Akshita Iyer, Founder and CEO of Ome, is a neuroscience graduate from Duke College whose entrepreneurial path was sparked by a private expertise with a kitchen fireplace. This pivotal second led to the creation of Ome, an organization targeted on reimagining the cooking expertise by way of sensible residence innovation. Beneath her management, Ome launched the patented Good Knob, an answer designed to make kitchens safer and extra automated. Iyer additionally serves on the UL 858 Technical Committee, the place she works alongside trade specialists to uphold security requirements for family home equipment.
Ome is the world’s first Good Knob that replaces your range knobs so as to add real-time distant management, computerized shut-off, and voice integration—making cooking safer and stress-free. Appropriate with most fuel and electrical stoves, Ome helps stop kitchen fires and presents hands-free management with out requiring a subscription.
Are you able to inform us a bit about your private journey from neuroscience at Duke to changing into the founding father of a sensible residence tech firm?
Actually, I by no means anticipated to finish up within the kitchen equipment house. I studied neuroscience at Duke with plans to go to med college. After commencement, I labored at a hospital to realize expertise, however throughout that point, I received hooked on Shark Tank. I used to be fascinated — not simply by the merchandise, however by the folks. So lots of them weren’t conventional entrepreneurs. They have been simply common folks fixing private issues. That basically caught with me.
Then one thing occurred in my own residence: my mother, who was recognized with Parkinson’s, by accident left the range on and began a kitchen fireplace. Fortunately nobody was harm, but it surely was a wake-up name. I began trying to find an answer and assumed one thing easy already existed to unravel this — however I shortly realized how antiquated and underserved the kitchen house is.
Each different a part of the house had gotten smarter — sensible thermostats, locks, lights — however the range, arguably essentially the most harmful equipment in the home, had been left behind.
That’s when all the things clicked. If there have been retrofit options for doorbells and thermostats, why not the range? I didn’t have a tech background, however I couldn’t shake the thought and thought, “how onerous may or not it’s?” (Spoiler: fairly onerous.) However I dove in anyway — and that’s how Ome was born.
What have been the largest challenges you confronted within the early days of constructing Ome, and the way did you overcome them?
Switching from neuroscience and a med college observe to founding a tech firm was an enormous leap. I used to be a first-time entrepreneur, figuring all the things out as I went. One of many greatest early hurdles was studying learn how to increase capital. I had no expertise within the startup world, and initially I assumed having a robust thought and a compelling product can be sufficient. I shortly discovered that wasn’t the case. I needed to learn to pitch, who to pitch to, and learn how to tailor the message.
For instance, I bear in mind pitching to an investor whose thesis was to spend money on B2B SaaS startups — retrospectively, utterly the incorrect match — and his confusion was palpable. That taught me early on that I wanted to do my homework and perceive not simply learn how to inform our story, however who I used to be telling it to. Fundraising turned as a lot about psychology and technique because it was in regards to the product.
After which the pandemic hit. Our provide chain got here to a standstill. We couldn’t get parts, manufacturing slowed, and we had early supporters ready for a product we couldn’t ship on time. That was a defining second for us. We received actually trustworthy with our clients — transparency turned our north star. Internally, we arrange a conflict room, re-evaluated suppliers, and located various options to get manufacturing again on observe, even at restricted capability.
Trying again, these challenges formed the resilience of our firm. We discovered to adapt quick, talk clearly, and remedy one drawback at a time. And that mindset nonetheless drives how we function right this moment.
Are you able to give us a fast breakdown of how the Ome Good Knob works and what makes it distinctive within the sensible kitchen house?
Ome is the world’s first Good Range Knob designed to make cooking safer, simpler, and extra intuitive. It’s the one retrofit gadget that replaces your present range knobs and may be put in in simply minutes on nearly all fuel or electrical stovetops and ranges. As soon as put in, it turns your range into a sensible equipment which you can monitor and management in real-time, from wherever.
What units Ome aside is that it tackles one of the missed issues within the sensible residence: unattended, distracted cooking, which is the main reason behind home fires. Our expertise presents options like computerized shut-off in case of absence, security locks, built-in timers, and hands-free voice management through Amazon Alexa — giving customers peace of thoughts each time they cook dinner.
However we’re not simply constructing a safer range. Our imaginative and prescient is to create a completely linked kitchen — integrating auxiliary sensors, sensible recipe content material, and even grocery supply to streamline and simplify your entire cooking expertise.
What additionally makes Ome distinctive is our affect past particular person households. Our platform features a centralized dashboard that permits property managers in multi-unit buildings — like dorms, condos, and senior dwelling communities — to observe range exercise remotely and proactively stop hazards. It’s not nearly client comfort; it’s about public security, particularly in environments the place a single incident can have an effect on many lives.
Whereas lots of sensible kitchen devices add to counter muddle or solely supply area of interest options, Ome delivers one thing that’s each important and seamless — a better, safer, and extra intuitive kitchen, beginning with essentially the most used cooking equipment.
You’ve described your view of AI within the residence as “ambient intelligence” reasonably than app-centric. What does that imply in apply, and why is it necessary?
To me, ambient intelligence means tech that blends into your life — quietly working within the background, studying out of your conduct, and stepping in solely when wanted. Most sensible residence merchandise right this moment are very app-driven. It’s important to open an app, press a button, regulate settings. That’s probably not sensible — it’s simply distant management with further steps.
With Ome, we need to flip that script and pave the trail towards a future the place your private home anticipates dangers and takes motion earlier than you even discover an issue. Think about a range that shuts off if left on too lengthy, or detects patterns that may point out an issue, with out you lifting a finger. One of the best expertise doesn’t interrupt your life. It enhances it quietly, and retains you secure with out being intrusive.
The sensible residence market is full of flashy devices — how does Ome push again towards that novelty bias in favor of simplicity and belief?
We deliberately constructed one thing easy. The Ome Good Knob doesn’t attempt to be flashy. It appears to be like and feels just like the factor it replaces and that’s the purpose. It installs simply, works quietly, and provides actual worth.
In security, much less is extra. Individuals don’t need one other app to handle or a sophisticated interface. They need options that really feel pure, that simply work. They need peace of thoughts. We’ve heard so many customers say, “This simply is sensible.” That’s the form of suggestions we attempt for.
In your view, what does the trade get incorrect about what folks really need or want from sensible residence expertise?
I feel there’s an inclination to over-engineer — extra options, extra management, extra complexity. However most individuals simply need much less: much less friction, much less threat, much less stuff to handle.
Good properties ought to allow independence, not require fixed consideration. Particularly for older adults or busy households, expertise must be supportive, not worrying. That’s what we concentrate on: constructing tech that serves actual wants in intuitive methods.
You are a part of the UL 858 Technical Committee, serving to outline security requirements. How does that work affect your choices at Ome?
Being on the UL 858 Technical Committee has been extremely eye-opening. It’s one factor to develop new expertise. It’s one other to sit down on the desk the place security requirements are literally being written. UL 858 focuses on stopping hazards like unintentional activation and overheating in electrical ranges, and an enormous a part of that work is determining how security evolves as home equipment get smarter.
That perspective instantly shapes our strategy at Ome. We made a really deliberate choice that our Good Knob requires a handbook push-and-turn to activate — not as a result of it’s fashionable, however as a result of it aligns with a core security precept: intentional use. We don’t enable distant begin, as a result of whenever you’re coping with fireplace and fuel, there’s no room for ambiguity about person intent.
Being in these discussions — the place the results of a design choice are measured in lives and property — reinforces our dedication to real-world security over flashy options. It’s helped us keep clear on our priorities: constructing tech that’s not simply sensible, however secure by design, reliable by default, and all the time grounded within the realities of the house.
Why was it necessary so that you can create a retrofit resolution as an alternative of constructing a brand new sensible equipment from scratch?
From day one, accessibility and sustainability have been core to our mission and that’s precisely why we selected to construct a retrofit product.
Changing a complete range simply to make it sensible isn’t reasonable for most individuals. It’s costly, a serious buying choice, and usually isn’t needed until your equipment breaks otherwise you’re constructing a brand new home. We noticed a possibility to do one thing extra considerate: create an answer that works with what folks have already got. With Ome, upgrading your range takes minutes — no transforming, no steep studying curve, and no want to switch one thing that also works.
There’s additionally a deeper sustainability angle right here that’s usually missed. So many trendy home equipment are designed to get replaced — brief product cycles, software program that ages out shortly, parts that fail early. We’re pushing towards that pattern. By extending the lifetime of present home equipment, we’re lowering waste and providing a better various.
To us, innovation isn’t about ranging from scratch. It’s about rethinking what’s potential with what’s already in place to make properties safer, smarter, and extra sustainable within the course of.
How do you assume the broader sensible residence panorama will evolve within the subsequent 5 years, particularly by way of AI integration?
Over the following 5 years, I feel we’ll see a basic shift from “sensible” properties to really clever properties, and AI would be the driver of that change. But it surely gained’t appear like what we see right this moment. It gained’t be about extra screens or extra management panels. The longer term is ambient — quiet, contextual, and deeply intuitive.
AI will grow to be higher at studying how we dwell from our routines, preferences, and patterns of conduct. As a substitute of fixed notifications and handbook inputs, we’ll see methods that step in mechanically — adjusting, helping, and defending us in ways in which really feel invisible however significant. Consider a house that senses threat and responds immediately, with out ready for a command.
This shift can even redefine what “sensible” really means. Proper now, there’s a flood of linked gadgets that don’t add actual worth. Over time, I consider we’ll see the market right itself, transferring from gimmicks to purpose-driven innovation. Security, getting old in place, accessibility, and sustainability will grow to be the benchmarks that matter.
The businesses that thrive on this subsequent part gained’t be those chasing traits. They’ll be those quietly constructing belief, fixing actual ache factors, and creating tech that blends into the background however makes an actual distinction in on a regular basis life.
Thanks for the nice interview, readers who want to be taught extra ought to go to Ome.