How i-PRO is listening, learning and leading responsibly

“Our journey is just beginning – the best is yet to come,” explains Gerard Figols, Chief Product Officer at i-PRO, in conversation with ISJ Editor, James Thorpe.

Amidst the noise of industry headlines, ever-changing trends and emerging technologies, i-PRO remains laser-focused on what truly matters – listening to the market and delivering reliable, responsible innovations that solve challenges. This is where innovation matters most.

Few understand the idea of developing products to solve challenges better than Gerard Figols, who was named i-PRO Chief Product Officer (CPO) in 2024. In an industry where AI is transforming capabilities and expectations, he has been a driving force in ensuring the company’s offerings are both cutting-edge and developed responsibly.

From spearheading its AI governance framework to setting ethical standards in video security, he is helping to shape the future of smart technologies.

In this Head to Head Exclusive, Figols told ISJ Editor, James Thorpe, about the key factors shaping i-PRO’s global strategy.

From leveraging his experience in the EMEA and APAC markets to addressing evolving cybersecurity challenges, he outlined how i-PRO engineers quality products, highlighting the role of partner and customer engagement and what excites him most about the road ahead.

Regional strategy, local approach

Before stepping into the role of CPO, Figols was appointed President of i-PRO EMEA in 2021, following the company’s establishment. Under his leadership, he quickly scaled the business from the ground up, laying a strong foundation for its growth in the region.

With expertise in both the EMEA and APAC regions, Figols leverages knowledge to shape i-PRO’s product strategy. He said: “The EMEA and APAC regions are, naturally, very different – but somehow they share a similar landscape.

“What I mean by this is that the markets within these regions are diverse. We cannot implement the same go-to-market strategy, because each country has its own languages, cultures, regulations, needs and competition; France is not the same as the UK and Australia is different to Vietnam. What I’ve been doing to understand each country’s needs, however, is engaging closely with the customer.”

“By having deeper discussions, I can understand needs and challenges. One thing is for sure – you cannot do this by just being in the office! Once you have gathered information, you can consolidate and decide what’s the best strategy for the region and how this can be adjusted per country.”

Figols emphasised the importance of developing a global strategy entrenched in local values and understanding. Because a separate go-to-market approach for each country is, generally, impractical, he instead advocates for a “global strategy with a local taste” – glocalization.

“This subsequently helps develop a broad framework tailored to the unique needs of individual markets.

Interaction and expertise

In the physical security industry, cybersecurity and data protection remain some of the most pressing focuses, but digital adversaries show no sign of slowing down.

As threats evolve, businesses must stay vigilant and proactive in safeguarding systems and data.

For i-PRO, ensuring the highest levels of product cybersecurity and reliability is not a tick in the box – it’s a fundamental part of its commitment to building trust in the company itself as well as its partners and products.

“Security products are not just cameras anymore,” continued Figols. “They are IoT devices that generate significant amounts of data. This means we must guarantee data integrity; we must make it reliable and trustworthy.

“In order to properly address cybersecurity challenges, i-PRO has established a Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT), which is dedicated to thwarting unauthorised device access and intrusions as well as addressing vulnerabilities as they are disclosed.

“On the technology side, we have built several cybersecurity features such as mutual identification for secure communication protocols like SSL and TLS, data encryption for building out the data, alteration detection to check if video or audio has been modified, trusted third party certification from GlobalSign and even our own, in-house embedded cryptography technology.

“We have also implemented the latest secure element chip, which is FIPS 140-3 certified. It’s important for everyone to understand, however, that any system is hackable.

“Our focus is to continually invest to make sure products are tough to hack. We’re screening regional markets to ensure we are compliant and following requirements and recommendations.”

i-PRO also recognises that cybersecurity education is just as crucial as the technology itself. The company places a strong emphasis on partner engagement, ensuring that its ecosystem is well-equipped to mitigate cyber-threats effectively.

To support this, i-PRO has implemented a Partner Program across different regions, providing guidance on best practices for using its technology while highlighting key tools that enhance security and threat prevention.

i-PRO distinguishes itself through innovation and engineering excellence. Figols outlined i-PRO’s broader technology focus, breaking it down into three key areas that define its strategic approach: “The first one is expertise combined with the latest computing technology.

“We have experience in the industry and understood that image analysis has been done mainly in the cloud and on the server side – but this has a high cost associated with it.

“We are looking to solve this cost challenge with our edge computing capabilities. By leveraging our expertise and collaborating with leading brands like Ambarella, we can perform advanced image analysis at the edge. And combing our knowhow and the latest technology allows us to maximise the chip performance, ensuring accurate AI analysis to minimise false alarms.

“The second area that is key is our reliability and heritage,” Figols remarked.

“Our products need to be reliable in many different conditions at all times. Our attention to detail and precision, combined with extensive testing, allows i-PRO to deliver the exceptional quality, reliability and durability that Japanese technology is known for.

“This also allows us to offer our seven-year warranty.”

i-PRO is the only security camera manufacturer to offer a standard seven-year warranty across its entire line of surveillance cameras. First announced in 2023, the i-PRO Endurance 7-year Camera Warranty enables a 40% longer technology refresh cycle, underscoring customer confidence.

“The third one is our open approach. We develop plugins and link our technologies with cloud services to enhance the end-to-end partner ecosystem. We also implement Docker technology to most of our lineup, making products easy to customise.

“The number of AI vendors that we partner with grew from 10 in 2021, to 30 in 2024. The number of AI apps that were i-PRO-compatible increased from 15 to 67 in the same period. Our open policy allows us to expand partnerships and offer value to i-PRO customers.”

Engagement and resilience

Customer feedback is essential when it comes to developing the right products, tools, applications and services that truly meet market needs.

As Figols highlighted, i-PRO’s open-platform architecture is designed to ensure flexibility and adaptability for specific applications and requirements. The company’s technology reinforces this commitment, enabling seamless customisation and integration.

“Customers often explain that they have an issue that needs to be addressed,” he remarked. “i-PRO gathers the insights needed to address their challenge, but to do so, we need to listen. By listening to the customers, our skilled engineering team can come up with the right technological answer.

“You can develop a camera with the best image quality and most accurate analytics, but what happens if the camera is installed outside and is exposed to days of rain and dust? That’s why we developed ClearSight Coating – to prevent water drops and dirt from obstructing the camera’s view.

“Moreover, everyone wants the latest AI technology, but most customers have cameras in place already. How much does it cost to replace all these devices so the latest AI can be utilised? It costs a lot. That’s why i-PRO implemented the AI Relay App, to make non-AI cameras smarter by using our modern cameras as a hub.

“We innovate because we listen – this helps us understand what the best technology is to solve challenges and improve efficiency.”

i-PRO has transformed its product architecture and logistics operations in alignment with its time-based competition strategy. This approach ensures that customers consistently benefit from the latest technological advancements.

Rather than relying solely on low-cost manufacturing, i-PRO has shifted from a monolithic product design to a unique modular architecture. This evolution allows the company to rapidly integrate sensors and chipsets across a diverse range of models.

“It allow us to reduce our product development time from the 20-30 months that it used to be, to 10-14 months,” Figols added. “This allows us to expand the number of new products that we launch per year. This time-based competition model can only be achieved by changing the product architecture.

“We had to redefine our supply chain and put an emphasis on responsiveness rather than efficiency. To achieve this, we have been iterating engineering chain and supply chain processes.

“We streamline our supply chain by having bi-directional communication between departments, ensuring that customer demand is aligned with manufacturing priorities and inventory levels. This means we can be much more flexible and adapt to market needs,” he noted.

A commitment to responsible innovation

“When I look back at the history of i-PRO, it looks and feels like a “century”. In reality, it’s only been five-and-a-half-years since the company was established.

“We have done many things over this space of time, but there are many things left to do. We have a lot of knowhow, but digital technology is advancing extremely fast. With the introduction of GenAI, security – and many other industries – will transform massively over the next few years.

“We see three megatrends in the industry in AI, cloud and cybersecurity. Personally, I do see a correlation between all of them – but the data needs to be reliable.

“We want to stay at the forefront, making sure that our devices are the most advanced, integrated and cyber-protected in the industry.

Figols concluded: “We are in a growing industry and our journey is just beginning – the best is yet to come. I see a bright future ahead, because we have passion and excellent support from our loyal partners.

“We cannot forget a very important thing, however: Innovation comes with responsibility. We need to make sure that all the innovation we bring to market is done in a responsible way.”

To find out more information, visit: https://i-pro.com/