By Riley Kaminer
Has Face ID revolutionized your life as much as it has mine? If you’re anything like the average American, who checks their phone around once every four minutes, unlocking your phone with your face rather than a traditional PIN or password has likely saved you hours of time.
In many traditional corporate environments, workers are required to log out of their computer each and every time they step away from their desk. That requires them to then spend time typing in their password the second they sit back down in front of their computer.
These password-typing-in days are numbered, if Miami Beach-based Nima Schei has any say in the matter.
And evidence suggests he does. In 2020, the medical doctor-turned-entrepreneur founded Hummingbirds AI, a startup developing autonomous, touchless, and passwordless authentication systems.
Just like Face ID on your iPhone, Hummingbirds’ computer vision-powered system, which is called GuacamoleID, can detect a user’s face and unlock their device. However, Schei explained that the startup’s technology differs from Face ID in two ways.
First, Face ID requires a specific type of (somewhat expensive) camera that many computers do not have. GuacamoleID, on the other hand, does not require these cameras – making the system usable on a wider range of devices.
Second, Face ID is only good for logging into the device. Once logged in, the device is unprotected. GuacamoleID is continually checking for the user’s face. When they step away from their device, the system automatically tells the computer to lock itself.
Schei fell in love with artificial intelligence when he was in medical school in the early 2000’s. While the technology was relatively primitive back then, Schei developed an early interest in emotional AI. “The idea was the AI should be equipped with emotional tools – not just logical tools,” he told Refresh Miami.
In 2011, Schei dropped out of a PhD program to found his first startup in the healthcare space. He landed in Miami in 2013, lured by the South Florida way of life and close proximity to Costa Rica, where he had hired a small team. His co-founder and chief marketing officer is Sara Zargaran [they are pictured above],.
Hummingbirds AI launched an alpha version of GuacamoleID earlier this year. This month, they plan to introduce a beta version, building off of feedback from early users.
The company is pursuing a pure B2B play, focusing on three markets in particular: public safety, healthcare, and banks. Security is top of mind in each of these sectors, and they also are characterized by having employees that are constantly having to log in and out of computer systems.
“Employees at financial institutions spend 40 minutes of their day logging in and out of their computers,” asserted Schei. GuacamoleID has the potential to save an enormous amount of time – and money, by extension. In the case of law enforcement and healthcare, this time could arguably save lives.
Hummingbirds, which has been bootstrapped up to now, currently has 11 full-time employees. While the team is fully distributed, the majority of its executives are based in South Florida.
“Security and ease of use are the core of what we’re trying to accomplish,” said Schei. “We want to make security less painful.”
READ MORE ON REFRESH MIAMI:
- Exscientia expands AI-powered drug discovery in Miami
- Miami-born cybersecurity startup Bytecheck lands $3M seed round
- This military-grade cybersecurity center in Broward aims to keep companies safe and bring jobs to South Florida
- WellStack acquires DeLorean AI, plans to grow platform and South Florida footprint - September 3, 2026
- Inside OpenSeed’s plan to bring calm back to work, 12 minutes at a time - September 3, 2026
- Flamingo flies forward with $4.5M and plans to grow in Miami - September 2, 2026