
With nearly 30 years in technology and engineering leadership, Ryan Kim has driven innovation in intelligent water solutions and smart home ecosystems. As Founder and CEO of Phyn, the market leader in intelligent water solutions for homes and businesses, he oversees the company’s vision, product roadmap, and strategic partnerships.
Before Phyn, Ryan spent over a decade at Belkin International as Global Vice President of Engineering, where he founded and led the development of the Wemo platform, one of the most recognized brands in the smart home category. Prior to that, he was Founder & CTO of Intelliverse, an intelligent IVR and automated voice services company serving Fortune 500 clients. An innovator in IoT, Ryan is the author of dozens of patents and continues to shape the future of connected water management.
With your extensive experience in the smart home industry, what inspired you to create Phyn?
Phyn was born out of a desire to address one of the most significant yet overlooked challenges in the smart home space: water management. Water systems are complex, and leaks often go undetected until they cause significant damage. Leveraging nearly a decade of research, we developed Phyn to provide homeowners with proactive leak detection and water conservation technology that not only protects their properties but also helps reduce water waste on a broader scale.
Can you tell us about Phyn for those who are not familiar?
Phyn is a leader in intelligent water solutions, offering a suite of smart products designed to help homeowners protect their properties from costly water damage while promoting water conservation. Our flagship product, the Phyn Plus Smart Water Assistant with Automatic Shutoff, uses advanced pressure sensing and AI technology to detect leaks, alert homeowners in real-time, and automatically shut off the water supply in the event of a significant leak, helping to prevent damage.
What customer pain points do you focus on addressing with Phyn products?
Phyn products focus on solving three critical pain points:
- Leak Detection & Prevention: Water damage is one of the most common and costly issues homeowners face. Phyn provides real-time alerts, and automatic shutoff with Phyn Plus to prevent damage.
- Water Conservation: By providing insights into water usage, Phyn helps homeowners make smarter decisions about their consumption to save money and the planet.
- Proactive Maintenance: Phyn’s daily plumbing checks monitor system integrity, identifying small leaks and potential pressure issues before they become costly problems.
Phyn recently announced a partnership with Nationwide, what role do you think insurance companies will play in the future of smart home adoption?
Insurance companies are playing a critical role in driving smart home adoption, particularly when it comes to proactive risk mitigation technologies like Phyn. By integrating our leak detection solutions into their policies, insurers can reduce claims from water damage while offering policyholders valuable tools for protecting their homes and helping them be more aware of how they are using water. There are additional cost savings as well. Phyn has partnered with a vast network of insurance partners which can help homeowners save upward of 20% on their insurance premiums.
Can you share any specific examples or early results from the partnership that highlight its success or impact on policyholders?
Early feedback from the partnership has been promising. Policyholders who have adopted Phyn products have reported increased confidence in their home protection, and our data shows that homes equipped with Phyn are 99% less likely to experience a non-weather-related water damage claim. This proactive approach not only protects homes but also results in cost savings for both policyholders and insurers.
What is Phyn’s mission? How do Phyn’s products contribute to water conservation and broader environmental goals?
Phyn’s mission is to empower people to protect their homes, save money and conserve water through smarter water management. Our technology provides near real-time, actionable insights such as early leak detection with automatic shutoff and water usage patterns that helps prevent costly damage to the property, unnecessary water waste and optimizes consumption. By helping homeowners, businesses and even municipalities quickly identify and resolve problems—from costly pipe bursts to everyday waste—we help homeowners, insurance companies, utilities and communities reduce costs, conserve water and promote more sustainable water management practices.
What role does AI play in Phyn’s products, and how do you see that evolving as technology advances?
AI plays a foundational role in Phyn’s products. Our patented AI technology, refined over a decade, analyzes tiny fluctuations in water pressure 240 times per second to distinguish normal water usage from leaks. This precision is powered by an unparalleled proprietary dataset, collected during the largest-ever pilot study of residential water use and leaks in North America. Over two billion water events, such as irrigation systems turning on, dishwashers running, and toilets flushing, were captured and used to train our machine learning algorithms to recognize the unique signatures of leaks versus normal usage. Distinguishing between potential leaks vs intended usage and minimizing false alerts is key to enhancing user experience and growing engagement. Phyn’s massive dataset and AI platform help us do that accurately and reliably.
As technology advances, we envision AI becoming even more precise, offering enhanced diagnostics, deeper insights into water usage patterns, and further reducing false alarms while providing even more insightful intelligence to further enhance the value of the smart home.
Your footprint also includes Australia. Is it challenging to scale globally considering different regulations, climates, and plumbing infrastructure?
Expanding globally does present challenges due to varying plumbing standards and regulatory frameworks. However, our technology’s adaptability and rigorous testing have enabled us to successfully rollout in regions like Australia. Our partnership with Iplex in Western Australia, where we provide leak detection technology for homes with specific plumbing issues, is a great example of how we tailor our solutions to meet regional needs.
What’s next on the horizon for Phyn in 2025?
In 2025, Phyn will continue to expand its partnerships with both insurance providers and local municipalities, making proactive leak detection technology more accessible to homeowners worldwide. We’re also focusing on product innovation, including enhancements to our AI algorithms and the development of new smart water solutions tailored for a wider range of homes and property types. Our goal is to continue empowering homeowners to protect their properties while contributing to global water sustainability efforts.