Building an AI Platform Company for Real-Time Applications: Vantiq CEO Marty Sprinzen (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: So you positioned the company in 2022-2023 in the direction of Generative AI?

Marty Sprizen: Exactly.

Sramana Mitra: What applications did you go after?

Marty Sprizen: I mentioned the Japan project earlier—it’s a disaster management app. Through one of our partners, we monitor all disasters occurring across Japan. The goal is to get first responders to the right place at the right time.

In a future release, the app will also provide alerts like: “Hey, you’re in a flooding zone—do you want directions to get out?” It will guide, monitor, and re-route people as necessary. This system can be applied to fires or any type of disaster.

We’re also working on a major project in the Middle East—a large-scale security system. There are 10,000 cameras deployed in what’s being called the world’s smartest city: the King Abdullah Financial District. It’s focused on security and safety.

The system monitors real-time activity—if someone collapses due to a medical emergency, we can immediately dispatch first responders. If someone is carrying a weapon, the system detects and responds. It tracks and tags events throughout the facility. It’s one of the most advanced security systems in the world.

Another example, from the U.S.: we’re working with Texas A&M on a traffic monitoring and management system. They’ll be controlling traffic lights, freeway on-ramps, and even redirecting traffic using V2X (vehicle-to-anything) communications—especially with autonomous vehicles. While that’s a bit futuristic, the core idea is to optimize traffic flow across the entire state of Texas. This will reduce congestion, improve efficiency, and help people reach their destinations faster—especially in emergency situations.

Sramana Mitra: How big is the company?

Marty Sprizen: Our headcount is about 80 and our revenue is in double digit millions. I don’t want to go into detail, but well above $10 million.

Sramana Mitra: Marty, here’s an observation from what’s happening in the market right now. There are some very successful AI services companies that have emerged. Number one on that list—of course, as you pointed out earlier—there’s the platform layer, and then there are services on top, where the application layer gets built.

It’s not pure services. There’s intellectual property (IP), and then there’s AI. But their go-to-market is as solution companies—not just platform or product companies, but product-and-service solution companies.

The most successful example of this is Palantir. They’ve been doing this for a long time, incredibly successfully, and have been rewarded in terms of market cap.

I don’t know if you’ve been following a company called Machinify. They’ve done really well with the same model. Recently, using private equity, they’ve done a roll-up of three companies in that general segment. Most of their work has been in healthcare, specifically in the health insurance space. Again, it’s a platform with AI services layered on top—developing custom solutions for large customers.

We’ve worked with several other smaller companies—$10 million to $50 million in revenue—that follow this same principle. I’m actually very bullish about this approach to building companies right now. Part of the reason is the current lack of deep AI expertise in the market, especially when it comes to developing complex systems.

The market tends to think that Python programming is equivalent to AI expertise, and now, that vibe coding is AI. But that’s not how you build complex solutions to complex problems.

This segment is part 3 in the series : Building an AI Platform Company for Real-Time Applications: Vantiq CEO Marty Sprinzen
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