Enhancing Business Operations Through Innovative Location Insights and Diverse Team Dynamics: AiRISTA

The company’s sofia software platform extends the value of an RTLS solution beyond simple track & trace to facilitate workflow orchestration with 2-way communicating tags and simplified integration

Ten years ago, Sy Sajjad, CEO and Founder of AiRISTA, saw an opportunity to collect telemetry information from the millions of new devices attached to networks. In those early days of the Internet of Things (IoT), the data from these devices was unstructured and unmanaged. By creating a platform to ingest, normalize, and react to changes in this data, AiRISTA was an IoT platform pioneer. But rather than creating a platform in search of a business problem, Sy targeted the platform at the efficient movement of people and equipment. Using customers’ existing Wi-Fi networks, AiRISTA provided tags whose location was calculated and positioned on maps using the AiRISTA software platform. Early customers were able to track products through manufacturing, maintain equipment levels in hospital wards, and provide a
rapid response to workers in distress.

AiRISTA has grown its presence with the acquisition of Ekahau RTLS. With an opportunity to merge the newly acquired software platform, AiRISTA chose to design a brand new platform from the core and created the sofia RTLS software platform. Written in the language Golang, sofia is a streaming broker-based architecture that is AI-friendly and machine learning ready.

AiRISTA is headquartered in Maryland, and has offices in Europe and Australia.

The Silicon Review contacted Mr. Sajjad for an interview, and here’s what he had to say.

Interview Highlights

Q. How does AiRISTA’s integration of Real Time Location Services (RTLS) technology contribute to enhancing visibility and efficiency within organizations?

Like many RTLS vendors, AiRISTA supports simple tasks like “track & trace”, but to deliver more value from customers’ RTLS investment, the company specializes in facilitating workflows that keep operations humming. At the heart of workflow orchestration are two key elements: 1) the ability to communicate bidirectionally with tags, and 2) simplifying integration with other applications, devices, and staff that must coordinate for workflow execution.

Let’s consider the patient discharge process. Hospitals trying to improve capacity management struggle to quickly make rooms available once the patient is discharged. Some even resort to “runners” using pencil and paper. With two-way communicating tags, messages can be delivered to porters and cleaning staff at each step of the discharge process. Knowing when the patient is in the discharge lounge or when they return their patient tag is the trigger to begin the series of cascading events automating the discharge workflow and making the room available for the next patient quickly.

AiRISTA has also introduced Flow Studio, a low-code development environment where libraries of code modules are dragged onto a palette, connected, and integrated with other applications like CMMS, production planning, and trouble tickets. By reducing the effort required to create and maintain workflows, AiRISTA makes the RTLS platform more valuable to various parts of the business.

Q. Could you elaborate on how AiRISTA’s staff safety solution addresses the needs of the most challenging environments and what sets them apart from traditional methods?

AiRISTA’s staff safety solution has been hardened in demanding environments such as prisons and mental health facilities. With a dramatic uptick in attacks on clinicians, customers require a solution that coordinates a rapid response using two-way communicating tags. When a safety event occurs, the person in distress pulls their tag, which sends an alert to AiRISTA’s sofia RTLS platform. Sofia calculates the location and delivers a message to the display of responders’ tags based on customer-created rules. Responders receive the alert in under 10 seconds and have the option to escalate with the push of a button. Where other solutions rely on a “push and pray” approach, AiRISTA sends an acknowledgment to the originator’s tag. The system works redundantly over Wi-Fi and BLE networks and provides a recording playback feature to show the path of people involved.

Q. With a diverse client base spanning healthcare, manufacturing/industrial, education, and government sectors, how does AiRISTA tailor its solutions to address the unique challenges and requirements of each industry?

Each vertical market has unique needs that include the physical environment, use case tolerances, and the involvement of third-party applications. For instance, manufacturing production floors may have high ceilings, large open areas, and lots of metal equipment and containers. Conversely, hospitals typically have more consistent floor plans but require absolute certainty of room-level accuracy.

AiRISTA addresses these challenges with a broad portfolio of locating technologies and the capability to monitor and adjust settings remotely. With tags that support both Wi-Fi and BLE, manufacturers can track items in open areas with a precision of a few meters using ceiling-mounted Wi-Fi access points. Additionally, they can use the same tag to determine location within a specific work cell using BLE beacons and the tag’s BLE radio.

Likewise, a tag on an infusion pump might utilize infrared (IR) sensing or BLE Angle of Arrival to ensure precise room-level accuracy for the patient’s location, while relying on the tag’s Wi-Fi radio to confirm the pump’s location in a larger area such as storage.

Moreover, if conditions change, AiRISTA’s sofia software platform proactively monitors tags and infrastructure, alerts to changes, and allows remote management of settings to troubleshoot and make corrections.

For an RTLS platform to offer more value than simple track & trace, AiRISTA simplifies integration with third-party applications. Whether an asset’s location triggers build instructions from the manufacturer’s MES platform or a nurse is authenticated to their charting application upon entering the patient room, Flow Studio reduces the level of effort and training required for custom integration.

Q. What role do partnerships with wireless software developers, systems integrators, and resellers play in AiRISTA’s strategy for delivering comprehensive RTLS and process improvement solutions?

The value derived from an RTLS platform is often proportional to the extent of integration, and integration relies on partnerships at multiple levels.

• By working with the major wireless infrastructure vendors, tags can be tracked using existing access points thereby reducing the infrastructure costs and deployment times.
• Integration with building systems like cameras and door locks ensures a complete response during emergency situations.
• AiRISTA’s Flow Studio low-code design environment dramatically reduces the skills needed to create integrated workflows when responding to Electronic Health Record system records indicating a patient discharge.
• Integration with CMMS platforms and ticket systems automates equipment management and maintenance.
• Embedding the tag’s firmware in third party devices makes use of RTLS technology much more natural.
• Looking ahead, the modular nature of AiRISTA’s sofia software platform allows a distributed architecture where RTLS intelligence can be pushed to the edge of networks on devices like control systems, automated guided vehicles, and remote sensors. And because sofia is written in the Golang language, it is machine learning ready and AI friendly.

Q. What can you tell us about the AiRISTA team? How do they bring value the company?

AiRISTA’s management team comprises executives from my previous startups as well as veterans from the wireless and RTLS industry. With proven records of scaling organizations and surpassing revenue targets, they share a common goal of making location insights an essential component of business operations.

We intentionally foster diversity within our staff to cultivate an environment of creative and divergent perspectives. Many employees began their careers in fields such as graphic design, video production, and psychology. They have converged at the Maryland headquarters from various parts of the world, including Bulgaria, Belize, Mexico, and Iran. Each day fosters a rich exchange of viewpoints as well as delightful lunchtime gatherings featuring wonderful food.

Sy Sajjad | Founder & CEO

Sy Sajjad is a serial entrepreneur who has been described by colleagues as a visionary. As a college intern he started his first company that produced computer based manufacturing control systems. His next endeavor was a retail point of sale system where he developed the first touch screen human interface. He has solved difficult engineering problems for oil and gas platforms, satellite-based shipment tracking, and national prison systems. Through organic growth and strategic acquisitions, Sy has guided AiRISTA’s consistent growth, even doubling revenue during the pandemic.

“Like many RTLS vendors, AiRISTA supports simple tasks like “track & trace”, but to deliver more value from customers’ RTLS investment, the company specializes in facilitating workflows that keep operations humming.”