The Sensirion – AiSight teammate exchange

AiSight team members are also Sensirion team members. So, besides all the benefits of working at AiSight, our team members can benefit from the AiSight – Sensirion exchange—a unique learning opportunity designed to enhance cooperation and integration between our teams. This article is a look at individual exchanges and the cultural compatibilities between Sensirion and AiSight that make them so productive. In a future article, we'll look at our exchange workshops, with a deeper look at AiSight-Sensirion synergies.

One year ago, AiSight reached a major milestone: we were acquired Sensirion. To nurture the integration of our two companies, we've launched the Sensirion – AiSight exchange; a two-way transfer of knowledge and skill between Sensirion, AiSight, and our partners at Sensirion Connected Solutions (SCS). This gives members of all teams the chance to work in new environments, visit new cities, connect our teams, learn, teach, and grow.

Before we get into how that works, here's some background.

Who is Sensirion? Why did AiSight and Sensirion join forces?

Sensirion is a global leader in sensor production. Founded in 1998, the company is headquartered in Stäfa, Switzerland. In 2021, they produced their billionth sensor—and they continue to produce tens of millions of sensors annually.

Today, Sensirion Holdings has subsidiaries at home in Switzerland and all over the world—in South Korea, Taiwan, USA, Japan, China, and here in Germany. They produce a range of sensors for monitoring everything from flow rate to temperature: moisture, VOCs, CO2, particulates, you name it. They even develop custom sensors for industries from medicine to automotives.

They are absolute experts in sensor development. It's only natural that we would want to work with them.

Why AiSight and Sensirion teamed up

One year ago, AiSight was three years deep in developing our predictive maintenance solution—and we'd done it! We had a working product; we were getting our solution into factories and preventing unplanned downtime. This was great!

But we wouldn't have gotten that far without a lot of support. And the truth was, we needed more. Starting up and scaling a startup are two different tasks with different sets of challenges. To grow, we needed the guidance and support of an ally who had already been there—and could help put us over.

Sensirion was just the friend we needed.

“Together with Sensirion, we cover the whole value chain, from sensors to complete machine diagnostics solutions, and thereby greatly enhance the value of our products.” -Matthias Auf der Mauer, co-founder and CEO of AiSight.

Cultural compatibility at AiSight and Sensirion

Going into the acquisition, it was clear that Sensirion and AiSight were a fit. Each brought complementary strengths to the relationship. Furthermore, Sensirion and AiSight have compatible values, allowing us to leverage their support while maintaining our nimble startup qualities.

Working together has been a rewarding process that continues to produce mutual benefit. The AiSight – Sensirion exchange is how we facilitate cross-team collaboration: AiSight colleagues spend time at Sensirion, and vice versa.

Integration through exchange

AiSight-Sensirion integration doesn't entail one-way traffic—we both stand to learn from our relationship. Immediately after the acquisition, we began working on the AiSight – Sensirion exchange program. Each AiSight team member would have the chance to spend time working directly with Sensirion at their office in Stäfa. In return, our doors would be open for Sensirion team members to experience life in Berlin at AiSight!

How the Sensirion – AiSight exchange works

We launched the exchange program in April, 2022, when Caroline left AiSight for two weeks at Sensirion's office in Switzerland. As the first exchangee, she was something of a guinea pig! But her experience at Sensirion was overwhelmingly positive, and representative of the interchange and flexibility we want from exchange.

As a member of our technical sales team, Caroline’s mission was to swap ideas with Sensirion colleagues, build a relationship with SCS sales teams, and dive into Sensirion's sales process. On top of accomplishing those goals, she got a first-hand look at how sensors are made on Sensirion’s production line, met four applicants for AiSight internship positions, and had a great time in Switzerland!

“A larger company can be as young and dynamic as a startup like us!”

-Caroline Dick, technical sales, AiSight

Since then, Frances and Mariana from our HR team have also visited Sensirion, discussing topics from employer branding to onboarding. Meanwhile, we’ve welcomed Sensirion and SCS team members to AiSight, opening our doors to two-way learning in both Berlin and Zurich offices.

Exchange is rewarding

The first exchangee to AiSight from Sensirion came in June. Salomon Diether, an R&D engineer, already knew AiSight—he worked closely with us during the acquisition. As an eight-year veteran with Sensirion, his expertise and experience were valuable both then and on exchange. And he still learned on exchange! In particular, he valued getting to know everyone AiSight-side with whom he could collaborate.

As of October 2022, Kamil Bubak, the cloud product owner at our Sensirion Connected Solutions partner, Nubo Sphere, is on exchange at AiSight. His presence is connecting Sensirion subsidiaries, giving him an overview of how AiSight operates—with valuable insight for Nubo Sphere. Plus, this is a chance for him to share what he and Nubo Sphere are doing!

“I really enjoy my time here, it is very important to me that I had a chance to meet people here, sit next to each other and work, learning more and more about the culture as well as different topics you are working on.” -Kamil Bubak, cloud product owner, SCS

Exchange is fun!

Since coming to AiSight in September, Kamil has fit right in! He immediately found the AiSight team open and friendly, and loves that our office is centered around an open kitchen, allowing all team members to meet as we circulate.

Salomon also had a great time on his three-day, joint-innovation project at AiSight. He enjoyed reconnecting with the team and taking in our fun spirit—both around the office and on spontaneous evening outings.

"I love the startup culture of "just do it" - not only talking about an idea, but spontaneously checking with colleagues, personal networks, and customers. Looking forward to my next project and table football match with the AiSight crew!" - Salomon Diether, R&D engineer, Sensirion

Finally, Caroline had such a great time at Sensirion that she's since started working there permanently!

Group exchanges and further integration

We’ve also organized group exchange workshops. These bring entire teams together for big learning opportunities—plus opportunities for travel to a different city.

We’ll take a deeper look at group exchanges—plus the synergies that make them so fruitful—in a future article.

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