Interview with Karyn Scott, CMO at Kloudspot, Inc.

Karyn Scott, CMO at Kloudspot, Inc. discusses the tool’s efficiency in driving safety post COVID for schools, businesses.

1. Tell us how you came to be the CMO at Kloudspot. How much of your day is involved in interfacing with AI experts at Kloudspot for enhancing your GTM strategies?

I’m a technology junkie. And, I’ve always been attracted to innovative, disruptive products and services that can truly enhance the way we live, work, learn and/or play. When Kloudspot CEO Guillermo Diaz, who I worked with at Cisco, reached out to me to brainstorm positioning and messaging for the company he had just joined, I was instantly absorbed by how the Kloudspot platform can help so many organizations safely re-open. As a marketer, if you are really lucky, once in your career you find a product-market fit with immediate demand and an opportunity to help the world. I accepted the job before he even made me the offer.

As to collaboration with the Engineering team, that happens daily. AI is so core to the services we offer that in many ways it is the GTM strategy.

2. How did you choose technology marketing as your calling for a profession?

I didn’t. It chose me. I’m a trained journalist and began my career as a reporter. Hard news reporting didn’t provide me with enough creative outlet. So, I joined a PR firm and when they landed their first technology client, I raised my hand for the project and was bit by the bug. I guess that bug bite never healed, because I wake up every day excited by what’s possible with AI and all of the incredible tech innovations happening.

3. What are some of the common challenges customers approach Kloudspot with? Please share some instances where Kloudspot has directly affected brand efficiencies or ROI.

Right now, it’s all about how to re-open safely, and living in this COVID-19 impacted world. Schools, small, medium and large businesses, cities and local governments, amusement parks, malls – everyone wants to ensure health and safety for their constituents. A recent example is the City of Erie, PA which deployed Kloudspot and is able to better monitor and manage the spread of COVID-19 using PPE detection, location-based analytics and real-time contact tracing. And, Freedom Financial Services used Kloudspot to analyze facilities usage and saved $20 million in facilities expenses.

4. Can you elaborate on how KloudVision and Kloudbot can help enterprises in their post-COVD return-to-work programs? What are some other use cases for these innovations?

I love KloudVision. We have this up and running in our reception area.

A connected camera quickly detects PPE and allows access if PPE is detected. Or, triggers an alert to reception and flashes a message saying “we love your smile but please, wear a mask.” PPE detection is so important in preventing the spread of infection.

And our first Kloudbot, which provides integration with Microsoft Teams, enables one-touch contact tracing and alerting right in the Teams environment. You can also broadcast outages and alerts across Teams with important, real-time data updates. Really what we are trying to do is maximize the investments enterprises have already made into their IT network infrastructures and business applications. We have integrations with Salesforce, Zoom, Slack, Tableau, ServiceNow and so many more. I joke that we are the Switzerland of technology platforms: anything in, anything out.

5. What are some of the distinctive features of the Kloudspot platform that differentiate it from its competitors?

We are a platform and one that is a network and cloud application-agnostic. All of our competitors offer siloed, single-use-case solutions that have to be integrated and managed separately. It’s so expensive to do it that way and causes a headache from a data standpoint, especially since many vendors have proprietary systems. Seeing all of your data in a single pane of glass makes running your business easy, efficient and cost-effective. And with IT budgets always under pressure, especially in this current economy, it’s a great solution.

6. Could you share some details about Kloudspot’s partnership with Intel, Facebook for the Telecom Infra project? How will it impact enterprises in the context of IoT and 5G implementation?

I truly believe that the biggest barrier to equality is access to fast, reliable WiFi. The Telecom Infra project intends to solve this challenge and the Kloudspot Platform and WiFi solutions will be the key to enabling this. We are so excited to partner with other technology leaders to level the global playing field.

7. What are some of the unique lessons you have learned from your customers as the CMO at Kloudspot?

A lesson I first learned years ago from the amazing John Chambers, who was CEO of Cisco when I was there, is that if you listen to your customers, they will tell you exactly what to do.  So, my first 30 days were spent doing just that:  listening to our customers and our channel partners and understanding what problems they had, and then brainstorming how to solve them.

I learned what they liked about Kloudspot, and I learned a lot about what we needed to do to help them be successful. Our channel partners were so generous with their explicit feedback. It really helped me shape the marketing strategy and understand where to invest.

8. Can you give us a sneak peek into some of the upcoming product upgrades that your customers can look forward to?

I am super excited about a new bundle we are announcing mid-November that will provide an easy to use ‘Safety-in-a-box’ solution to help any organization create a safe back-to-business environment. It will include hardware and software, it is at an affordable price to make it easy for most organizations to set up quickly and ensure safety for employees, students – anyone.

We also have a series of new Kloudbot integrations launching this year and into Q1 of next year that will integrate the data analytics from the platform into many standard productivity tools. It’s all feeding the tech junkie Addiction I mentioned.

9. What AI innovation besides location intelligence do you think will leave a mark in 2020?

Robotics fascinates me. I sit on the board of an AgTech company called FarmWise, and they are using AI to drive their robots to laser target weeding, harvesting and pesticide applications in cruciferous vegetables. I think sustainable farming and finding a way to feed the world is a mission-critical goal for the planet and AI can help lead the way. So, eat your veggies, but listen to them first.

10. How do you keep up with the rapidly developing AI tech domain?

I read a lot and listen to podcasts when I run. LinkedIn is a great source for me. Easy-to-digest updates on what’s happening.

11. What is your go-to strategy that brings technology and the human side of marketing together?

Inform and educate. That’s always been the winning best practice for me. People are drawn to marketing offers that arm them to shine, solve problems and be successful in their organizations.  And if you can be helpful to someone, they come back for more and become an advocate.

12. What is that one quote that has stayed with you throughout your professional life?

‘You can’t succeed unless you are willing to risk failure.’

This motto is a ‘Dad-ism’ my father taught me early on and it’s guided every aspect of my life.  It’s given me the air-cover to experiment, think outside of the box and innovate… all essential ingredients to successful marketing.

I pass this one on to the early-stage career professionals in my teams and to those I mentor. I hope I passed it on to my kids too! 

Fail fast, learn and try again.