Increasingly IoT devices are being powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to deliver value added functionalities benefitting enterprises, governments, and consumers alike. Gone are the days when IoT devices were used exclusively for recording and sharing sensor data and AI is augmenting many IoT devices to offer more complete solutions.
This blog delves into the markets for AI-enabled IoT integrated propositions, providing some illustrative examples of each of the major categories of providers of integrated solutions.
To learn about AI Integrated Propositions in more detail, read here: AI Integrated Propositions: IoT evolves into AIoT, often augmented by cloud AI.
The AI-enabled Integrated Propositions vendor types that this report focuses on are:
AI Solutions providers offer integrated solutions, often to address industry-specific challenges. The AI Solutions vendor type includes vendors of AI-enabled hardware devices together with associated software, which are intended to be sold together to deliver sophisticated AI-enabled solutions for end-users.
The AI Products category is comprised of hardware products that have associated AI capability, either onboard (as AIoT) or in a remote (cloud) location. These could either be used in isolation or incorporated as part of wider-ranging AI Solutions, as defined above.
AI Solutions are end-to-end offerings that include a combination of hardware and software components stitched together to deliver an end-to-end sophisticated solution for end-users often with an end objective to enhance efficiency, reduce human error, and/ or enhance customer experience. The providers of such AI solutions always look to innovate and refine their offerings by bringing new value-added features to meet the dynamic business requirements. Thus, AI Solutions as a whole encompass multiple sophisticated technological solutions, each targeting specific industries or contexts by addressing pertinent business challenges. The technical capabilities and value propositions of AI Solutions vendors often differ and are often developed in collaboration with multiple third-party technology partners to provide end-to-end solutions.
We have identified some of the key players operating in this category as shown in Figure 1‑1, each targeting specific industries or contexts by addressing relevant business challenges.
Figure 1‑1: Key players in AI Solutions [Source: Transforma Insights]
With the advent of compact, low-cost, low-power, and high-performance edge AI chips, IoT devices are now being designed and developed with built-in AI capabilities. This innovation transforms ordinary smart connected devices into smarter and more sophisticated products, benefiting both end users and businesses.
Businesses often adopt a hybrid approach, combining AI processing in the cloud and at the edge (including on board IoT devices, often referred to as AIoT), based on their products’ applications and use cases and options for connectivity. Non-time-critical data is often processed in the cloud, while time-sensitive data is ideally processed at the edge in real-time to deliver prompt responses. For instance, an AI-enabled smartwatch would generally process data locally to generate health metrics such as step count, heart rate, and blood oxygen levels. In contrast, detailed analysis of a user’s health data is often performed in the cloud.
The development and adoption of such devices benefit both enterprises and end users by unlocking greater operational efficiencies and offering a superior user experience. It should be mentioned here that while the growth potential of AI-enabled IoT devices is enormous, several challenges could hinder the widespread adoption of these products. One major concern is data privacy and security, and governments worldwide are increasingly implementing stringent measures to protect consumers from the cybersecurity risks posed by AI-enabled products, particularly when that data is processed in the cloud. AIoT (using AI to process data onboard an IoT device) can help to combat such security and privacy concerns, since AIoT solutions can be designed so that private and confidential data is processed locally and not communicated to cloud infrastructures for processing. However, product developers must incorporate robust security protocols to safeguard these devices and also associated cloud infrastructures from the potential adverse effects of cyberattacks.
We have identified some of the key players offering AI Products in various industries, as shown in Figure 1‑2. Companies are increasingly enabling their products with AI capabilities and this can be attributed to multiple factors including the decreasing power consumption required for on-board AI functionality along with the falling cost of AI processing, both on-device and in the cloud.
Figure 1‑2: Key players in AI Products [Source: Transforma Insights]
End-users, enterprises, and government authorities are embracing the use of AI enabled IoT solutions and products both, empowering them with value added functionalities to offer operational benefits and more. Therefore, businesses are increasingly incorporating AI capabilities within their hardware device portfolios to enhance product functionalities and create value added services. The integration of AI into IoT product ecosystems enables the development of advanced solutions for businesses and end-users, resulting in a decreased need for human interaction. Such products can help businesses elevate their offerings by reducing asset downtime, increasing operational efficiency, and automating decision making, all resulting in an improved customer experience.
