U.S. based IoT company Samsara’s annual summit – ‘Beyond 2023’ – wrapped up after three action packed days (June 21-June 23) in Austin, Texas. In keeping with the ‘everything is bigger in Texas’ spirit, the event was packed with big announcements, exciting product launches, and a series of customer testimonials from Antonello Davi (Senior Fleet Specialist, American Airlines), Fred Matthews (Senior Safety Manager, DHL) and fireside chat with Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Entrepreneur, NBC sports analyst, podcast host and NASCAR Hall of Famer).
Helmed by Samsara’s Sanjit Biswas, Chief Executive Officer, and co-founder; Jeff Hausman, Chief Product Officer; and Sarah Patterson, Chief Marketing Officer, the event highlighted the multiple ways in which innovations on Samsara’s Connected Operations Cloud are empowering customers in the commercial mobility ecosystem to realize smarter operations through data driven, real-time insights. The event also underscored the company’s expertise in developing industry-leading solutions based on customer feedback, while yielding benefits like increased fuel savings, lowered carbon emissions, enhanced safety, and improved efficiency across both mobile and non-mobile asset operations.
Performance by Numbers
If performance were to be judged by numbers, then Samsara’s platform metrics are staggering: over 6 trillion data points, 50 billion API calls, 1.9 billion trips from over half a million monthly users, the successful prevention of an estimated 120,000 potential crashes, and 149 million hours of lowered idling across 99% of major US roads.
If performance were to be judged by customer endorsement, then Samsara’s roster of global clients is remarkable: tens of thousands of customers spanning the transportation, logistics, government, healthcare, energy, and manufacturing sectors. This success reflects Samsara’s commitment to developing solutions anchored in customer feedback. The first phase of this process includes identifying common problems through quarterly check-ins and business reviews. Once developed, critical attributes such as time taken to install and adaptability are measured, followed by the provision of free pre-purchase trials to customers.
Process concerns are prioritized by focussing on challenges that affect 80% of the market. At the same time, outliers are identified and tracked as they evolve and expand to key regions across the globe.
The Product
Emphasizing safety and efficiency, Samsara is constantly working to improve worker experience, enhance productivity outputs, and automate workflows to drive superior business outcomes. The company currently caters to a diverse range of industries that include wholesale, retail, construction, transportation, and waste management firms. Its current lineup of launches is expected to further digitize paperwork and automate operations to boost cost savings, minimize emissions, and enhance worker safety. Samsara had several new product enhancements at the show, including:
- Mobile Experience Management (MEM): According to NHTSA, 8% to 9% of all fatal motor vehicle accidents in the US are due to distracted driving. Samsara’s Mobile Experience Management (MEM) platform enables fleet owners to address this specific issue by allowing them to customize the mobile experience for their drivers. The system also streamlines mobile operations by configuring it to match dashboards, train workers remotely, and increase employee productivity.
- Virtual Coach: An extended feature of the Samsara Driver App, Virtual Coach empowers drivers to self-coach based on manager feedback on driving behavior. The App provides personalized coaching where managers can include comments / notes, mark critical line items, review progress and tailor coaching based on behavior severity. The Virtual Coach not only improves driver engagement and retention, but also enhances road safety by addressing risky behaviors in a timely manner.
- Asset Tracking and Smart Trailers: Samsara works with the largest food and beverage distributors in North America for whom cold chain is a major challenge. Due to food safety mandates and customer delivery requirements, the industry is under constant pressure to ensure ideal temperatures are maintained. Samsara’s new two-way cloud integration with Thermo King’s TracKing® Telematics not only monitors reefers but also controls them remotely, while ensuring that ideal temperatures are maintained. Additionally, Samsara’s asset tracking featuring the Find My Asset app allows fleet owners and managers to find lost, stolen or misplaced unpowered assets with a touch of a button on their mobile device.
- Connectors and Data Integration: With more than 220 integration partners in its ecosystem, Samsara effectively alleviates fleet owners’ anxieties related to the integration of third-party platforms and devices. The company continuously collects multiple aspects of information— diagnostics, usage patterns, real-time data, and utilization hours—for varied insights that significantly boost operational efficiencies. Moreover, new data connectors such as Fivetran, Kafka, and Power BI enhance business applications and workflows, providing strong data-driven insights. In addition, the newly launched HD Camera Connector allows fleet owners to integrate up to four HD third-party cameras in a vehicle. This supports 360-degree footage and on-demand videos with up to 100 hours of recording capability, while working seamlessly with existing hardware.
What’s Next?
At the Beyond 2023 event, Samsara also announced the launch of Samsara Ventures – a new investment fund aimed at promoting innovative solutions in the connected ecosystem. Its key focus will be on identifying and supporting companies aligned with Samsara’s vision of enhancing safety, efficiency, and sustainability of processes and operations with the overarching goal of transforming the customer experience. The program will include monetary investments and mentorship from Samsara’s leadership team along with access to its customers and ecosystem partners.
The venture will allow Samsara to scale its operations from both a geographic as well as product perspective to include solutions targeting future demand such as in AI and electrification. Additionally, the program will facilitate the access of Samsara’s customers to solutions that address unmet needs in the connected operations ecosystem.
Frost & Sullivan Perspective
Leadership of the digital revolution in the Connected Operations industry requires multiple competencies. These include designing customer centric platforms that enable customizable experiences, promote enhanced safety, and that support a cloud-connected, service-focused, seamless architecture for both internal and external environments. Samsara has been at the forefront in this regard.
Collaboration is another critical requirement in this space. Here, Samsara has partnered with OEMs, suppliers, and third-party solution providers to create a foundation for competitive differentiation, next generation solutions, and stronger brand recognition. At the same time, its interactive approach aligns with its thinking of building tools that address problems arising from physical processes in the commercial mobility industry. The solution segments that Samsara targets represent intelligent, sustainable, and long-term revenue streams which have the potential of being effectively applied in diverse segments as demand for connected solutions increases.
