The Tech Blog Writer Podcast - Inspired Tech Startup Stories & Interviews With Tech Leaders, Entrepreneurs And Innovators

How can technology revolutionize road safety for the 1.5 billion drivers on the road today? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I speak with Hari Balakrishnan and Bill Powers, co-founders of Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT), the world’s largest telematics service provider. Their unique partnership—blending Hari’s engineering genius, honored with the 2023 Marconi Prize, and Bill’s entrepreneurial prowess as an “atypical tech CEO”—has built a unicorn company dedicated to making roads safer. We explore how CMT’s AI-driven platform, DriveWell®, leverages sensor data from IoT devices like smartphones, dashcams, and connected vehicles to provide a unified view of driver behavior. By collaborating with insurers, automakers, and the public sector, CMT not only assesses risk but actively incentivizes safer driving behaviors, reducing crash rates by up to 20% with some partners. Hari and Bill also delve into the challenges of addressing "phone distraction," which contributes to nearly a third of crashes, and the para