepreneurs. When you find something that really spurs you, something that you're really excited and passionate about, you want to do something about it, and in my case, it's definitely a mission, which is to make society crime-free, and it's obviously a lot bigger than me, and the only way it could happen is by bringing other people along. So I had to start a company and bring other people along who shared the same vision and mission, and that's basically how we got started.
Clint Betts
Yeah. That's incredible. So, tell us what Sentry AI does.
Uday Kiran Chaka
Mm-hmm. So, we build an AI version of security guards. So, as you know, you cannot have a security guard everywhere, so how can I make that happen with technology? So that is fundamentally what Sentry AI is doing. How can we make our communities safer and secure by using technology as a way of democratizing access to security, which we cannot do? We cannot hire enough people to man every home, every street, every public place. We need to use technology very efficiently. I think that's exactly what Sentry AI's aim is.
Clint Betts
So I saw recently, just because I'm following the recent election and all that type of stuff, that even President Trump at Mar-a-Lago needed, there was like a robot, I think it was designed by Boston Dynamics or something like that, that was literally doing what you're just saying, but it was like a physical robot patrolling the area or the perimeter or whatever where he was. What do you make of that, and is that kind of, like, do you see your technology powering, that being a part of that? What did you think when you saw that? That must've been validating.
Uday Kiran Chaka
Absolutely. I mean, just to imagine, right, your presidential candidate being targeted twice, right, and getting a bullet by his ear and narrowly escaping an assassination. It's really scary, right? I mean, people like you and me are like nothing compared to a person who has access to all these secret security, security services, and all, right? So that makes everyone wonder, what is security? How can we bring that to everyone? Right? And exactly, this robotic dog is one such manifestation, right? How can I have eyes and ears everywhere? I mean, for a good reason, right? It is not the Orwellian vision, but how can I use it to prevent crime from happening? And this is, again, quoted by another very famous entrepreneur, Larry Ellison of Oracle, who said basically everything that you do is now going to be captured on some camera somewhere. Right? This vision is going to be so ubiquitous, right, that you just cannot avoid it.
Now, the bigger problem is that you have all these cameras everywhere. I mean, some estimates are about half a billion cameras worldwide, and a few other estimates are about a billion, billion, and half security cameras worldwide. Right? With so many cameras and so many feeds coming in, you can't even hire enough people to watch them 24 by 7. Right? So that is basically where AI, another big topic right, which is on everyone's minds right now, is going to help us. And this robotic dog that you mentioned, and all the people who are surrounding either Trump or any other public official, they need help. Right? The robotic dog is one. There could be drones that are like fixed cameras. You need different ways of keeping an eye on every inch of property everywhere.
I think that's basically what I see us going to, right? Whether we like it or not. So I think this is the status of affairs, right? People have voted very clearly, whether you are in California, New York, or anywhere. People have voted for security, and you see that across the propositions that were passed, the people that got elected, that got removed and recalled from office. The very dominant theme for this election was security and safety, right? I think this is going to happen, and this trend is going to continue not just in the U.S. but across the world. And people think, hey, when you have all these cameras, how is it even possible that crime is happening? How can someone get away with crime? Right? I think that is what is spurring the demand. And if I may say so, this is what got me started. Right?
So I'm a software engineer, and I went to business school. I wasn't focusing on management consulting, advising large companies and senior executives on how to run their businesses more efficiently. Out of the blue, my garage gets broken into. I mean, I live in a pretty safe place in Silicon Valley, and I'm thinking, how is this even possible with so many cameras around? And I was pretty upset. I went to a police officer who was investigating it and asked him to explain to me how can someone even think they could commit a crime like that and not get caught. Right? And he said something very interesting. Hey, look, cameras are everywhere, but who's monitoring them? If no one's monitoring them, the thieves know it, and they know they can get away, so you need to have a presence wherever you are putting all these cameras. Someone has to feel that someone is looking at them, and if they commit a crime, they will get caught.
I think that became the basis, right? Again, this can probably happen only in Silicon Valley. So I told him, "Hey, I have deep knowledge of AI, and I know how I can make that presence feel. When I see someone suspicious, I'll actually play a sound saying that, 'Hey, who are you?' In my voice, right, as though I'm looking at it, right, and I'm upset at someone trying to break in. So what do you think about it?" And again, as I said, this can probably happen only here. As I was leaving, he said, "Hey, do you think you can take my investment? Everyone has come to me with a problem. No one has come to me with a solution." So, no kidding, I just incorporated the company and brought him in as my first investor and advisor.
Clint Betts
A police officer.
Uday Kiran Chaka
Yeah. A police officer.
Clint Betts
You're kidding.
Uday Kiran Chaka
That was my first investor.
Clint Betts
That is so cool.
Uday Kiran Chaka
I mean, talk about validation, right? As an entrepreneur, you're looking to see, hey, is this something real? And here's a law enforcement official with probably 13 years of experience and managing a bunch of police officers and dealing with crime day and day out and so frustrated and says, "You've got to solve it, man, and at least you are showing me some hope that there's a way to do this, and I want in." Right? That's basically how Sentry got started, and this is what excites me and gets me up every day to go and build this outstanding company and offering that'll help people feel safe and secure.
Clint Betts
That is one of the coolest founding stories I've ever heard. That is incredible. It's unfortunate that it happened. You had to get your stuff stolen in order for all that to occur, but in a way, it became a good thing, which is odd in the end. So Sentry, as you said, hey, there's all these cameras everywhere, but who's monitoring them? So, the way I understand it is Sentry is the one who is monitoring them. Now, how does that work?
Uday Kiran Chaka
Yeah. So, at the core, right, we have all these cameras. There's a lot of video, and the video is being processed, some on the camera itself and some remotely, right, on a processor somewhere, and everything is today, just stored, right? Before Sentry AI kind of came into the picture, everything was stored, and you passed on that video to law enforcement. "Hey, this is what happened. Can you help me?" Right? Our goal is to focus more on prevention. When I see something unusual happening, our AI, which is in the cloud, basically understands that there is some unusual activity here, and just like a human being understands that "Okay, this is unusual, and I've got to explore and understand what's happening." Right? So, you start with probing questions. Hey, who are you? What are you doing? Why are you here? And if the person understands that somebody's looking and runs away, you kind of solve the problem. Right?
And if it's someone, your neighbor, who wants some help, they don't mind. I mean, they're going to answer. Right? And our AI can actually interpret, "Oh, this is actually a real request for help," and relay it on to the owner of the property, right, to say, "Hey, somebody really needs your help." And on the other side, right, if somebody is committing a crime and is not leaving, even then you need to be alerted that, hey, you need to call the police or need to do something about it. So, that is effectively what Sentry AI is doing. It's AI software that represents you, the owner of the property, or a security guard, and it's literally what it says, right? It's an AI version of a Sentry, a protector who basically keeps an eye on the property and makes sure the place is safe.
Clint Betts
How far away are we where we all have our own guard dogs, robot guard dogs, to be clear?
Uday Kiran Chaka
Interestingly, you may not need the robot guard dog. Right? So there have been a lot of attempts at using robots, both like humanoid robots or like a dog, right? But if you see the economics of it, and now you have a piece of metal, right, carrying a camera on top. You are adding the battery to it. You are adding locomotion to it. Right? But the cameras are so cheap and they have a very large view, right? A camera can look at 200 feet very clearly, and if you put better lenses, you can probably go up to a mile both in clear daylight and using infrared lenses at night. When that is the case, why don't you just put ten cameras around your property instead of having a robot dog or a drone just going around, right, and then at some point needing a charge again?
Also, you're spending a lot of energy moving this body around when you can just put ten cameras and cover the whole perimeter. Right? So, in my opinion, they look cool, all these humanoid robots and robot dogs, but what will really solve the problem is the ubiquitous presence of cameras everywhere. Right? You have cameras on the walls. You have cameras in your cars. You have cameras on poles. Your cameras are on the streets and on the bridges. I mean, you have cameras everywhere. I think that is the real way I think everyone's going to solve the problem, in my opinion.
Clint Betts
Yeah. It's kind of wild that we're going to live, or we already do kind of live in that type of society, but here we are, right? There's kind of no going back from that, so there's no point in even discussing whether any of that is good. Yeah, like, there we are.
Uday Kiran Chaka
Yeah, the difference. The difference, right? Compared to, again, everyone's worried about 1984, right? Like an Orwellian situation.
Clint Betts
Yeah. I tried not to say Orwell.
Uday Kiran Chaka
The difference is that private ownership of these cameras is right compared to a single public entity owning everything. Right? And I mean, you see, any Hollywood movie is one entity that has access to all the cameras, right, and makes sense of things and creates this dystopian vision. I think there's a completely different approach to the future, which is private. Right? Imagine you are the wealthiest person, right? You can hire a security guard across your property. You can have a hundred people all around your property. Right? So that is what you're trying to create with technology. You put a hundred cameras. Right? You can afford it. Right? You don't need to be really rich to put 10 cameras or a hundred cameras, actually. Right?
And I think that is the difference between how I think security can be done in a private way and how it is compared to this dystopian way where a single AI is controlling everything. Right? Instead, it'll be private. You have your AI. Actually, the way you described it is beautiful. Can I have my own robotic security guard? Right? Our idea is to give you your own personal Sentry that protects your property and shares any information only as you authorize. If you say, "No, nothing leaves my property," great. Sentry will keep an eye on your property and only inform you; it will not even share it with law enforcement. I think that is the real answer to how we will get security without losing our privacy.
Clint Betts
I know this is the big question that everyone's asking, and who knows the answer to it, but I'd love to get your take on the future of AI and where AI is going over the next five to 10 years, and what you think this world is going to look like from a security perspective, but even just the power of this technology.
Uday Kiran Chaka
Mm-hmm. Again, enough people have talked about it. My opinion is AI is probably the most powerful tool that we have created when thinking about the smartest person that you can find, and you're trying to make a copy or at least simulate that person's thinking and Democratize that you are providing that access to everyone. It's very similar to what Google did with information. Right? I mean, I could learn about a completely random language that I have never seen or heard any person from, right, or heard any person say, but I can now access that information with just a few keystrokes. Right? I think AI is just like that. It's a powerful tool that provides us with a lot of information, but now, taking it to the next level, actually doing something about it, taking your commands and responding to them, right, and representing you in some ways. I think, in that sense, it's a very powerful tool, and just like any powerful tool, you need to make sure you're using it appropriately.
And this is where I'm very, very strong about building all these privacy safeguards. You need to have your AI. I need to have my AI. Right? And the government will have its own AI. Right? So there will be so many different layers of AI, and I think that is natural, and this is how it's going to evolve. Ultimately, it's going to be a great tool that can help us become better. In my opinion, right? Our lives will be better. We'll have much better health outcomes. We'll have longer lifespans. We will solve a lot of very well-known problems, right? We could even solve climate change. I think we will throw better quality resources at very intricate and Intractable problems that we thought we, as humans, were not able to get to fast enough. You can have AI help you again as a tool to get there faster. I think that's basically how I see it.
I don't completely believe in this dystopian world where AI is taking over. AI, by definition, doesn't have an objective, so it's not like you or me. We have a vision or a goal. We want to do something and, therefore, use tools to get there. Right? Unless you empower this one particular entity with so much access to this either like electricity and power, the compute and then give a very obnoxious goal. I don't see that as a big concern at this point. It should be all about how I've now got hands on a very powerful tool that can do a lot of good things for us. How can I make the best use of it? I think that's where I see AI today, and I think there are enough sane people in the world that I think it'll continue to be that way. Right? So, where will we come to a consensus on how to harness this amazing technology? So, I'm very optimistic about the future of AI, and I strongly believe this is where we are going to go.
Clint Betts
What do you think about raising money for your company? How have you thought about it up to this point? I mean, venture capital, debt, all this. Like give us a sense for how you've built your company up to this point.
Uday Kiran Chaka
Yeah. So, for Sentry AI, we raised about three and a half million to date from a variety of investors. First and foremost, as I said, many from law enforcement and with security backgrounds, CEOs of security companies, those who understand and are frustrated with the current state of affairs and what solutions are there in the market today. So we have a set of investors there and a lot of AI optimists. They basically see how AI is going to transform what we are doing and how we will play in the future. There are many investors of that kind. We have some of the angel funds, and rounding out the investor group are a few very high-net-worth individuals. Tim Draper, who has invested in SpaceX, Tesla, Coinbase, and 600 other companies, is a futurist who is strongly betting on AI and technology like ours to democratize access to security, we have him as an investor.
We have Mark Randolph, who was the first CEO of Netflix. He's a strong believer in what we are doing. The chief security officer of ServiceNow, Brian Tuskan, is one of our investors. So we have some of the security personnel, security experts, and AI experts, and we have this futurist who sees the potential of AI and how security is being transformed with AI. So these are the kinds of investors we have for the next stage. We are getting close to a million in revenues this year, so we are looking to raise a pretty big round, maybe early to mid next year, to scale our operations, and our focus then would be reaching to VCs who are interested in AI as a transformative force, right, applied to various verticals. We know a lot of AI companies are investing in horizontal solutions. So, at some point, once that is done, they have to focus on the vertical. It could be healthcare. It could be security. It could be transportation or logistics. Sentry's goal is to dominate the security vertical and show that we've got the best solution using AI and people to provide world-class security, something that we haven't seen before the arrival of AI.
Clint Betts
Yeah. What does a typical day look like for you?
Uday Kiran Chaka
Yeah. So, as an entrepreneur, you are always racing against time in a way and with very few resources, so I try to prioritize my day very aggressively and look for what can create the most impact. I strongly believe that my role in the company is to help others succeed and empower them. My first order of business is to see what the roadblocks are in my team and what things on my plate I can do to make them successful. And that's number one on my list. Right? So if someone needs a document, they need a different messaging, they need a different way to solve a problem, they want an introduction to a particular expert in technology or security, I'm here. Right? So that's my job, to help them succeed, and that takes priority. And, of course, I create enough white spaces within my day where I just take time to think, "Hey, what's going on? How is the company doing? What can I do to add more value? Are we in the right direction? Are we tracking to the vision that we set out in the beginning, or are we deviating? Are we getting distracted by smaller issues?" Right?
So I think this is kind of where I keep switching between the two modes, where I need to get a few things done so that I keep people occupied and get them marching on, and I take some time away to relax. I'm big into yoga and meditation, so I take my time to completely shut down and just think very deeply about certain things. And again, my routine, right? So there's enough thinking and working, but also enough physical exercise. I do run when I can. I do my yoga. I play some sports when I can, and everything is kind of mixed up, both sitting at the desk as well as walking, moving, and changing up so that I think you get great ideas and insights when you least expect them. And so you need to give both. You need to be very intensely working on certain problems, and then you need those periods of complete detachment where you let your subconscious mind actually come up with some insights and solutions. So, I kind of intersperse bouts of activity and space to help me perform better in my company.
Clint Betts
What do you read? What reading recommendations would you have for us?
Uday Kiran Chaka
Yeah. I love reading. I love reading about philosophy. I love reading about how entrepreneurs and leaders have built companies and organizations, so fundamental topics are related to science and mathematics. Lately, I've been reading Leviathan by Hobbes, which was written in the 1650s or so. A different take on what it means to be a citizen. Why do we surrender certain rights to a government, especially when we are just coming off a very charged political calendar, right? Topics like these kind of interest me. What is security? Why do we do what we do? So these are the topics I cover. I've read a lot of books about how Netflix got started. I read the whole biography of Tesla by Walter Isaacson. So I've read about Jennifer Doudna's whole story about CRISPR and how they're transforming the genome.
I just love to read about completely different topics and absorb what's happening elsewhere and what I can bring back to the problem that I'm solving, right? Which is how do I improve security? How do I make society crime-free? All this philosophy goes back to the same question: Why do people commit crimes? It still boggles my mind. What makes someone just go and walk in? I mean, you see all these videos where people just go, take stuff and walk away. I mean, how can it be a victimless crime? Somebody somewhere is paying for it. What makes you think you can go and do it? Right? Those are very fundamental questions. Why do people behave the way they do? And you do certain things at an individual level and certain other weird things at a group level. Right? So all these things really interest me. I mean, I would love to know more about it and see how I can apply those insights to changing how we can feel safe and secure.
Clint Betts
With the election behind us now, and we can look forward and we know who's going to be running the government in 2024, how are you thinking about 2024? Do you think it's going to be a down year for tech, regular year, up year? How are you thinking about and planning for the market environment in the coming year?
Uday Kiran Chaka
Oh, it's a clear, clear, very clear message, right, which is that the next four years, it's all going to be about security. Right? I mean, we can go into deeper questions of whether people are really in a bad place right now. But everyone feels, hey, we need to invest more in security. And I think that's a given, and from that perspective, technology is fundamental. I mean, there are a lot of macro conditions that are impacting the presence of people or contributions of people within security. When you look at how many people are getting into the security industry, I mean, you see police departments struggling to hire enough law enforcement officials. Right? There are not enough border patrol agents. There are not enough cops on the beat to secure places.
Again, we can go into the reasons why, but that's the truth: it's a fact that the security industry is not able to attract enough people. And there are people who are aging out, those who used to be security guards. Now, there are not enough younger people who are entering the profession. Right? So, it's becoming a challenge for the industry to grow today with just people alone, and therefore, that will be complemented. So you got the demand, and from the supply side, you don't have enough people. Then, the human costs have gone up because of inflation. So there are so many factors that strongly indicate that tech is going to have a huge presence in the next four years and beyond where it's going to fill that need that everyone wants to feel more secure and that a problem or that gap will be actually filled by technology.
You'll have more cameras. You'll have more AI agents monitoring on your behalf, and they will activate the needed systems. It could be as simple as automatic doors right which shut down or drones flying out. It could be your robotic dogs that are left out. It would be, I think, calling law enforcement to the right places and optimizing their time. So, there are so many things I think will happen over the next few years that you'll see a huge interest in security and how to solve security problems with technology. So I'm pretty optimistic about how this will be done, and I think the [inaudible 00:29:55], right, again, would be a safer security, safer society, I would say.
And it's kind of paradoxical, right? You need that kind of fear to get that investment, and when you have that investment, then you actually calm down. Right? Now you feel like, okay, now you see the data coming in. Now you see that, hey, the crime has gone down, and people will start feeling secure. But for that to happen, you have this precipitating event where you drum up a lot of fear, and unfortunately, it happened during this election process, but as it basically works its way out for the next four years, you'll see tremendous investments in security.
Clint Betts
Yeah. Yeah. That's actually a really, really interesting take on the future. All right. Finally, we end every interview with the same question and that is at CEO.com, we believe the chances one gives is just as important as the chances one takes. When you hear that, who gave you a chance to get you to where you are today?
Uday Kiran Chaka
Oh, that was such a hard one. So, when I thought about it, I realized that just so many people have helped me get where I am. It is just impossible for me to pick one person. I have been helped throughout my life. Again, this is where I almost get emotional thinking about all the people who have helped me get to where I am, including even my grandfather, for who, when I really didn't have money during my undergrad years, I mean, he helped me apply to a bunch of foundations to get some scholarships so that I could pay the bills. That could be a starting point. It could be something as recent as the police officer who basically gave me a break by saying, "Hey, you are on the right track. To build this thing." Right? It's so hard to do, and that's why it makes me so humble. And when somebody asks now for any kind of help, I will try my best because you never know who you are going to influence and who you're going to help now, and they will think of this as, "Oh, man, that was the one that got me a break." So, it's a very tough question. It just makes me very emotional to think about all the people who have helped me get to where I am today.
Clint Betts
You have one of the most fascinating and incredible founding stories that I've ever heard. Uday, thank you so for coming on. I'm sure we'll have you on again as you continue to progress. Best of luck into 2024 and we'll see you down the road. Thank you so much, my friend.
Uday Kiran Chaka
Absolutely. It's my pleasure and honor to be on your show. Thank you so much, Clint.
Edited for readability.