Jeevan ThankappanAlex Yang, Co-Founder, COO, and CFO of Tuya Smart, discusses AI, IoT, and smart technologies.
Can you give us an overview of Tuya Smart?
We are building a developer platform on a global scale for developers who want to create intelligent applications or devices. We offer a turnkey solution that combines software and hardware.
On the software side, we provide a three-tier framework that includes device-level, cloud-level, and application-level components. This framework is general and standardized, allowing developers to design applications across various cloud infrastructures, device architectures, and application structures with ease.
On the hardware side, we offer an intelligent module, including chipsets, connectivity, firmware, and more. We primarily serve two types of customers:
- Device Manufacturers: These customers design and produce intelligent devices. By integrating our modules and using our software system, they can focus on developing user interfaces and experiences while we handle the core intelligence. This enables them to create a range of smart devices, covering verticals like electronics, appliances, security, sensors, and more. We support over 7,000 brands globally in building their own smart device portfolios, with over 100 million new devices shipped to corporate markets annually using our platform.
- Space Managers and Developers: This category includes commercial and enterprise users, such as property developers and managers of various spaces—apartments, single-family homes, office buildings, parking lots, warehouses, and complex facilities. We offer a combined hardware and software turnkey solution for managing these spaces, making space builders and managers our target audience.
Do you have a global presence? Are you based in China but operate internationally?
Yes, 85% of our business is outside of China. We follow the progression of high-tech adoption globally, starting with the most developed markets. The United States was our first market, followed by Western Europe, then Eastern Europe and Asia (including China, Japan, and Korea), as well as Latin America, the Middle East, and finally, Africa. We expand by following the flow of technology penetration across these regions.
What are your plans for the Middle East? Do you have an office here?
Yes, we have an office in Dubai, which we recently established. The Middle East, particularly the GCC countries, is one of our latest focus areas. We see incredible potential here, as these nations have a strong ambition to grow and upgrade their infrastructure. In Saudi Arabia, for example, there are numerous new construction projects aiming to build infrastructure with digitalization at the core. That’s where we come in.
Our goal with ‘intelligence’ is to transform the physical world into a connected and smart environment—not by creating a separate cyber world, but by digitizing the physical one. We’re achieving this by connecting millions of devices under one cohesive ‘brain.’
When we talk about intelligent devices, we mean a wide range of products. It could be something as simple as a smart bulb that you can control by voice or more complex systems like connected AC or HVAC systems. Essentially, any electronic product has the potential to become ‘smart,’ whether it’s a smart meter in your home or IoT devices for gardening irrigation systems.
How can we make AI and IoT work together?
We consider IoT to be a foundational infrastructure or an essential component. When you aim to digitize the world, it’s crucial to connect different elements through devices. That’s the first step.
AI, in turn, acts as a catalyst. Once the network is established, AI can significantly enhance the user experience. Instead of relying on preset automation, AI enables the creation of thousands of unique interactions tailored to how individuals want to engage with their homes, rooms, offices, or cars. This is how we combine IoT and AI to transform the digital experience.
Are you involved in any of the smart city projects?
Many countries around the world are aiming to become ‘smart nations.’ So, what are we doing in this regard? When defining a smart city, we view it as a collection of spaces or sectors, each representing different layers of the city. At the fundamental level, you have public infrastructure like traffic management, public safety, and air quality. Beyond that, you have private spaces.
We categorize these spaces into residential, commercial, and warehousing, identifying what each space requires. Each space may have various users; for example, an office building might have tenants as primary users. Tenants may prioritize features such as security, guest-friendly access, and company branding.
Property managers, on the other hand, look for ways to provide these features competitively to tenants while also maximizing operational efficiency. By breaking down each space and identifying the needs of different user types, we can create a master system tailored to each target user group. This system integrates the essential devices needed to deliver the optimal experience in that space. That’s our approach to defining and building a smart city.
