The security technology landscape is experiencing a significant shift as property owners and managers increasingly seek solutions that go beyond passive monitoring to active crime intervention. This change reflects growing tenant expectations and liability concerns, particularly in multi-tenant residential properties where security has become a top-three decision factor alongside price and amenities.
Deep Sentinel, an AI-powered security company, represents this new approach by combining artificial intelligence with human intervention to actively stop crimes in progress. The company recently announced its Series B funding round and launched SentinelNow, a guards-on-demand service that extends their intervention model beyond traditional property monitoring.
“What Deep Sentinel does that is unique in this space of physical security is we use technology to intervene in crime early,” explains David Selinger, Co-founder and CEO of Deep Sentinel. “There’s lots of technology solutions like cameras and alarms. They don’t actually intervene. They don’t take an active step in stopping crime.”
The Technology Behind Active Intervention
The company’s approach centers on what Selinger calls the integration of AI into existing workflows rather than treating artificial intelligence as a standalone feature. Their system places AI at the edge of each property through a local hub that analyzes camera feeds continuously. When anomalous activity is detected, the system escalates to live guards who can intervene through two-way audio, loudspeakers, and coordination with law enforcement.
“We use AI to drive up the quality of having a human being watching a video feed and simultaneously drive down the cost by hundreds of times,” Selinger notes. The AI continues providing real-time information to guards throughout each incident, including updates on changing conditions and assessments of potential false alarms.
This hybrid model addresses a critical gap in the security market. Traditional solutions often leave property owners choosing between expensive on-site guards or passive systems that merely document crimes after they occur. Deep Sentinel’s approach creates what Selinger describes as “the meaty middle”—a solution more effective than alarms but significantly less expensive than dedicated security personnel.
Market Demand Across Property Types
The company is seeing strong demand across three primary sectors. Retail properties, including parking lots and back-gate areas, represent a major growth area. Interestingly, dumpster security has emerged as a significant need, driven by both dumping issues and employee safety concerns about accessing waste areas after dark.
Multi-tenant residential properties constitute the second major vertical, where security expectations have fundamentally shifted. “Tenants increasingly state, ‘I will choose my next property based on three variables: price, security and amenities,’ and frequently in that order,” Selinger observes. This represents a notable change from the traditional priority of price, amenities, and more amenities.
The shift carries legal implications as well. The concept of “duty of care” in multi-tenant residential is evolving as more sophisticated security options become available. Property owners face increased liability exposure if they fail to implement reasonable security measures when cost-effective solutions exist.
The third major category encompasses parking lots and automotive-related businesses, including auto repair shops and dealerships. These properties often feature complex security needs with varying access requirements and mixed public-private spaces that traditional security approaches struggle to address effectively.
Scaling Human-AI Integration
Unlike many technology companies that aim to eliminate human involvement, Deep Sentinel maintains the human element as central to their value proposition. Selinger argues this approach reflects both the requirements of security and broader trends in AI implementation.
“In security, if you look at the history of technology and security, the 1,000-year history, you start off with walls, and you have defensive technology, and then we figure out battering rams,” he explains. “The one thing that has been consistent and consistently effective throughout history is having a human being engage with you and say, ‘Hey, what are you doing? I need you to leave.’”
The company currently stops over 3,000 crimes monthly across approximately 7,000-8,000 customers, publishing many of these interventions on their YouTube channel. This documentation serves both marketing and educational purposes, demonstrating the effectiveness of active intervention versus passive monitoring.
Industry Evolution and Market Positioning
Selinger’s perspective on AI integration reflects broader industry trends toward embedding artificial intelligence into existing workflows. His background includes founding Redfin and Rich Relevance, plus early work at Amazon building their first AI-focused team.
“I think broadly the market needs tools that integrate AI into a value chain, and AI existing as a horizontal or as a feature is only useful for so long,” he notes. “Until people get tired of it, and then they start thinking about, ‘How do I integrate it into that workflow?’”
This philosophy extends to Deep Sentinel’s newest offering, SentinelNow, which provides guards-on-demand services for immediate security concerns. The service targets situations where employees or property managers need immediate backup, such as retail workers dealing with known repeat offenders.
Future Market Implications
With recent funding secured, Deep Sentinel focuses on market education and awareness rather than just customer acquisition. Selinger believes most people remain unaware that AI-powered intervention services exist as an option between basic alarms and expensive guard services.
“I think if you walked out on the street and said, ‘Hey, what are the options for actually providing security for you, your family, your business,’ I don’t think they would ever think of having a remote video guard that uses AI to protect them,” he explains.
This awareness challenge represents both an opportunity and a strategic focus. The company has developed what Selinger describes as “the AWS of security,” a service-based model where customers can clearly understand what they’re purchasing and scale services up or down based on needs.
The approach addresses frustrations with traditional security services, where quality depends heavily on individual guard performance and consistency remains problematic. By standardizing service delivery through AI-human integration, Deep Sentinel aims to provide predictable outcomes at transparent pricing.
Looking Forward
As property crime concerns continue rising across various real estate sectors, the demand for effective intervention-based security solutions is likely to grow. The combination of tenant expectations, liability concerns, and cost pressures creates a favorable environment for hybrid AI-human security models.
For real estate professionals, the evolution represents both an opportunity to differentiate properties and a potential necessity for meeting tenant expectations and legal obligations. As Selinger notes, the threshold for duty of care continues evolving as more sophisticated, cost-effective security options become available.
