Meet David Hailey | CEO, Founder Countifi

We had the good fortune of connecting with David Hailey and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi David, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Why I started Countifi is a question I get all the time! It amazes me because isn’t everyone interested in inventory and asset management, lol? I digress, I spent a number of years working in Big 4 accounting and consulting prior to changing industries and joining a major airline. Once there, I was surprised at the amount of time we spent discussing customer satisfaction and savings but we didn’t have a complete handle on some of the smallest items that were costing us a fortune in the long run. So often it’s the small things that companies don’t count that end up costing the most. I recognized that managing onboard inventory was a tremendous challenge for the entire airline industry. I developed Countifi to address this specific challenge. Most restaurants and bars know that the drinks are where they can make their bread and butter; inventory is always top of mind, and I thought it should be a priority for airlines also. Once we developed a solution for airlines, we realized, once trained, our computer vision and deep learning models can add efficiency to asset processes in a variety of industries, which is how we expanded into hospitals and universities.
Today we have team members in the US and Brazil and we have worked with companies in Spain, Ireland, United Arab Emirates, and the US.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Countifi uses computer vision and AI to help clients count inventory automatically helping companies reduce inventory, labor and add overall efficiency to the inventory/asset counting process. Using installed cameras or our mobile app, a Countifi customer takes a picture of the items they want to count and the Countifi platform counts the items automatically, returning an easy-to-understand dashboard that houses all needed information and recommendations.

What sets us apart – Countifi uses a very consultative approach to understanding our client’s inventory management processes. This is not a one size fits all platform. Our computer vision models and AI are specifically tailored to our client needs, most software companies do not offer this approach.

Was it easy? – No – starting a company is one of the most difficult things I have ever done. Leaving a consistent corporate job was not an easy decision. Starting a company is an extremely difficult and challenging process, from building a team to customer discovery to product market fit; there is a new challenge daily.

What do you want the world to know about your brand – The Countifi is a strong, enterprise-serving, international brand that is focused on fast growth and addressing customer needs directly. Through our experience, we have learned that every company with inventory has inventory issues, and Countifi was built to solve those issues.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Living in Atlanta, there is never a shortage of things to do, people to see and amazing restaurants to indulge in. Besides the normal areas in the city, here are several places that I would check out for sure. 1. Ms. Iceys Kitchen & Bar for brunch
2. Atlanta Beltline for hanging out and people watching
3. Apartment 4b for dinner and drinks

Starting with those three a free spirit and an imagination you are bound to have an amazing time.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Being a first-time black entrepreneur there are so many organizations and mentors that I would like to shout out.

Joey Womack and the Intentionally Good Community have built a very impactful and dynamic group of minority entrepreneurs that focus on scalability and tangible results.

Jay Bailey and the team at the Russell Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship have set up a full support system for entrepreneurs in the Atlanta area a beyond.

My immediate family including my parents, my wife and my two sons are a constant source of encouragement and motivation.

Website: https://www.countifi.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-hailey-3954a8162/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcWixmZmo7dyjf2PtZCo5Aw/videos