Actuate - Experts & Thought Leaders

Actuate, a provider of AI-powered video analytics solutions, announced a strategic partnership with WSD permanent security GmbH, a well-established German security services provider with decades of experience in guarding, remote monitoring, alarm response, and integrated security solutions. This collaboration combines Actuate’s cutting-edge AI video analytics technology with WSD permanent security’s deep security operations expertise and broad regional presence, creating a powerful service offering that enables businesses across Germany to leverage intelligent, cloud-based surveillance without costly hardware upgrades. Remote video monitoring Seamless integration of AI with traditional security services. Actuate’s software transforms any existing security camera into a “smart camera” capable of real-time threat detection, including intruder detection, gun detection, slip & fall, loitering, left objects, and more. Enhanced security for WSD permanent security’s clients across diverse sectors. WSD permanent security’s broad service portfolio, including facilities protection, remote video monitoring, alarm response, and guarding, now combined with Actuate’s AI-based analytics, will enable clients to respond faster, reduce false alarms, and improve overall safety outcomes. Significant capital investment Scalable, cost-effective deployment. Because Actuate’s technology works with existing camera infrastructure and is cloud-based, WSD permanent security’s clients benefit from advanced detection capabilities without significant capital investment in new hardware. Enhancing combined capabilities for the European security ecosystem. Actuate’s AI platform, paired with WSD permanent security’s established operational expertise, strengthens both companies’ ability to support complex, large-scale security deployments throughout Germany and beyond. Modern security solutions “Our vision at Actuate has always been to make security smarter, faster, and more accessible. By teaming up with WSD permanent security, a leader in German security services, we are excited to transform how businesses in Germany protect people and assets,” said Tolga Ermis, Head of Sales & Growth, Europe at Actuate. “WSD permanent security is committed to delivering reliable, modern security solutions that meet the evolving needs of our clients. With Actuate’s AI-powered analytics, we can now offer advanced, proactive security at scale,” said Mirko Jeschonek, Chief Technology & Information Officer (CTIO) at WSD permanent security.

Brivo, the pioneer in cloud-native AI-driven physical security, announces an integration with AI video analytics company Actuate to deliver additional advanced AI video analytics via the Brivo Security Suite. Ideal for enhancing remote video monitoring (RVM) effectiveness, Actuate’s AI is designed for real-time detection, false alarm reduction, and faster operator intervention during security incidents. Capabilities include: Intruder detection Hard hat detection Crowd detection Loitering detection Fire and smoke detection Operator-driven environments These combined capabilities give integrators and monitoring centers a cloud-first foundation designed for high-stakes, operator-driven environments. “The RVM market is moving from experimental AI to mission-critical AI,” said Tijmen Vos, VP of Product at Brivo. “With Actuate, we’re adding a layer of intelligence for professional monitoring environments—where accuracy, speed, and trust in the alert really matter. Together, we’re helping monitoring centers cut through noise, focus on real incidents, and deliver better outcomes for their customers.” Remote video monitoring The Actuate AI integration is now part of the Brivo Security Suite’s existing ecosystem of technology partners. As an open platform, the Brivo Security Suite easily integrates with third-party AI providers, and gives business owners and resellers the flexibility to choose their preferred cameras and integrated technologies—all within one unified, cloud-native physical security solution. The Brivo Security Suite also offers the convenience of a single invoice, one support team, and one business relationship. “Remote video monitoring only works if operators can trust the alerts they receive,” said Brian Leary, CEO of Actuate. “By integrating Actuate’s AI analytics with the Brivo Security Suite, we’re helping monitoring teams move from reactive surveillance to proactive monitoring by filtering out false alarms and surfacing the events that actually require action.”

Milestone Systems, a foremost provider of open-platform Video Management Software (VMS), announced that its partner Genesis Security, a security integrator in Puerto Rico, has developed a centralised monitoring operation capable of serving multiple industries across the island via an integration with XProtect VMS. Genesis provides security and monitoring services for entertainment venues, residential communities, airports, and government facilities throughout Puerto Rico. Historically, operators received over 96,000 motion-based alerts per day, making it nearly impossible to quickly identify real threats. Collaboration By combining Milestone’s XProtect VMS with Actuate’s AI-powered filtering, Genesis reduced daily alerts by 62% — from 96,000 to approximately 37,000 verified events. This shift allowed the company to improve speed and accuracy in emergency responses. “Actuate has been key to reducing false alarms and increasing real-time threat detection,” said Yasel Morales, CIO at Genesis Security. Combined process Milestone’s open architecture enables Genesis to connect cameras from various manufacturers, across thousands of sites. Actuate’s AI integrates through Milestone’s protocol interface, receiving JPEG images only when motion occurs, which reduces bandwidth consumption across Puerto Rico’s varied geography. For advanced analytics — such as gun detection — Actuate pulls higher-resolution streams using Milestone’s ONVIF network bridge and sends alerts directly into the event server. Together, the combined solution detects and classifies threats such as: Intrusions Loitering Crowd formation Weapon detection Operators receive only verified alerts, allowing the monitoring team to focus on actionable events across multiple industries. Importance of video “Video verification is a dramatic improvement for law enforcement because they can visually confirm a threat before responding,” said Ken Francis, CEO of Actuate. Faster emergency response from a single platform When a verified threat occurs, operators use Milestone’s real-time map visualisation to track a person of interest across cameras. They can activate loudspeakers to deter intruders and simultaneously dispatch the nearest security officer. Genesis has over 60 operational units available around the clock, ensuring rapid on-site response. All communication, alerts, live video, and dispatch workflows are managed through Milestone’s centralised interface, enabling seamless coordination across client sites. Built for Puerto Rico’s infrastructure challenges As an island with diverse terrain, electrical instability, and mixed communication networks, Puerto Rico requires resilient security infrastructure. Genesis addressed these challenges through: Redundant video servers with automatic failover Hybrid fiber, wireless, and LTE connectivity Distributed Seneca servers at customer sites linked through Milestone Interconnect This ensures continuous monitoring even when power or communications are disrupted. Video technology and AI “Genesis’s success shows what’s possible when open-platform video technology and AI work together,” said Tim Palmquist, Vice President, Americas, Sales at Milestone Systems. “With Milestone XProtect at the core, they’ve turned massive alert volumes into actionable intelligence and built a scalable monitoring model that delivers real-world results.” A scalable blueprint for multi-industry security Genesis employs over 5,000 personnel and serves a wide range of clients. More than 20 residential communities have already migrated from traditional guard services to Genesis’s virtual monitoring model. As organisations across the region seek intelligent, scalable solutions, Genesis’s centralised monitoring approach is becoming a model for multi-site security transformation.

During the Parkland, Florida, school shooting in 2018, the shooter was caught on a security camera pulling his rifle out of a duffle bag in the staircase 15 seconds before discharging the first round. However, the School Resource Officer didn’t enter the building because he wasn’t confident about the situation, and the Coral Springs Police Department had no idea what the shooter even looked like until 7 minutes and 30 seconds after the first round was fired. If the video system had included technology to recognise the gun threat in real time, alerts could have been sent to the security team. An announcement could have been made right away for all students and faculty in Building 12 to barricade their doors, and law enforcement could have responded a lot faster to a real-time feed of timely and accurate information. Automatically recognising gun threats Actuate offers such a technology, which the company says enables existing security cameras to automatically recognise gun threats and notify security in real-time. The technology is centred around a convolutional neural network (CNN) that aims to replicate how a human brain would process information. This neural network is trained to recognise what hands holding a firearm look like from hundreds of thousands of images in a proprietary data set. The technology is centred around a CNN that aims to replicate how a human brain would process information Over time, the system is able to mathematically calculate what a gun threat in a security camera feed looks like with a high degree of accuracy (well over 99% detection accuracy within the first 5 seconds), according to Actuate. “Active shooter situations are often marred by chaos and confusion,” says Sonny Tai, Chief Executive Officer of Actuate. “People are in fight-or-flight response and prioritise immediate survival instead of reaching for their phones and calling 911. When the 911 calls are made, callers often provide delayed, conflicting, and inaccurate information, inhibiting law enforcement’s ability to respond.” Enhances law enforcement response Tai says Actuate helps to clear up that chaos and confusion. He says: “It provides visual intelligence of the location of the shooter, what they look like, what direction they’re heading, and what they’re armed with. This real-time information enhances law enforcement response and enables building occupants to make critical decisions that maximise survivability." AI methods including deep learning enable high levels of accuracy in detecting weapons in real-time camera footage Tai is a Marine Corps veteran and a social entrepreneur who co-founded Actuate with the mission of addressing America’s gun violence epidemic. The start of the company stems from Tai’s upbringing in South Africa, where gun violence rates are some of the highest in the world. Growing up, several of his family friends were personally impacted, resulting in a lifelong passion for the issue of gun violence. In early 2018, Tai interviewed dozens of law enforcement leaders across the country and found that their biggest challenge in gun violence response was the lack of timely and accurate information. Actuate mitigates that challenge and enables both first responders and security staff to respond more rapidly, he says. More than 99% accuracy in detecting weapons Actuate's solution is completely AI-based, says Ben Ziomek, Chief Product Officer. AI methods including deep learning enable high levels of accuracy in detecting weapons in real-time camera footage. “Legacy, non-AI based solutions generally rely on older methods like motion detection, which is not reliable in differentiating between objects such as phones and firearms,” says Ziomek. “Our AI solution lets us achieve more than 99% accuracy in detecting weapons with an exceptionally low false-positive rate.” Ziomek runs engineering, data science, and operations for Actuate. Before joining the firm, he led teams of AI engineers and data scientists at Microsoft, leveraging AI to identify high-potential startups globally. Actuate is a software-only solution that plugs into existing security camera hardware and software, including video management systems (VMS). Existing capabilities of a customer’s VMS does initial, basic analysis and then routes the remaining video to Actuate’s processing units for AI analysis. Alerts can then be sent back however a customer wants, including through a VMS. Actuate can also feed information into a PSIM or command-and-control system if requested by a customer. Equipping customers with AI tools As an early-stage company, Actuate is pursuing customers through multiple routes, including directly to end-users and via security integrators, distributors, and dealers. They are currently deployed at diverse customer sites including schools, office buildings, industrial facilities, and public buildings, says Ziomek. Our current focus for the company is to get our technology into the hands of as many customers as possible “Our current focus for the company is to get our technology into the hands of as many customers as possible,” says Ziomek. “We are working closely with customers across segments and industries to equip them with the tools they need to make their spaces safer. We’re currently working on educating the market on our offerings, as this technology is very new to many security organisations.” There are no privacy or compliance concerns because Actuate stores no customer data until a weapon is detected, and even then the data is not cross-indexed with any sensitive information, says Ziomek.