An HS Daily Wire Q&A with IBG's co-founder Raj Nanavati

Arkansas, for example, might not have a big budget but with this program have the same access to us that the Department of Defense, or the World Bank, or a large corporation would have. We are proud to support programs of that kind because of how extremely beneficial they are to smaller agencies. And, then, there are a great many other programs going on within DHS and DoD, and all the other agencies, that hold a great deal of interest for us.

Daily Wire: Has any project you’ve undertaken ever caused you to just throw up your hands and admit defeat?

Nanavati: No. We’re very familiar with the government procurement process, including requirements generation, RFP authorship, and contractor selection. Even so, sometimes there are glitches. But that’s normal. That is why we have 4 advanced technology labs and many of the premier biometric engineers in the world.

In terms of technology, we’re very careful to tell a client if there’s something we can’t do. If someone comes in and asks us how to mount a face camera onto a satellite, we’ll tell them that’s not our area of expertise. We can analyze images of data for them. We can provide guidance on how face recognition works at a distance. But we probably have worked with companies that have done what the client is looking for and we would be happy to put them in touch with the appropriate people at these organizations. Over the years we have developed positive relationships with, and worked with, Raytheon, Boeing, and Lockheed, for example, as well as many other systems integrators who (given their size) might have a non-biometric capability that we do not. And together, given our existing relationships, we are able to meet whatever needs a client might have. We have parallel lines of expertise that we can activate.

Because we have so much in-depth expertise in biometrics, we have what might be called the luxury of being able to tell a client, you know what, this isn’t our area. So, in our twelve years, we’ve never gotten into a situation where we’re beyond our capabilities. We’ve stretched a bit, when something entirely new comes up. That’s not only natural, it’s desirable. But something beyond us, that caused us to throw up our hands? No.

Daily Wire: You’ve come a long way in scarcely more than a decade. What is the major factor in your success?

Nanavati: A