Milan Luketic of Birdseye Security Solutions On How Artificial Intelligence Can Solve Business Problems
An Interview With Chad Silverstein
Driving Disruption: AI acts as a disruptive force by creating virtual realities and digital twins, pushing the limits of innovation and enabling the development of new products and services.
In today’s tech-driven world, artificial intelligence has become a key enabler of business success. But the question remains — how can businesses effectively harness AI to address their unique challenges while staying true to ethical principles? To explore this topic further, we are interviewing Milan Luketic, chief technology officer at Birdseye Security Solutions.
Milan has over two decades of enterprise technology leadership experience. In his current role, he oversees the development of Birdseye Security Solutions’ patented AI technology, helping to transform logistics yards into smarter, safer environments. Prior to joining Birdseye, Milan has led development of autonomous agent AI technology that solves real world business problems by applying AI from video game algorithms.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path in AI?
I began my career as a software engineer with a market research company, where I learned a great deal from the very smart data scientists we had on staff. This exposure to statistics and probability laid the foundation for my transition into AI. As AI became more mainstream, I found it a natural progression to integrate AI into the products we were building, leveraging my background in data analytics and statistical methods.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started working with artificial intelligence?
About 10 years ago, I tried to start solving some simple video games — like Pac-Man and Sudoku puzzles — with AI. I began to learn about agents and understand how the computer makes decisions about what to do next when you play a game against it. And then I started to apply those video game concepts to some of the business problems I was facing. For example, considering how a product’s user makes decisions about what to do next in a workflow. It was fascinating to see the parallels between the video game world and the business world.
Another aspect of AI that has interested me is the question: can AI create jokes that are funny? I see humor as a barometer to gauge how advanced AI is. While AI jokes are getting better, I would still say that it’s not as good as humans — it can’t create original comedy that truly makes me laugh.
You are a successful leader in the AI space. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
- Thirst for knowledge. Because AI is advancing rapidly, the state of the world is no longer what you learned in school. You need to be continuously curious to understand new capabilities and their implications. Going back to my story about video games, figuring out how to beat the computer required me to first learn about the architecture and AI algorithms.
- Corkscrew thinking. This means having an interdisciplinary perspective, where you can combine knowledge from various subjects like statistics, algorithms and computer science to innovate in AI. To make AI work, you must have a baseline understanding of how computers and transistors work.
- Fearlessness. I’ve noticed many people are intimidated by AI because they don’t understand what it can do or are concerned about safety risks. Yet not being afraid to explore and ask inquiries is the best way to build your confidence with AI. It offers an avenue to close knowledge gaps and ask the questions you may not be comfortable asking people.
Let’s jump to the primary focus of our interview. Can you share a specific example of how you or your organization used AI to solve a major business challenge? What was the problem, and how did AI help address it?
We’re in the business of intrusion detection, so we provide security for facilities including transportation yards, automotive storage and warehouses. Ten years ago, we would see businesses trying to monitor large yards with just a guard. We’ve used AI to solve that problem and scale traditional facility security — in other words, businesses no longer need to have 100 eyeballs to watch 100 cameras. Instead, AI can watch those feeds and alert the human on staff if it sees suspicious activity that needs further exploring, like an intruder trying to jump a gate or steal cargo from a yard. Supported by AI, one agent can now monitor multiple sites, dramatically improving efficiency and cost-effectiveness for the businesses we work with.
What are some of the common misconceptions you’ve encountered about using AI in business? How do you address those misconceptions?
There is a common misconception that computer vision is superior to human vision, yet the reality is more nuanced than this. While AI is more scalable (you could replicate 100 AI eyeballs more easily than 100 human eyeballs), human judgment is still better at assessing a scene and adapting to a situation. For example, if a guard needs to read and record a serial number on a truck that is not currently visible, a human may wait until the truck is out of a shadow to pick up the number, whereas AI might just give up. That’s why it’s so critical to pair the efficiency of AI with human oversight — that one AI miss at the gate from the 1,000 trucks that use our system in an hour can cause a huge delay without human intervention.
In your opinion, what is the most significant way AI can make a positive impact on businesses today?
Above all, AI will help scale human productivity by taking over repetitive tasks, allowing people to focus on advanced problem-solving. Additionally, AI can serve as a teacher and coach, providing guidance and feedback to help employees improve their skills and performance in various roles. In the transportation industry, for example, AI can train new agents on complicated gate protocols by generating tests and answer keys to help them learn the rules for a specific gate. It has been very effective for us in that role.
Ok, let’s dive deeper. Based on your experience and research, can you please share “5 Ways AI Can Solve Complex Business Problems”? These can be strategies, insights, or tools that companies can use to make the most of AI in addressing their challenges. If possible, please share examples or stories for each.
- Scaling Upstream: AI can help drive customer satisfaction and growth by providing tailored services to enterprise clients. For example, we provide a White Glove service, and AI makes it easier to generate custom reports and real-time data to provide the high level of service these customers expect.
- Scaling Downstream: On the flip side, AI enables servicing smaller clients without compromising quality through self-service experiences. For example, if a customer has questions about how many transactions happened at their site in the last day or what the inventory of their yard looks like, AI may be able to answer those questions without a human agent needing to spend labor hours researching the answer.
- Speeding Innovation: AI facilitates rapid trial and error in innovation by simulating different environments, allowing for quick assessment and development of new ideas and solutions. It provides strategic value by helping us parse out which ideas are worth pursuing and which ideas we should discard because they haven’t reached our threshold for success.
- Market Penetration: AI aids in expanding products or services to ancillary areas. It can help overcome barriers such as language or customer preferences, enabling a company to enter new regions and serve a broader customer base.
- Driving Disruption: AI acts as a disruptive force by creating virtual realities and digital twins, pushing the limits of innovation and enabling the development of new products and services.
How can smaller businesses or startups, with limited budgets, begin to integrate AI into their operations effectively?
AI enables smaller businesses to function like larger organizations — it makes it easier for a three-person company to act like a 100-person company. Small businesses and startups should consider the roles where AI augmentation can have outsized impact. With AI support, an individual contributor — whether an IT person or a graphic designer — could feel like they have a whole team behind them.
What advice would you give to business leaders who are hesitant to adopt AI because of fear, misconceptions, or lack of understanding?
Enhance your understanding of AI by using AI. If you’re hesitant to try AI because you don’t understand its limitations or security risks, the best way to get clarity on this topic is to do a Q&A session with a generative AI tool. Describe the environment you’re in and the data privacy considerations, then ask what the security risks are, what options exist for AI services and what are the risks and benefits of each.
In your opinion, how will AI continue to shape the business world over the next 5–10 years? Are there any trends or emerging innovations you’re particularly excited about?
In the world of security, we’re very excited by the potential to create an “iron dome” over the facilities we manage by integrating multiple sensor types. For example, using a camera sensor to detect an object in conjunction with a drone that could get dispatched to get an angle on that object that the camera can’t see.
How do you think the use of AI to solve business problems influences relationships with customers, employees, and the broader community?
I do think AI will be fairly disruptive, as significant changes to user experiences typically are. The classic example is how the rise of online streaming disrupted the entertainment industry — it changed the way we consume content and posed an existential threat to video rental businesses. It’s important that businesses understand the nuances of human preference and find a balance between human and AI interaction. For example, I still prefer to have a cashier check me out at the grocery store rather than a self-service checkout — but I love the convenience of placing my coffee order using an app.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people through AI, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I would start a movement that uses AI to create abundance. Many people are so focused on their jobs that they struggle to achieve work-life balance. In an ideal world, AI could help people work less and retire early.
How can our readers further follow you online?
You can follow our company’s innovation in remote security and facility supervision at birdseyesecurity.com.
This was great. Thank you so much for the time you spent sharing with us.
About the Interviewer: Chad Silverstein is a seasoned entrepreneur with 25+ years of experience as a Founder and CEO. While attending Ohio State University, he launched his first company, Choice Recovery, Inc., a nationally recognized healthcare collection agency — twice ranked the #1 workplace in Ohio. In 2013, he founded [re]start, helping thousands of people find meaningful career opportunities. After selling both companies, Chad shifted his focus to his true passion — leadership. Today, he coaches founders and CEOs at Built to Lead, advises Authority Magazine’s Thought Leader Incubator.
Milan Luketic of Birdseye Security Solutions On How Artificial Intelligence Can Solve Business… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.