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- [00:01]
IBM Executive
The thing about AI for business, it may not automatically fit the way your business works. At IBM, we've seen this firsthand. But by embedding AI across hr, IT and procurement processes, we've reduced costs by millions, slash repetitive tasks, and freed thousands of hours for strategic work. Now we're helping companies get smarter by putting AI where it actually pays off, deep in the work that moves the business. Let's create smarter business. IBM,
- [00:33]
Podcast Announcer
Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts, radio news.
- [00:43]
Interviewer
Rings super bowl ad showcasing AI to help find lost pets has put a new spotlight on the expanding role of artificial intelligence in home security. And it's raising fresh questions about surveillance. Joining us now is Jamie Siminoff, founder and chief inventor of Ring. Jamie, it's safe to say these cameras have become ubiquitous. I saw in weapons. You know, they were highlighted as a way to investigate the disappearance of children. That was a fictional movie. But clearly, clearly law enforcement is hoping to use these cameras more and more. How do you, where do you draw a line between, you know, helping people find lost pets or people and trying to limit the surveillance of U.S. citizens?
- [01:33]
Jamie Siminoff
I mean, the line for us is simple, and it always has been that you control your video, and if you want to share it with law enforcement, if you want to share it with a neighbor, you can do that, but you always control your video. In the case of search party for dogs, we just tell you, hey, this dog looks like this dog in front of your house. Do you want to contact your neighbor? If you say no, you're 100% anonymous. If you say yes, then you talk to your neighbor just like you did when you found their dog in front of your house years ago and called the number on the tag.
- [02:05]
Co-Interviewer
I do want to just ask you, because there's this big question of surveillance and the usage of it. You had told Fortune talking about the missing case of Nancy Guthrie, basically saying that there were more cameras in the house. You might have been solved. And, Jamie, you face a little bit of backlash online for those comments. So I would love to just give you the opportunity just to explain your thinking there and clear up any misunderstandings.
- [02:27]
IBM Executive
Sure.
- [02:27]
Jamie Siminoff
I mean, if you actually saw the quote, it's not, it's not that. But what I did say and what I do is I wake up every morning, you know, with a mission and, and knowing that the business that we're in has been extremely impactful and we see it. The video evidence that so far that they have in the Nancy Guthrie case, I think everyone would agree, is some of the most impactful evidence in the case. And so what I did say is that if there had been just more cameras in general, I would have hoped that this would have helped us get to a resolution in the case. And that is what I believe in. I mean, this is what I do every day. And I think it's hard to watch a Dateline episode or anything else, not seeing where Ring has had a major impact in helping solve cases. And I do believe, you know, as I think I should, that more cameras should help solve more cases and reduce more crime.
- [03:23]
Interviewer
How do you work with cybersecurity within your firm? Because, you know, I also have a ton of cameras around my house, and I would hate to have anyone else tap in to that network and use my video surveillance against me. I'm sure it's something you think about often, Jamie. So what kind of work do you do to counter that kind of cyber attack?
- [03:48]
Jamie Siminoff
Yeah, I think cyber insecurity is a living, breathing thing. You have to just continue. I mean, you have to, because you invest in it. You have to have people always looking at it. It's always changing and evolving. I think we're best in class in it. Also, we offer. I believe we're one of the only companies in the world that offers in this space and encryption as an option. So we really do focus on security. We focus on trust. We need. We call our customers neighbors. We need our neighbors to trust us, or else obviously they're not going to want to have our products. And then I can't achieve my mission of making neighbor and safer.
- [04:18]
Co-Interviewer
And Jamie, just. Just on this point, bringing it back to AI too, because AI is advancing so rapidly. There was this story, for example, of a Chinese home vacuum robot, robot brand that someone used Claude to hack into and accidentally hacked all 7,000 of those robot vacuums in the world. Air is getting really advanced, but it's also exposing some security flaws. What do you and the team need to do at Ring to make sure you're keeping up with the technology? Not just mistakes like that, but bad actors who are increasingly able to use AI.
- [04:51]
Jamie Siminoff
I mean, there's always been security threats and the security threats. I'd say what's good is that as AI gets better, it means that your counter security, you're countering these kind of things is also getting better. And so it's just. It's just a cat and mouse game that we've always had from the beginning of the company. And, you know, I believe we're best in class at it. But it is something you have to stay focused on. I mean, security for every company in the world. You got to stay on your toes, but you always had to air is just the new thing that's happening today. And then you also help, you know, use this technology to also do the counter threats and countermeasures.
- [05:25]
Interviewer
I want to ask about manufacturing because President Trump is trying to bring manufacturing back to these shores. And ring camera obviously is a booming business that uses a lot of hardware, I would imagine, for the most part manufactured in Asia. How do you, when you talk to the administration or when you talk to government leaders, impress upon them the fact that you just, we, we just can't in this country really compete in terms of price on manufacturing this kind of hardware.
- [05:58]
Jamie Siminoff
You know, I mean, it's certainly, it's a complex one. You know, there's an ecosystem around this stuff and that's what we're seeing. But I am hopeful that, you know, over the next few years with what's happening, that we will continue to move and onshore things and be able to more of it. So I do think it's going to take time for businesses like ours because they are ecosystem things. You know, there's probably 900 to a thousand parts in every single ring camera that come from different suppliers. And so it is going to take time. But I am seeing, I see a lot of good, you know, positive sort of direction on that in terms of
- [06:35]
Interviewer
the tariff uncertainty that businesses are dealing with. Jamie, how do you face that? You know, when you're, when you're looking at tariffs that are, you know, 20%, then all of a sudden they're 80% and now they're 50. I mean, how do you deal with that as a, as a CEO?
- [06:51]
Jamie Siminoff
You know, I mean, I'm sort of a CEO, but I'm also a founder. You know, I started this in my garage in California 15 years ago. I'd say tariff uncertainty compared to the things that I've lived through is, is while it is serious, it's not as serious as all the other stuff that I've gone through. And I think when you're a founder and you've faced bankruptcy many times and trying to raise money and things changing that are out of your control, I think he just hardens you a little bit. I have a pretty thick skin. We just have to keep, you know, keep our heads down. I tell the team like we all we can do is control our inputs, just keep inventing great products, making neighborhoods safer, and we'll get rewarded for doing that. And we just got to, you know, hope that the World continues to go in a positive direction, which you know, so far it has.
- [07:34]
Co-Interviewer
So I'm not thinking about the hardware that goes into it, Jamie. I'm thinking about the coding and the software and the technology within it. What is your talent pool look like? Are you still expanding when it comes to hiring, hiring engineers, or are you looking at technology that's making your employees more efficient and maybe means you need less of them?
- [07:54]
Jamie Siminoff
I mean certainly we are embracing. I am, you know, pushing every team member here to be AI first thinking I we are seeing great efficiencies from that. We're also growing really fast though, so it's hard to tell. You know, we are still, I'd say a net grower and so we are still growing. Our features are coming out faster though now. Our product cycle times are definitely been reduced by like, you know, almost triple digit percentage. I mean it's like, it's, it's incredible how efficient we are now getting with AI and what it's doing. That said, we're also still growing. We have lots, lots of ideas and business to build. So you know, on the bigger picture, I don't know where, where that goes, but I do know for Ring, where, you know, we're still growing and still building.
- [08:39]
Co-Interviewer
And Jamie, can I just say it's always very cool when a founder stays with the company through this era of big growth too. So really fantastic insight as both the head of Ring and an inventor himself. J. Jamie Simonov. Overing. Thanks for joining us.
- [08:51]
Podcast Announcer
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