Over the Air · 15 Dec 2022 · 28m
Stuart Lombard, Founder & CEO of Ecobee, explains how the company survived and thrived by competing against giants like Google Nest and Apple, leveraging mission-driven culture and deep specialization in the HVAC channel. He details the technical evolution of the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium, highlighting its radar-based occupancy detection, air quality monitoring, and integration with clean energy grids via AI-driven software like Eco+ and Alexa. Lombard also discusses the historical challenges of building IoT infrastructure in 2007, the importance of avoiding direct competition with tech monopolies by focusing on customer loyalty and guerrilla tactics, and the future of intelligent home energy management.
Where this conversation describes AI being used to build or deliver a product. Part of the AI in practice tracker.
Engineering & simulationeco plus
Ecobee uses AI and machine learning in its eco plus software to analyze energy grid data, automatically adjusting thermostat usage to consume more energy when it is clean and cheap, and less when it is expensive and dirty.
“The 1st thing we're doing is we have software we call eco plus and it uses AI and machine learning to take advantage of of times when energy is clean and cheap.”
Speaker 1 · Hear it at 13:41
companies scaling up
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