The Inside Track - An HID Podcast

Mobile access has reached an interesting point. For many organizations, the question is no longer “Should we move to mobile?” It’s “How do we actually make it work at scale?”

Recorded at GSX 2026 in Atlanta, I sat down with Matt Bennett, SVP of Digital Transformation at Alert Enterprise, for a conversation about what happens after an organization decides to deploy mobile access.

We dig into one of the industry’s biggest challenges: moving beyond the pilot and actually driving adoption across thousands of users. That means treating mobile access as more than a credential technology. Successful deployments require communication, change management, internal champions, launch planning and a clear explanation of why the organization is making the change. 

We also challenge the traditional cost comparison between a plastic badge and a mobile credential. The better question may be: What does your entire badge issuance program actually cost? Once you account for printing, distribution, temporary badges, lifecycle management and all the manual work surrounding a physical credential, the economics start looking very different. 

And ultimately, that’s where the real value of mobile may be found. The tap at the door is easy to see. The bigger transformation is everything happening behind it: turning credential issuance into a digital workflow connected to the identity lifecycle. 

Matt and I discuss:

• Why mobile adoption is fundamentally a change-management challenge
• How organizations can move from a small pilot to enterprise-wide adoption
• Why the phone itself may be the least interesting part of mobile access
• How to think differently about the economics of mobile credentials
• The hidden operational cost of temporary and replacement badges
• Why legacy hardware doesn’t necessarily make mobile an all-or-nothing project
• How organizations can approach mobile as a practical, multi-year migration rather than trying to “boil the ocean” 

If your organization is already discussing mobile access, this conversation is less about why you should consider it and much more about how to get there successfully.

Featuring:
Phil Coppola, PSP | Mobile Evangelist, HID
Matt Bennett | SVP, Digital Transformation, Alert Enterprise

Disclosure: This content was produced by me, in my capacity as an HID Employee.  I am also a board-certified PSP (Physical Security Professional) by the ASIS International Organization.

Is Mobile Access really just replacing a plastic badge with a phone?

If all you’re looking at is what happens at the door, it can certainly seem that way. You present a credential, the reader recognizes it, and the door opens.

But that’s probably the least interesting part of Mobile Access.

In this episode, Phil Coppola, PSP, Mobile Evangelist at HID, looks beyond the tap at the reader to explore the bigger opportunity behind mobile: automating credential provisioning, connecting physical access with enterprise identity systems, applying modern cybersecurity and Zero Trust principles, reducing the administrative burden of traditional badging, and using mobile as a catalyst to modernize legacy access control infrastructure.

Phil also tackles one of the most common misconceptions about Mobile Access: going mobile doesn’t mean eliminating physical ID badges. Instead, organizations can separate the visual identification function of the badge from the electronic key used to access the building, allowing them to transition at their own pace.

The real question isn’t whether your plastic badges still work.

It’s whether you would design your credential program the same way if you were starting from scratch today.

Because Mobile Access isn’t simply a credential project. It’s a digital transformation project.

Disclosure: This content was produced by me, in my capacity as an HID Employee.  I am also a board-certified PSP (Physical Security Professional) by the ASIS International Organization.

In this episode, Xander, Jeremy and I talk about what it really means to become an evangelist in your industry. It is not about having the loudest voice, the slickest pitch, or the best product demo. It starts with understanding the foundation deeply enough that you can make complicated ideas easier for other people to understand.

Using our experience in physical security as the backdrop, we break down why evangelism is really about teaching, translating, telling the truth about trade-offs, and helping people make better decisions. Whether you are in security, technology, sales, or any field where you want to become a trusted voice, this conversation is about building credibility by making other people smarter.

In this episode of The Inside Track, Phil Coppola sits down with Xander Alexander from SecuriTEA for a practical conversation about mobile access, identity, and the changing role of physical security in the enterprise.

Mobile access is often introduced as a convenience story. Tap your phone. Tap your watch. Open the door. But the bigger conversation is about identity, trust, and how physical security can align with the same security models already being used across IT and cybersecurity.

Phil and Xander explore why the traditional plastic badge is largely a possession-based model. A card can show that someone has something, but it does not necessarily prove they are the person authorized to use it. Mobile credentials create an opportunity to move beyond simple possession by connecting access to a validated user identity, a trusted device, and enterprise authentication methods such as single sign-on and multi-factor authentication.

The conversation also digs into one of the most important areas of mobile access security: provisioning. Once a credential is securely issued to a phone, it can be extremely strong. But how that credential gets to the right person matters. Invitation codes, email-based enrollment, SSO, MFA, automated provisioning, device trust, and lifecycle management all play a role in building a stronger credentialing model.

Phil and Xander also discuss the convergence of physical security, IT, OT, and cybersecurity, and why security teams can no longer afford to operate in silos. As threats evolve, access control leaders need to think differently about how credentials are issued, managed, revoked, and governed.

If your organization is evaluating mobile access, planning a migration away from physical cards, or trying to better align physical security with enterprise identity strategy, this episode offers a grounded look at the risks, misconceptions, and best practices that should shape the conversation.

Topics include:

Mobile credentials versus physical cards
Identity validation and device trust
Why possession is not the same as identity
Secure credential provisioning
SSO and MFA for physical access
Visitor badge and lost card risk
Automated provisioning and lifecycle management
Revocation and governance
Convergence between IT, OT, cyber, and physical security
Why mobile access is more than convenience

At the Genetec End User Summit, the most valuable conversations were not about any single product or platform, but about the broader direction of physical security. The event highlighted how modernization is becoming less about technology refreshes and more about building connected, identity-aware operating models. Key themes included the importance of peer-to-peer learning, clean data, interoperability, AI governance, and the growing connection between access control, digital identity, IT, and workplace experience.

Physical security is entering a more demanding and more strategic era. AI, cloud, mobile credentials, and integrations all have a role to play, but their value depends on strong fundamentals: clear ownership, reliable data, disciplined governance, and practical use cases. Ultimately, the future of physical security is not one product, platform, or trend. It is a more connected operating model where identity, data, automation, and user experience all play a larger role.

What does it really mean to manage identity in a modern enterprise—and why is access control no longer just about doors?

In this episode, I sit down with Carter Kennedy and Farhan Massoud of Soloinsight to unpack the evolution of physical identity and access management through their CloudGate platform. We explore how organizations are moving beyond fragmented systems toward fully orchestrated identity workflows that connect physical and digital environments.

From mobile credentials and zero trust strategies to AI-driven risk detection and identity “cleansing,” this conversation dives into how automation is transforming security operations at scale. We also tackle the growing convergence of IT and physical security—and why insider threat, compliance, and user experience are now driving forces behind access control decisions.

If you’re still thinking about access control as a card and a reader, this episode will challenge that mindset. Because the future isn’t just about opening doors—it’s about understanding identity across the entire journey, from onboarding to offboarding and everything in between.

Sharry is a Prague-based workplace experience and access platform deployed in Class A office buildings worldwide. Sharry provides mobile access, employee badges in Apple and Google Wallet, visitor management, parking integrations, and tenant engagement tools. They are known for the 'street-to-suite' concept, aiming to unify the entire building journey.

Josef Šachta is the CEO and co-founder of Sharry. His background includes law and journalism, as well as founding CityBee, a portal focused on connecting people with experiences in their city. This earlier work strongly influenced his approach—prioritizing human experience and emotion in how people interact with buildings.

Sharry fits the Founders series because Josef brings a human-centered digital storytelling perspective to a highly technical field. Sharry’s global deployments with wallet-based credentials also reflect where the market is headed.

Smart Spaces is a London-based workplace experience and smart-building platform that connects people to their buildings via a single app. The platform unifies mobile access, desk and room booking, energy and lighting control, tenant engagement, and building communications. Smart Spaces frequently operates in Class A office environments and high-profile developments, positioning its solution as a layer that turns traditional buildings into intuitive, digitally orchestrated workplaces.

Brothers Dan and Tom Drogman co-founded Smart Spaces. They come from a background in enterprise software and digital solutions for the built environment. Rather than starting from traditional hardware or PACS, they approached buildings from a user experience and app-design perspective. Their motivation has consistently been to make complex building systems—access control, HVAC, lighting—feel as simple and seamless as using a modern mobile app.

Accessgrid.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/austonbunsen/

***Company Overview***

AccessGrid is a startup focused on modernizing access control through a wallet-first, API-only platform. Their goal is to make issuing and managing mobile and wallet-native credentials as simple as calling modern web
APIs. The company supports integrating with existing hardware when possible but primarily targets developers and product teams who want to embed access capabilities directly into applications and workflows.

***Founder / Executive Profile***

Auston Bunsen is the co-founder and CEO of AccessGrid. Before AccessGrid, he co-founded QuickNode, a major blockchain developer platform. His background is deeply rooted in infrastructure-as-a-service,
developer tooling, and modern API ecosystems. He entered the access control industry after observing how outdated, fragmented, and opaque it was—particularly compared to the developer-first approach common in 
modern SaaS.

***Why They Fit the Series***

AccessGrid is the most disruptive entrant in your lineup. Auston brings an outsider perspective and a developer-centric philosophy that challenges traditional pricing, integration patterns, and channel structures.
They embody a new model where physical access becomes programmable infrastructure, not specialized hardware.

***Key Angles & Themes***

• Why an API and developer-tools founder chose access control.
• Rationale behind an API-only, wallet-first architecture.
• The impact of transparent pricing (e.g., $500/month + per-credential fees).
• How AccessGrid views the future of integrators, OEMs, and PACS vendors.
• What constitutes a 'modern' access platform vs. legacy baggage.
Potential Controversies / Hot Takes
• Transparent pricing disrupting traditional channel negotiations.
• Limitations of an API-only model for customers who want turnkey hardware.
• Whether wallet-native credentials can realistically replace physical cards in all use cases.

Music:

Track 1255029 – RF3LM2DJL0AYH32S

In Episode 2 we sit down with Thru Shivakumar, Founder of Cohesion, an Intelligent Building platform provider changing the face of the modern workplace.

cohesionib.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/thrushivakumar/

**Company Overview**

Cohesion is a Chicago-based smart building and workplace experience company offering a unified platform for building operations, access control integrations, tenant engagement, and advanced analytics. Its solutions merge physical systems—access control, HVAC, elevators, sensors—with AI-driven data insights to create responsive, efficient, and human-centered buildings.

**Founder / Executive Profile**

**Thru Shivakumar** is the CEO and co-founder of Cohesion. She brings a background in engineering and leadership roles across the building and technology industries. Thru focuses on using data and intelligence to drive better operational and security decisions while ensuring the occupant experience remains central.

 **Why They Fit the Series**

Cohesion fits the series because it demonstrates how data and AI are reshaping physical security and access control. Instead of simply issuing credentials, Cohesion leverages access and building data to inform space planning, strengthen security posture, and optimize overall building performance.

 **Key Angles & Themes**

* How AI and analytics enhance traditional access control systems
* Using access data to inform staffing levels and security patrol strategies
* The convergence of ESG, operations, and security objectives
* How Cohesion integrates with existing PACS and building systems
* What metrics matter most to owners, operators, and security leaders

Music:

Track 1255029 – RF3LM2DJL0AYH32S