The Cold Start Problem: Teaching AI to Read a Factory Floor

Sawtooth, WaveWorks' industrial AI platform for wireless machine health monitoring, breaks the tradeoff that usually limits wireless sensors, sending up to 1000x more data at the same power instead of trading data for battery life. That data does two things: it fills a gap no single factory can fill alone, since real failures are rare, and it gives models enough signal to adapt to the speed and material changes smaller manufacturers face more than large, standardized plants do. Both still hit the same wall: trusting a deployment takes data, and getting that data takes a deployment. This talk will walk through what we did, what we learned and how this solves the cold start problem. Who this is for: Industrial AI and hardware founders, manufacturing and operations leaders, and anyone stuck on the data-before-deployment problem. About the speaker: Manuja Sharma, PhD, is Head of Solutions Architecture at WaveWorks Technologies, which builds the semiconductor technology behind Sawtooth. Part of SURF x SWELL Seattle AI Week. Full calendar at luma.com/surfaiweek. FAQ: Q: Is there on-site parking? Yes, secure garage parking is available here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/WX3qkFHeeZorisdJ7. A $10 parking pass is available from the front desk at SURF Incubator on Floor 7.