The Future Is Now: Tina D’Agostin Of Alcatraz AI On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Make decisions and act very quickly. Being agile does not only apply to your product and engineering teams. In a startup environment, every day, every week counts.
As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tina D’Agostin.
Tina D’Agostin is the CEO of Alcatraz AI, an artificial intelligence company that employs facial authentication technology to create autonomous access control solutions for enterprises. D’Agostin previously served as the Chief Revenue Officer for Alcatraz AI, responsible for driving top-line growth and expanding Alcatraz AI’s footprint globally. As CEO, she plans to take Alcatraz AI into its next chapter to modernize the access control industry.
Tina brings over 25 years of experience within the security technology and solutions industry, with leadership experience building high-performing organizations in hardware, IT, and smart technologies. Prior to Alcatraz AI, D’Agostin was the General Manager of Building Technology & Solutions at Johnson Controls, focused on delivering smart building technologies to global companies.
Tina earned her undergraduate degree and her MBA from Rockford University. An avid and lifelong student, she has continued her education at Stanford University, receiving professional certifications in Innovation & Entrepreneurship and Energy Innovation & Emerging Technologies. Tina currently serves on the board at the Bay Area Council and is a contributing member of the Forbes Technology Council.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I’ve always worked within the building technology space as this combines my love for technology and architecture, which lends to people’s comfort and their safety. In the last 10 years, I’ve spent in the Bay area after migrating west from Chicago. I moved here to further deepen my passion for technology and the waves of innovation impacting all aspects of life. I’ve been involved in the building technology projects for skyline changing projects like Salesforce Tower, Levi Stadium, Chase Arena, and so many others, and it is very gratifying to be involved with deploying technology in a building from the ground up.
I met our founder, Vince Gaydarzhiev, and became interested in how AI has evolved to underpin many essential aspects of our lives and how Alcatraz AI was creating the next generation of access control for smart buildings. The data and insights that we do at the edge can be used in countless, meaningful ways to make a building more intelligent and secure.
After learning more about the technology, roadmap, and vision, I knew that Alcatraz AI had the opportunity to completely transform the way we enter secured spaces and disrupt the access control market.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Perhaps not the most interesting, but it was an insightful experience. A few years ago, I was on my way to a Bay Area Council board meeting and was getting into the elevator when Libby Schaaf, the Mayor of Oakland, got into the elevator at the same time and introduced herself. She then said, “What does your company do?” I had wanted to speak to her for a while to discuss ways that my team could help her with some of her sustainability and safety initiatives. We rode up to the elevator to the 8th floor. I had her captive attention for 7 floors, which is a matter of 30 seconds. I was thinking to myself that this is truly the meaning of an “elevator pitch.”
It was a keen reminder that you always have to be ready with your value proposition at any time and make sure it’s ready to go as you never know whom you will meet throughout your day, and sometimes all you have is 30 seconds!
Can you tell us about the cutting edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
I’m currently working on creating safe spaces. At Alcatraz AI, we are creating a new category of autonomous access control for accessing secured spaces- a self-driving access experience through auto-enrollment and auto-administration. With our biometric solution, the Rock, we automate physical security and controlled access at the edge. We provide facial authentication with 3D sensing, powered by robust AI and machine learning.
How do you think this might change the world?
I believe that by bringing security and technology together to modernize access control. We are changing the way companies control access and mitigate tailgating by providing a facial authentication solution that makes accurate, quick, and powerful decisions at the edge. We want to create safe spaces in buildings to give people the peace of mind they need to focus on other things.
Imagine a world where you don’t have to carry keys or keycards — that can be lost, stolen, or replicated. Your face — the thing most unique to you — is your credential to unlock your secured spaces.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
Great show, but we do not see ourselves becoming a storyline there! Because Alcatraz AI does not store any personally identifiable information (PII), we should be a market leader in that we don’t have the same privacy concerns typically associated with traditional facial recognition.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
My personal mission has always been to help organizations be safe through technology. This is how I’ve positively impacted people at scale. I’ve spent my career in building technologies that primarily focus on making buildings in the world safer and more comfortable. Then, in turn, people are more comfortable. Without safety and comfort, companies can’t accomplish their missions.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
We are in the process of closing our Series A round funding. This will enable us to further invest in our market, which will include an international expansion. We have a tremendous product-market fit, and we only need to keep adding more great people to our already stellar team to achieve even more expansive growth this new round of funding will enable this next phase in Alcatraz AI’s path.
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
We have built an innovative marketing technology stack for demand creation, but the most prominent way we have reached our customers is grassroots — through referrals and word-of-mouth marketing. Customers share with others in their own words that Alcatraz AI has a best-in-class product and is delivering it with a superior customer experience, and that is how many customers are finding us. We also have a robust ecosystem of channel partners that enable us to amplify our message.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
It would be remiss of me to only remark about one person as there are so many people that have helped me along the way. I have been fortunate to have had great mentors. Some gave me opportunities where they saw my potential to take a stretch role when maybe I couldn’t see my potential for that new progression myself. Anytime I joined a new company or was promoted to a new role, every one of my hiring managers gave me an opportunity to step into my next capacity and then invested time into my success. I have had approximately 10 roles during my career, so at least that many mentors to whom I’m so grateful.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
To the extent that I mentioned my gratitude to my mentors above. I pay it forward by encouraging and giving high-performing individuals on my team their next stretch roles and mentoring them through their career journeys.
For me, the most rewarding moments are not the awards or accolades that I have received during my career but the personal notes that I have received from my employees and mentees, which share with me the impact that I have had on their career. The legacy that I focus on building is that I have now had the opportunity to lead and manage thousands of people during my career, and any positive impact that I had on any of them, or changing their career trajectory in a favorable direction, makes me feel that I have positively changed the world.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why.
In terms of being a CEO for a Series A start-up:
You will underestimate the amount of hours that you will spend fundraising.
Make decisions and act very quickly. Being agile does not only apply to your product and engineering teams. In a startup environment, every day, every week counts.
You are there to inspire your team, but actually, they will be the ones to provide you inspiration every day with their passion and what they are able to accomplish. Hire great people, don’t let anyone who doesn’t fit your culture stay too long or they can undermine the team’s inspiration.
Your Customer Success team may ask how to triage your customers — which customers are more important than others. There is no way to put them into tiers. Every customer is of the highest importance, ensure the customer experience is a 10 every time.
You will redefine perseverance. You are going to hear a lot of no’s before you hear yes whether it’s from investors or customers, but then you crack the code and everything falls into place. Have thick skin and believe in your mission.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
A more wide-scale development of emotional intelligence and teaching leaders to have more empathy. Instead of trying to boil the ocean and contemplate how to change the world. People can think of their impact every day on an individual level by who they interact with every day. Did you make a difference in every conversation you had?
I often like to say to people to focus on making the room a better place than when you joined it spread positivity, humor, and optimism in every interaction, and then the workplace and world will be a better place.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.” — Jim Rohn
I believe in leading authentically to unlock a team’s potential to be its best version.
Some very well known VCs read this column. If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch to a VC, what would you say? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
Alcatraz AI is transforming the way you enter secured spaces using your face as your credential. Alcatraz AI’s state-of-the-art solution, the Rock, transforms access control by leveraging artificial intelligence and analytics to make powerful decisions at the edge. With features like touchless or multi-factor authentication, tailgating intelligence, and video at the door, we make buildings smarter, more sustainable, and safer.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tinadagostin/
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
The Future Is Now: Tina D’Agostin Of Alcatraz AI On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
