Wiliot Named to Fast Company’s Third Annual List of the Next Big Things in Tech

Wiliot Named to Fast Company’s Third Annual List of the Next Big Things in Tech

The list recognizes tech breakthroughs across industries that promise to transform the future.

San Diego, CALIFORNIA, November 28, 2023 — Wiliot, the Internet of Things pioneer whose IoT platform is enabling trillions of “things” to gain intelligence, today announced that its ambient IoT Pixels and Visibility Platform have has been named to Fast Company’s third annual Next Big Things in Tech list. The esteemed award program honors the technology breakthroughs that promise to shape the future of industries—from healthcare and security to artificial intelligence and data.

The Wiliot ambient IoT Visibility Platform, which is currently found inside the supply chains of many of the world’s largest companies, was recognized for its ability to connect the digital and physical worlds using its IoT Pixels – stamp-sized, self-powered compute devices that cost pennies.

These IoT Pixels can attach to any “thing” to connect it to the internet; not just expensive things like cars, appliances, shipping containers, and crates, but the things inside them: fruits, veggies, vaccine vials, clothes, airplane parts, and just about everything else.

Once connected, products transmit real-time, case and item-level information about their location, temperature, humidity, and carbon footprint – equipping some of the world’s largest companies with the data they need to make more profitable, sustainably-minded decisions that increase revenue, improve safety, and create a more livable planet.

The ambient IoT will also act as the extended nervous system for artificial intelligence, enabling businesses to communicate with trillions of Wiliot-connected products through generative AI platforms from OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and others to come.

Integrating ambient IoT and generative AI goes beyond just passive supply chain visibility, enabling business leaders to take action to address supply chain issues, such as fixing bottlenecks; taking action when vegetable containers are above their temperature thresholds; and reducing the carbon footprint of a specific product line in real time.

“The ambient IoT represents an evolution of the traditional Internet of Things that brings connectivity and product intelligence from large, expensive things to almost everything,” stated Steve Statler, Wiliot’s CMO. “By embedding item-level intelligence into trillions of things, and connecting these products through generative AI platforms, businesses are equipped with the real-time data they need to solve many of their most pressing challenges. Wiliot’s benefits are broad and deep: we create more efficient, response supply chains, reduce their carbon emissions, enhance food and medicine safety, and so much more.”

This year, 119 technologies developed by established companies, startups, or research teams are highlighted for their cutting-edge advancements and potential to impact consumers, businesses, and society overall. While not all the technological developments are available in the market yet, each one is reaching key milestones to have a proven impact in the next five years.

“Fast Company, and its Next Big Thing in Tech Awards, have a prescient ability to smartly identify the technologies and innovations that are poised to positively impact the world,” continued Statler. “We’re honored to have our ambient IoT Pixels and Visibility Platform recognized by Fast Company and we are committed to living up to their decision in 2024 and beyond.”

Wiliot is now working with many of the world’s largest retail, apparel, food & beverage, healthcare, and postage carriers. To deliver on these massive orders, Wiliot has partnered with leading smart tag manufacturers – Avery Dennison, Identiv, and Tadbik – to enable Wiliot to scale to meet this exploding demand.

Wiliot has been recognized by many of the world’s most prestigious organizations with various awards – including a TIME Best Invention Award, issued by TIME; a VIP Award, issued by NRF; a GLOMO Award, issued by MWC; a Cool Vendor Award, issued by Gartner; and now a Next Big Thing in Tech Award, issued by Fast Company.

“The Next Big Things in Tech is not just a look around the corner—it's a look around the corner after that,” said Brendan Vaughan, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. “These are the products and ideas that will define technological innovation for the rest of this decade and beyond—and solve some of the world's most pressing issues. We are thrilled to honor the organizations that are making them a reality.”

Click here to see the final list of Fast Company Next Big Things in Tech honorees. The Winter 2023/2024 issue of Fast Company is available online now and will hit newsstands on December 5.

For more information on Wiliot, click here. For hi-res photography, click here.

About Fast Company

Fast Company is the only media brand fully dedicated to the vital intersection of business, innovation, and design, engaging the most influential leaders, companies, and thinkers on the future of business. The editor-in-chief is Brendan Vaughan. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with our sister publication, Inc., and can be found online at fastcompany.com.

About Wiliot:

Wiliot is an ambient IoT data carrier platform company. Our Visibility Platform connects the digital and physical worlds using IoT Pixels, battery-free smart tags that push data to the cloud in real-time without human intervention. Our platform exists within a fast-growing ambient IoT ecosystem. We have partners in that ecosystem that provide applications, tags, and edge devices.

Ambient IoT is an evolution of legacy IoT and RFID technologies with lower costs, end-to-end privacy and security, and the addition of new intelligence and sensing capabilities. It’s on a path to scaling to trillions thanks to telecommunications standards – Bluetooth, 5G Advanced, and 802.11 AMP.

Our mission is to make every single thing an agent of change, enabling ambient IoT by adding intelligence and automation to food, apparel, packaging, pharmaceuticals, and other products.

Connecting new categories of things through AI and the internet is transforming manufacturing, distribution, and product use to deliver on our vision: a minimum waste, full trust, perfectly timed world where people, profits, and the planet are aligned.

Visit www.wiliot.com to learn more.