Umer Kamran
Life & Safety | AI Surveillance
Client Overview
The NYC portfolio of a Fortune 100 global leader in the multi-sector real estate business, managing 23 premier commercial office assets spanning 22 million sq. ft. across New York City. metropolitan. These properties include Class A office towers, retail sections, tenant amenities, and high-traffic public spaces such as food courts. The client is committed to providing advanced, preventative physical security to protect tenants, employees, visitors, and retail patrons while maintaining a welcoming and safe environment.
Challenge
The client’s existing security operations relied on traditional surveillance rooms with guards monitoring hundreds of live CCTV feeds per building — a process that was reactive, prone to human error, and operationally expensive. Despite having 300–500 cameras per building, security coverage was limited by human attention span and response times.
Several factors elevated the urgency for change:
Rising Security Incidents: The portfolio faced increasing physical security events, from thefts to alterations.
Delayed Response & Gaps: Guards could miss early indicators of risk, leading to slower incident resolution.
Compliance & Insurance Pressure: Audits and insurance reviews demanded stronger risk mitigation and proactive monitoring.
Tenant Expectations: Corporate tenants required a safer, more secure environment as part of their lease value proposition.
Cost & Workforce Efficiency: Staffing large monitoring teams across multiple assets was costly and reduced the ability of guards to actively patrol and deter incidents.
The client needed a solution that would move from reactive monitoring to preemptive detection, enabling early intervention while optimizing labor costs and delivering measurable improvements in safety outcomes.
Solution
To address the gaps in coverage and responsiveness, we deployed an AI-powered computer vision threat detection platform across the client’s highest-risk assets. The initiative began with a 2-month proof of concept (PoC) to validate accuracy, operational fit, and ROI. After successfully demonstrating measurable improvements in early detection and response, we negotiated commercial and legal agreements and executed a full rollout across 18 of 23 assets over an 8-month period.
Key capabilities included:
Weapon Detection: AI identified concealed and brandished weapons in real time, triggering immediate alerts.
Slip, Trip, and Fall Monitoring: Automated detection of safety incidents to accelerate response and reduce liability.
Crowd Management: Monitoring for overcrowding, loitering, and unusual gatherings to mitigate risk before escalation.
Perimeter & Tampering Alerts: Real-time notifications for unauthorized access or physical alterations to property.
Behavioral Anomaly Detection: Continuous monitoring for abnormal movement patterns indicative of potential threats.
The solution was strategically deployed atop approximately 3,000 cameras selected for high-impact coverage. Each building received two high-definition processing servers to power real-time inference.
Results
The project transformed the client’s security posture from reactive monitoring to proactive risk mitigation, delivering measurable operational and safety benefits:
From Reactive to Preventative: Security operations shifted from passive monitoring to an intelligence-driven, preemptive model — allowing intervention before incidents fully materialized.
Enhanced Life Safety: Faster detection of threats and hazards improved response times, reducing risk for tenants, employees, and visitors across all 18 assets.
Workforce Optimization: Guards were redeployed from static monitoring to active patrols, improving visibility and deterrence while reducing overall monitoring costs.
Automated, Real-Time Alerts: AI-driven notifications drastically reduced missed events and human error, improving compliance and audit outcomes.
Insurance and Compliance Benefits: Strengthened risk posture helped in negotiations with insurers, supporting lower premiums and demonstrating adherence to safety standards.
In parallel, we retrained security personnel to focus on proactive patrols and tenant engagement rather than passive screen monitoring. This shift not only enhanced deterrence but also created measurable workforce efficiencies and elevated tenant trust in on-site security.