Samsara’s 3rd Annual Conference elevates product portfolio and user experience with solutions integrating three key elements – Data, Insights, and Action.
Leading U.S.-based IoT company Samsara’s third annual conference – ‘Beyond 2024’ – held June 26-28 in Chicago, Illinois, was marked by new product launches, client site visits showcasing Samsara applications at play, and product roundtables. Also on the agenda were powerful customer testimonials from Carlos Arias (CFO, Trayecto), Gurinder Dhillon (CEO, Otto Car), Amy Wilson (Director DOT and Fleet Compliance, NexTier Oilfield Solutions), and James Banner (Senior VP Administration, Pike Corporation) as well as a Customer Fireside Chat with Joseph Smith (VP, GardaWorld Security Services). A panel discussion featuring Rebecca Brewster, President and COO, American Transport Research Institute; Travis Eide, Research Director, IDC; and Jennifer Miller, VP, Integrated Transportation, DHL spotlighted data-driven perspectives for effective safety and efficiency strategy implementation in transportation and logistics operations.
The Beyond conference got off to a flying start with Analyst Day where Sanjit Biswas, CEO and Co-Founder, provided a curtain raiser on upcoming product launches and key company metrics. This was followed by a leadership Q&A session with John Bicket, CTO & Co-Founder, and Ben Calderon, CTO, Hardware & Operations. The highly interactive, informative, insider sessions with the Samsara team and its customers were among the main highlights of Analyst Day. A Product Roundtable session gave us an opportunity to discuss Samsara’s latest launches with its core solutions and services development team, including Mike Innocenzi (Safety), Robert Bales (Telematics), and Rob Baker (Hardware).
A field trip to one of Samsara’s customer sites, Farmer’s Fridge, provided a ringside view of how Samsara’s solutions are empowering client operations in real world environments. Using a network of smart Fridges, Farmer’s Fridge provides fresh and healthy meals on-the-go in areas such as airports, hospitals, offices, and universities. The company, which has been using Samsara’s services since 2021, has been able to better manage its fleet and train its 125 drivers to reach an average safety score of 92 in 2023, compared to 54 in 2020. The Farmer’s Fridge team, including its CEO Luke Saunders and Fleet and Safety Manager, Steven Berczynski, shared demonstrations of dashcam footages and critical events, to explain how Samsara’s video safety systems have helped in overcoming safety-related challenges. Additionally, the team delved into how it uses Samsara’s vehicle gateway to monitor not only the temperature of its vans, but also its cold storage facilities, thereby ensuring the quality of its products.
Day 2 began with a keynote address by Sanjit Biswas, followed by Chief Product Officer, Kiren Sekar’s speech that touched on the importance of continually running the three-spoked flywheel—Data, Insights, and Action. The conference underlined Samsara’s evolving product portfolio and connected operations that targeted key challenges in the commercial mobility space.
Flurry of New Product Launches
Samsara’s new product lineup emphasized its outstanding track record on safety and efficiency, its focus on controlling operational costs through theft and damage prevention, and its sustainability push across mobile and non-mobile assets – all overarched by its commitment to continually enhancing the customer experience. Central to this is the optimal integration of operations, achieved through digitized paperwork and automated workflows that support the efficient tracking of business outcomes.
- Asset Tag AT11: Samsara’s newest candy bar-sized tracker is a ruggedized, first-of-its-kind IoT device that enables powerful location tracking and is capable of withstanding extreme temperatures, dirt, and physical force experienced in an industrial environment. Its unique selling point (USP) is its functionality and wide application range. From a handy toolbox to a 40-foot non-powered container, the asset tag can be used across varied sectors such as logistics, construction, agriculture, oil and gas, and manufacturing. I was impressed by a live demonstration at the event where its exact location, among a clutter of toolboxes, was pinpointed using Samsara’s mobile app. Following the keynote, attendees eagerly received the AT11 hardware to take home and use.
- Video-Based Safety: The National Sleep Foundation links an estimated 20% of all motor vehicle crashes and 6,400 motor vehicle crash fatalities that occur annually in the U.S. to drowsy driving. Samsara’s innovative drowsiness detection solution uses a video-based safety system to monitor crucial parameters such as driver behavior, movement, and facial contortion. It identifies blank stares, closed eyes, and yawning, and predicts dangerous levels of fatigue. The system then provides a nudge to the driver recommending a break. In addition, the company announced two other features that provide real-time alerts on lane departure and forward collision that promote enhanced driver, vehicle, and road safety.
- Smart Trailers: Combining real-time live GPS and data that includes cargo sensing and reefer monitoring, Samsara’s trailer tracking solution enhances asset utilization and operations. The newly introduced Smart Trailer solution, with additional applications, now further improves safety and utilization. The Samsara Driver App allows drivers to identify and connect with trailers within five minutes. This not only saves time but also avoids trailer mis-pulls. Moreover, safety features integrated into the solution help identify trailer tire pressure and anti-lock brake malfunctions, while boosting efficiency and sustainability by reducing fuel consumption.
- Connected Platform: Currently, Samsara’s Connected Platform has 290 partner integrations, making it the leading open platform for connected operations. At the conference, the company showcased its partnership with FirstNet, Built with AT&T — a dedicated communications network for public safety. FirstNet has a wireless spectrum for first responders, enabling connectivity in case of large-scale emergencies. Samsara is now certified to provide a trusted, tailor-made solution for first responders.
On the sustainability side, the Driver App with its EV Management Suite, launched last year, continues to provide value to customers by enabling efficient fleet allocation and management. For example, Samsara’s ‘Charge Insights’ solution allows customers to better manage EV charging by creating charging schedules for the fleet, thereby minimizing peak load on the chargers. It also facilitates a view of planned vs actual charging activities for fleets, promoting data-driven decisions and reduced range anxiety. Other solutions under the EV Management tool include features that monitor driver efficiency, idling waste, and EV fleet suitability. Samsara’s Connected Platform allows customers to integrate the several features embedded in these systems across their assets and upgrade their operations.
- Connected Workflows and Connected Training: Another new launch is Connected Workflows which streamlines multiple workflows at a construction site or any industrial workplace and assigns tasks via a single system in a mobile application. The solution combines multiple components at a worksite through location geofencing, allowing foremen to perform risk assessment, root cause analysis, and address outstanding tickets and job tasks. The system alleviates the utilization of multiple devices/systems by automating tasks and allowing users to customize the automation through templates available in the application.
Data collation from these applications underpins the integration of ‘Connected Training’ with ‘Connected Workflows’. The Connected Training module included in the dashboard automatically assigns training modules to drivers based on their performance and actions. The combined utilization of both Connected Workflows and Connected Training not only streamlines and automates all tasks but also improves safety, convenience, and customer experience by making such features available on a single mobile application.
By the Numbers
Samsara’s metrics showcase extraordinary growth. With $1.2 billion in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), the company boasts 37% year-over-year (YoY) growth. In terms of data points, the company highlights that its customers have driven 60 billion miles (up from 40 billion in the previous year), 75 billion API calls (demonstrating its industry-leading partner ecosystem) and processed over 9 trillion data points.
That said, the key numbers that impact the commercial mobility sector are the ones that improve safety and enhance sustainability. On this score, the company has performed impressively: helping prevent 200,000 crashes, digitizing 230 million workflows, and saving 3 billion pounds of CO2 emissions which equates to around 65 million trees through fuel-saving solutions such as eco-driving and idling reduction.
Our Perspective
In today’s rapidly evolving workplace environment, continuous innovation is essential. Samsara is at the forefront of this effort, enhancing the quality, safety, and efficiency of frontline work through groundbreaking solutions. Solutions target real-world challenges: Virtual Coach empowers drivers to self-coach on the go, while advanced AI capabilities detect drowsiness, forward collisions, and lane departures, providing real-time alerts to mitigate risky behavior.
Certified for the FirstNet network, Samsara’s solutions enable public safety customers to leverage near real-time routing and dispatch insights, enhancing decision-making during critical situations. Its Connected Training solution delivers a data-driven, continuous, and remote learning experience via the Samsara Driver App. This platform seamlessly incorporates training into existing workflows, allowing managers to enhance their workforce’s skills.
Last year, the introduction of Connected Forms digitized paper processes for physical operations. This year, Connected Workflows further enhances the benefits, beyond simple form digitization to coordinating multi-step processes.
Innovations like Smart Trailers, an industry first, are enabling fleets to optimize trailer maintenance, while enhancing driver safety, accountability, and compliance. The launch of the next-generation Smart Trailer features is set to further improve safety and efficiency in trailer operations.
Recognizing the need for comprehensive operational connectivity, Samsara’s Asset Tag minimizes downtime caused by searching for lost or stolen items, reduces costs, and streamlines inventory management.
Final Word
In large, complex, and asset-intensive operations, data and AI-driven insights are transforming how organizations function. By providing real-time, high-quality knowledge, Samsara’s products like the Asset Tag, Connected Training, and Connected Workflows are meeting crucial requirements at the workplace, while enhancing operational processes, job productivity, cost optimization, resource efficiencies, and worker safety.
Leveraging data from multiple sources within an organization – whether from workflows or assets, small or large equipment – yields key insights that facilitate safer and smarter operations. A virtuous cycle of Actions, enabled by Data and Insights.
