Rishi Sharma

Founder and Podcaster

I grew up in the security industry. My earliest memories are warehouse floors stacked with cameras and cable, ride-alongs with technicians, and customers trusting us to protect what mattered most.

That experience shaped how I lead today.

Over the years I helped scale a video surveillance company from a family business into a national brand, and we achieved a successful exit. It taught me how rare durable companies are and how important it is to protect the people and culture that make them work.

Today I run NextGen Live Security, focused on live video monitoring, security systems integration, and fire life safety. We build on the foundation I was raised in, combining disciplined operations with modern technology.

Security is changing fast. Customers expect seamless monitoring, smarter analytics, and faster service. The heart of the work has not changed. It is still about people who show up, respond quickly, and keep promises. Our job is to blend both worlds. The craftsmanship of legacy operators and the precision of AI driven systems.

We focus on practical improvements that compound over time. We train technicians to master tools that reduce false alarms and improve awareness. We simplify quote to cash workflows so every install, upgrade, and service visit runs smoother. We standardize checklists and feedback loops so quality stays consistent as we grow.

I have run P and Ls and managed field teams. I have learned that great systems do not replace good people. They amplify them.

This industry raised me and I am proud to keep building in it. If you operate an integration firm, manage a monitoring center, or lead security for a facility, I would love to trade ideas and compare what is working.

Email me at Rish@Nextgenlivesecurity.com

Mentor

The Founder Institute carefully recruits 20-40 Mentors per semester, and we typically only accept Mentors that have built or led technology businesses. Our Mentors lead the weekly training sessions, and their mandate is to help our participants by sharing their experience, outlining the latest tactics, and providing critical feedback. In addition, through the Founder Institute's Shared Liquidity Pool, Mentors are strongly incentivized to help our companies after Graduation, and many have become formal advisors to our Graduate companies.

Rishi S.

My family installed thousands of security cameras. 90% of the footage was digital dust. It was never watched and just stored.

That era is dead.

The physical world is getting an API. Cameras are now sensors turning reality into code. A loiterer becomes anomaly_detected and a line becomes inefficiency_alert.

We aren't selling "security" anymore. We are selling Business Intelligence.

Here is the contrarian twist. The tech startups won't win this market. The local Integrators will. We own the customer, the contract, and the context.

I explain why I’m betting my career on this shift in this week’s Mindful Capital.

From Video Surveillance Exit to NextGen Live Security | Helping Founders Transition with Care & Unlock Growth in Physical Security

By Rishi S. Over 90% of surveillance footage is never watched. I know this because I lived it. My family ran a video surveillance business for over a 

Open article: The Physical World Is the Next API by Rishi Sharma • 10 min read

When we sold our family business, I thought the hard part was the deal.

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨.

The hard part was watching someone answer the question: "What do I do now?"

Most succession plans fail because they solve the wrong problem. They optimize for tax efficiency, valuation multiples, and clean handoffs.

Nobody talks about the identity crisis waiting on the other side.

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚:
• 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲. 40 years of knowing where to be at 9am, gone.
• 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀. "I built this" becomes past tense overnight.
• 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲. Your phone stops ringing.
• 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲. No more problems that made work feel like meaning.

The best transitions share one trait: the founder planned their next identity before they planned their exit.

𝙉𝙤𝙩 "𝙄'𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙩." 𝘼𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙨:
• 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗜 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁?
• 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗜 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵?
• 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝟳𝗮𝗺 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴'𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲?

Succession planning is purpose planning. The spreadsheet comes second.

What's helped you (or someone you know) navigate this transition?

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In 3 years, "video" won't be proof unless it's verifiable.

AI generated media makes manipulation cheap. When fakes cost nothing, evidence standards rise.

Most video platforms weren't built for chain of custody. They were built for capture and storage. That gap is now a liability.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙭 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙀𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙠. 𝙁𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙛:

1. 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲: Device ID, timestamp, GPS, sensor metadata locked at recording
2. 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆: Cryptographic hash generated immediately. Any edit breaks the seal.
3. 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹: Immutable log of every access, export, and handoff
4. 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁: Forensic-ready package with full provenance for legal or compliance review

Platforms that ship this stack by default become the new baseline. Everyone else becomes "unverified."

The product isn't footage anymore. It's footage plus the receipts.

Building in video, security, or legal tech? What verification gaps are you solving for?

Everyone wants AI transformation.

Nobody talks about the mess behind it.

Let's get honest. Most companies in security and service don't run on seamless apps or smart dashboards. They run on stacks of paper. Half-complete PDFs. Workarounds nobody wants to admit to.

There's this fantasy: Drop AI into an old process, and efficiency magically appears. But that's not how reality works. AI isn't a magic wand. It's a mirror. It shows every crack in how your business actually operates.

First time we tried integrating AI tools into our workflows, nothing got faster. Chaos did. Now every step we'd been faking or skipping was exposed. Our "digital" foundation? It turned out to be notebooks, emails, and memories.

What worked? Stopping the fantasy. Mapping every step. Sitting down with operators. Asking, "Why do you do it this way?" Deleting dead steps. Digitizing the right pieces before even touching AI.

Leverage didn't come from the tool. Leverage came from getting brutally honest about how things really get done. Then, and only then, did AI start compounding our efforts.

If you want AI to change your business, start by surfacing the mess. Clean it first. Only then does the upgrade stick.

What's one process in your business you're pretending is automated? How messy is it, really?

The security industry's operating model worked for 40 years. It's breaking in four.

Three shifts are hitting at once:

1. Channel to value chain. "Sell-through becomes build-with." Transactions give way to outcomes. Firms still playing telephone are watching value migrate to firms having actual conversations.

2. Cost center to ROI asset. Security prevented a $2M theft? Budget scrutiny. Sales closed a $2M deal? Champagne. Same money, different psychology. That asymmetry is finally correcting.

3. 15-year refresh cycles to 3-5 years. Cybersecurity exposure and AI infrastructure demands are compressing timelines. Only 7% of organizations have 75%+ of their stack on SaaS. The transformation is early, but the trajectory is locked.

Any single shift would stress the system. Together, they compound.

The mental model: inertia keeps organizations at rest until outside forces act. One shift alone might not overcome that resistance. Three simultaneous shifts lower the activation energy required for transformation. The equilibrium breaks.

The channel model's decline isn't failure. It's evolution.

Full essay in Link.

by Rishi S. The security industry's operating model worked for 40 years. It's breaking in four. Picture the security business like a game of telephone

Open article: The Security Business Model Is Breaking (And Rebuilding) by Rishi Sharma • 5 min read

The Security Business Model Is Breaking (And Rebuilding)

Industry analysts predict AI will largely replace human security monitoring within seven years.

I think they're half right.

AI will transform monitoring. But the winning model won't be machines alone, it'll be Centaurs: human operators augmented by AI who outperform both.

Chess proved this two decades ago. 

In 2005, a freestyle tournament pitted grandmasters with supercomputers against amateur players with ordinary laptops. 

The amateurs won. Not because of better hardware or deeper expertise, but because of better process.

Kasparov's insight: weak human + machine + superior process beats strong human + machine + inferior process. Every time.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙙𝙮𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙘 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨:

•𝗔𝗜 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. It catches anomalies humans miss at 3 AM.
• 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.Context, intent, business impact, machines don't weigh these well.
• 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗽. Handoff protocols, escalation triggers, and feedback loops determine whether you get compounding value or compounding errors.

The real automation opportunity isn't replacing operators. It's freeing them from low-priority noise so they focus on high-stakes decisions.

As one security leader put it: "Agentic AI handles lower-priority requests. Humans focus on what matters."

Are you designing your SOC for full automation or human-AI teaming? What's working?

Security integrators are running two businesses right now.

One is growing. One is shrinking. Most are staffed and compensated for the wrong one.

Data from SIA's Securing New Ground 2025: 𝙨𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙞𝙩 45% 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙪𝙚 𝙗𝙮 2030. Hardware's share of wallet is compressing while software and recurring services expand.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵: 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲-𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀.

• Sales comp rewards one-time installs over recurring revenue

• Reps aren't trained to sell SaaS or platform value

• Service delivery assumes install-heavy, support-light relationships

• Margin models don't account for software's different economics

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝: 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙩-𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣'𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙚. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜.

The fix isn't incremental. It requires rethinking:

→ How you pay reps

→ What you train them to sell

→ How you deliver value post-install

Integrators who restructure capture the growth. Those who wait watch margin erode quarter by quarter.

How are you seeing integrators adapt or not? What's the hardest part of the transition?

Every time you rewrite a prompt because AI misunderstood you, you're becoming a better security leader.

I've spent years managing operations where clarity, speed, and coordination matter more than charisma. Recently noticed something while working with AI systems: managing AI feels eerily similar to managing high-performing SOCs.

The parallels:

• Prompting AI = writing strong SOPs. Clear scope, defined outcomes, measurable results.

• Orchestrating agents mirrors coordinating dispatch, monitoring, and field response. Same sequencing. Same judgment calls.

• Evaluating outputs = post-incident reviews and KPIs. Both demand ruthless feedback loops.

The World Management Survey found that 25% of America's productivity edge over Europe comes from management quality alone. AI is now forcing leaders to relearn these fundamentals. Or get exposed.

If your team struggles with clarity, AI didn't reveal a technology problem. It revealed a leadership one.

In a world of AI-driven cameras, alerts, and sensors, leadership quality becomes the real bottleneck.

What if AI isn't replacing security leaders, but retraining them?

Access control is becoming identity. Identity is becoming security.

Most organizations still treat access as a door problem. The leaders treat it as a data problem.

Legacy access control asks: "𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬?"

Modern identity infrastructure asks: "𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦, 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸?"

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜:

• Mobile credentials sync with Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. No more lost or cloned cards.

• Biometrics (face, fingerprint) bind identity to the person, not the token.

• Cloud platforms merge access, video, and incident data into one workflow.

• AI scores risk at the moment of entry, flagging anomalies before the door unlocks.

Access control used to be a checkbox. Now it's the connective tissue across your entire security stack.

Where does access control sit in your stack: at the edge or at the center?

AVS‑01 isn't a paper exercise. It's a profit lever hiding in plain sight.

Most see compliance. I see margin.

The Monitoring Association's new AVS‑01 standard flips the script on alarm events. No more "something beeped, roll a squad car." Now every signal gets a risk score. Suddenly, dispatch isn't a coin toss,it's a business decision.

What does that do for you?

- Police don't need to guess anymore. Clean, standardized data gets real threats to the top of their list.
- Fewer wasted dispatches. Every false alarm you cut is money back in your pocket, not some rounding error.
- New angle for sales. Don't just be another monitor,sell verified alarm scoring as proof you're different.

A real story: One monitoring center threw out old habits, built AVS‑01 into the daily grind, and watched false dispatches drop from 9.5% to 8.7%. The magic? They squeezed Level 0 harder,screened out the junk calls that never needed help anyway.

That tiny 0.8% doesn't sound like much. But do the math over thousands of alarms a month. That's real money and a tighter operation.

Here's the brutal truth: If you treat AVS‑01 like a checkbox, you'll get rolled by the guys who actually use it.

The winners are building workflows, not just filing paperwork.

So, what's one validation step you changed that actually made a dent? Drop your best move below. Let's make margin the expectation, not the exception.

graphical user interface, diagram, application

I'm searching for amazing small businesses to acquire and grow alongside the seller, backed by NextGen Growth Partners. Sweetspot is B2B service businesses with 10+ employees, $7M+ revenue, and $1.5M + in profit. If you know a business owner thinking about their next chapter or seeking a partner, reach me at gbilazarian@nextgengp.com

My career started as a local news reporter in Florida and Ohio before spending a year abroad in media in Armenia. I spent the last decade at big companies—most recently at AWS working alongside private equity firms—but kept finding myself missing the energy and impact of smaller businesses.

My strength is working with customers to solve problems and scaling solutions. I’m in my element with a tight deadline and an ambiguous challenge

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