#268 Kiren Sekar: The Future of Physical Operations Is AI-Powered (Here's Why)

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How AI Is Transforming the Physical World | Samsara’s Vision for the Future of Operations

In this episode of Eye on AI, Craig Smith sits down with Kiren Sekar, Chief Product Officer at Samsara, to explore how AI, edge computing, and IoT are revolutionizing the world of physical operations - from fleets and factories to farms and field teams.

Samsara has quietly become the digital backbone for thousands of frontline businesses, collecting trillions of data points across vehicles, tools, and teams. Kiren explains how they’re building AI-powered systems that don’t just collect data, they deliver real-time safety alerts, optimize routes, track fuel efficiency, and even coach drivers automatically.

Whether you work in tech, operations, or AI, this episode shows how AI is finally meeting the real world.

Check our Samsara, AI Build for Physical Operations: https://www.samsara.com/

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(00:00) Preview

(02:01) Kiren Sekar’s Background and Why Samsara Was Founded

(06:38) The Real-World Impact of Samsara’s AI Systems

(09:04) What Changed After Samsara Went Public

(11:09) How Samsara Gives Businesses Visibility Into Operations

(13:08) The Hardware and Cellular Network Powering Samsara

(14:13) AI to Detect Driving Risks

(23:13) Tracking Every Asset: From Cranes to Toolkits

(25:20) Why Even Mid-Sized Companies Can Use Samsara Easily

(27:25) Regional Dashboards and AI Insights for Executives

(29:57) How Samsara Decides Where to Apply AI

(32:54) Can AI Read Handwritten Forms?

(35:31) The AI Models Samsara Uses

(39:21) What Samsara Processes at the Edge vs in the Cloud

(43:00) Why Samsara Keeps Its R&D Team Small and Fast

(46:35) Why Legacy Industries Are Finally Adopting AI

(49:12) What Agentic AI Workflows Look Like at Samsara

(54:53) What’s Next: AI Voice Assistants for Field Worker