The Four Worlds Podcast
The Four Worlds Podcast explores how a simple idea can grow into something that changes the world. Each episode takes you on a journey—from the spark of inspiration, through the creation process, innovation challenges, and to the path of real-world production.
From sketch to shelf and prototype to product, join us as we uncover the stories behind breakthrough inventions and innovations with the creators, engineers, designers, and visionaries who bring them to life.
The Four Worlds Podcast
WYBOT and the Future of Intelligent Pool Maintenance
Are robotics making a splash in the pool cleaning scene? José Vallés, VP and GM of Americas at WYBOT, reveals how the company is using robotics to make pool care effortless, efficient, and even fun. 🌊✨
Check out WYBOT in action!
Welcome to the Four Worlds Podcast from Tomorrow's World Today. We're diving into the latest in tech, science, and sustainability, from nature's mysteries and the world of inspiration, to the hands-on crafts of creation, the bold breakthroughs of innovation, and the scaled-up wonders of production. This is your ticket to the stories shaping tomorrow. We welcome Jose Valles, VP and GM of WYBOT Americas, right?
José:Yes, that's correct. I took the role to try to develop these categories in a bigger, better way across all the distribution in the United States, building a team, building the structure, building the distribution. So yeah, I'm excited about it. Some of my background, passionate about robotics, about consumer, durable goods, 30 years experience, even though I look 18, I'm not 18. So my passion is consumers. I've Yeah, it's clear
Steven:that you bring a lot to the table about Wybot. That's why we're excited to have you on the show. It's really a pleasure. And we just want to thank you for joining us today.
José:No, thank you. Thank you. And I look forward to provide all the necessary information for you and for the consumers and for your listeners. More information about how exciting this category is getting.
Steven:Yeah, so let's jump right into it because I'm not sure if there's listeners that are wondering what YBOT is. So let's get right into that. Who is YBOT? What do you do? And how does it affect and impact the consumers' lives?
José:So... You know, going into that, I'm going to try to work through the whole thing because there is a lot of information. But Wybot is being focused. And when you say Wybot, Wybot is the brand that we're using. The company has been in the market for 20 years developing, focusing on developing these harmonious integration of water, robotics, and consumers and transforming the pool cleaning into an effortless, intelligent experience. So we've been doing that for 20 years. We've been focusing on that. and improving that experience to their consumer. The funny part is that, like you said, we've been there for 20 years, but unfortunately our focus wasn't 100% in our brand. The brand Wybot is new. We introduced it 2.5 years ago and we've been developing the brand in order to bring more things, easier things, more intelligent things to the marketplace in the pool cleaning process. In the last four years, There's been a change, a drastic change on technology. It's much better than before. Prices have drastically gone down in the last five years. So when people pay for a corded robot five years ago, $1,200 to $1,500, it's now probably half price. With a much better technology, 100% independent, no hoses, no cords, AI camera technology, charging inside the water, better cleaning performance, and a smaller, more compact and more efficient at half of the price. So that's the exciting thing about YBUD, bringing all that experience for 20 years and now putting it into their own brand and be able to say, here is for you to enjoy your pool better.
Steven:Yeah, and it's obvious that YBOT and YBOTX and your products have evolved so much over the years. So I'm going to test your history a little bit. Let's take it back to 2005 when everything started to come to fruition. What was that inspiration? In our four worlds, inspiration is the start of it all. Where did that inspiration come from and how has it inspired what it is today?
José:Yeah, it's a great question. And I call it the DNA of the company because it's all the history. So everything started with a big bulky robot to an independent one motor robot that had a 100 foot cord. You plug it on a transformer into the wall and you throw it in the pool and that robot will go out and pee. But remember, back then we created the technology and we give that to other brands. So brands that are in the market today, brands that have disappeared from the market today, they use that technology because we were created and somebody will come in and say, you know, Stephen Ruffin brand. Boom, they put the brand in it and let's go. But now we determined that all that technology is out So why we're giving it to somebody else under a different brand. So let's create that. So the original focus was developing technology for others. But in 2022, we decided to bring our own brand. And what is exciting? What is evolving from? So you have the robot, single robot, the funny part in 2010, we developed the first skimmer. Today, the skimmer is the one that floats around the pool. And it cleans all the debris from the pool. We developed that in 2010, but the consumers were not ready for it. So we have to put it on the shelf. In 2018, we developed the first robotic pool cleaner, battery operated. Nobody was even thinking about it. We developed that. Then on 2020, we developed the first battery operated self-cleaning robot that climbed walls. And it keeps evolving. I mean, if we look at 2023, we introduced the first in-the-pool charging robot. So you don't have to pull it. It just ducks itself like a Roomba, if you want to call it that way. Ducks itself, charges, and it comes out and cleans the pool. And in this year, we introduced solar panel technology. So we're going to talk about it and self-charging inside the pool and a new technology that we'll talk through our conversation that is coming through that is going to excite. So when you look at history, we introduce AI power debris detection technology with a camera. Nobody else has that right now. So now the robot is more intelligent, more focused, navigates better because he sees what the dirt is in the pool and he attacks that. We introduced the world's first self-cleaning robot. We introduced the world's first in the water charging, world's first solar charging, dual filtration, skimmer, the most compact one, and then sonar sensor technology. That is an old technology, but we're bringing it back because we noticed that by all the algorithms and all the technology, that is a better navigation. So, again, testing my history, I think I gave you basically our whole DNA.
Steven:I think you are a certified Wybot historian at this point. So that was great. And, you know, you talk about the DNA. And it's, again, obvious that innovation is in history. taking all of this technology, having to shelve some of it until the consumer and the world is truly ready for it. But within innovation, it's really about making people's lives easier. And pool cleaning is kind of at the head of that because the one thing about a swimming pool is the maintenance that goes into it. So Wybot's technology and the products, is it really about making the consumer's life easier, letting them go and do other things and not having to worry about some of the tedious things that comes with pool maintenance.
José:Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. That's our focus, bringing innovation, bringing solutions. And I can give you some examples of that, bringing all the possible solutions for the consumer to focus on why the pool is in their backyard. It's enjoying it, right? So by removing the cord, by removing the hose, and having an independent robot, you're already giving the consumer more time to enjoy the pool. Why? Because I don't have to disconnect anything. All I have to do is my regular process. I pull the robot out when he's finished and I put it in a corner charging. My pool is ready to go at any time, at any time. I don't have to worry about anything. I just got to worry on jumping in. So that's important for us. But the most important part I think it is the rewarding coming through your eyes that you come out and you're using your robot and you see your pool clean, your walls clean, your waterline clean. The bottom of the pool, the top of the pool, the floating debris is out, gone. I don't have to worry. I just have to say, hey, family, let's go. Let's have some hot dogs and enjoy the pool and a beer and so forth. So that's the most rewarding thing that we're focusing on. But we want to give you the solution at your will. And I give you a perfect example in my case. My pool guy is coming in every Tuesday. OK, he comes in. And as of right now, we're going to talk a little bit more about that. But as of right now, there is a guy that comes to my pool every Tuesday. He measures all the chemicals. He sees everything. He cleans the water line. He does it. Am I wasting my money? Possibly. The other day, the pool guy approached me and said, Jose, you have that robot. Why don't you fire me? And I go, because I don't know the chemicals and I don't want to clean the filter on the system, right? The big pool filter that you have on the side of your pump. So I said, there it is. The guy's seeing the future up to a certain point. But that's rewarding to me. So he comes on Tuesday. Guess what? On Thursday, I have to throw the robot back in because my pool is dirty. And the guy doesn't come back until next week. So... That's rewarding. I have a party on Friday. I don't have to worry. I don't have to worry because the robot is there to clean it.
Steven:Now, when the robot is in use, is it steer clear of the pool, no swimming, or can the robot kind of work around it? What does that look like?
José:So, great question. If you have a court, I would be very concerned of kids cleaning. swimming around because they can get tangled and then a nasty situation can happen with the hose is the same thing so with the robot the robot can be in the bottom of the pool you can be swimming you can be doing anything the robot is not going to do anything to you from the electrical side of things because people think well there is a battery in there and it's a 12 volt battery is the same as if you throw a phone inside the pool nothing is going to happen So you can swim around it. It doesn't have enough suction to create a situation with kids or dogs or humans in general. So, no, it can be in the pool. And I actually have friends that they send me videos, the kids swimming. And I go like, what is the robot doing in the bottom of the pool? And they say, I just leave it there.
Steven:Don't mind it. He's just another swimmer. It's
José:part of the family.
Steven:Yeah, right. And you talk about that, you know, just the 12 volt battery being in there. But I'm sure that there's some there's that protective shell around it. Right. So talk about that kind of technology, making sure that the electronics of the robot and the water kind of don't mix, because that obviously is a concern when anytime you have water and electricity, you know, going hand in hand.
José:Yeah. The only dangers on that is we protect the battery. We protect the electronics to be protected. swimming in the pool. That's the most important part. And we try to keep those compartments really not removable, not really easy access to it because we have DIYers and they think that they're mechanics and they get in and touch things. If they do, then the robot has a risk of going bad. That's it. Nothing on the electrical side, because like I said, it's charging from the wall, even though it's 110, charges into a 12-volt battery. which 12-volt doesn't do anything to anyone with water or without water.
Steven:There you go. I'm sure that is something that would be on people's minds. Just, you know, you know, you got to cover all bases, right? Yeah. So we talk about that, the AI and the sensors that really give Wybot's technology the ability to do what it does. How has AI helped Wybotics and Wybot and the products evolve over those years? Because it definitely wasn't around to this extent in 2005.
José:Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, the AI technology, now we call it AI, but the camera technology has been around. And I go back to my previous experience. We introduced cameras in iRobot when I was in iRobot. I think it's like 10 years ago. Not 10 years ago. It's probably like seven or six years ago. Charlie can confirm that. We introduced that because that's where where the technology was going, right? You need to be smarter in the house. You're trying to humanize these robots so they're more efficient into their cleaning performance. If I can clean a pool, that is 15 by 37 in half an hour and I'm be happy with it, that's what we wanna achieve by introducing that camera. Right now, we're the only one that has a camera with AI technology. So that allows you at a special setting that if your pool is clean, but you see spots of leaves in the pool, you can set it up, put it in the pool and it's gonna go boom, boom, boom, clean it up and stop. And then you're like, okay, it's all set. I'll pick it up, get it out and move forward. Now, the important part with this is what that AI technology is. And this is my vision that I'm passing to the engineering team. And this is pretty cool. It's learning, right? So from that learning, I'm getting better, getting smarter. So if I send the robot that has a capability of three hour use and I can send them out, clean the pool in half an hour, send me a text that says I'm done, pull it out. I can have the party earlier. I can have the people enjoying the pool early. More importantly, and this is my final goal. I have a camera. If anything falls in the pool, anything, I have to activate the robot to that point. that situation, take a picture and send it to my phone. That's my dream because number one cause of kids' deaths in the United States is drowning in pools. So if I have a robot that can live in the water and that's a safety device that something falls, a bear, a kid, a chair, a piece of tree, whatever, can send you a picture and say, alert, Here's an unusual situation. That would be my dream. So that's where AI comes into play into our category. And I continue to say, when do we get there? It's going to be sometime, but that's the dream.
Steven:Yeah, I mean, that's an excellent ultimate goal to have because obviously protecting not only the pool, but kids and family members around the pool, that just takes it to a whole new level. another level really. And it really shows kind of leading into my next question that Wybot isn't slowing down. You know, I was going to ask what are those next goals, but clearly it's, it's a pretty clear what, what you want to do.
José:Yes, it is. It is. It's introducing things that are customer focused that are basically going to give you a final goal of enjoying the pool more, but you have smaller goals. Easier to manipulate. Inside the pool charging. Solar technology charging. Camera inside. And we talk about what my dream would be. And all these things that are coming in. But there is more. Chemical measurement. Chloro stabilizer. Algae stabilizer. All these things. We want to put that in the robot. So you have a double sense of confidence. My pool is clean and it's healthy. Is my pool guy doing the right job? I don't know if he's putting clothes. He looks clean, but I don't know what he's doing. But he sends me a bill every month. Well, I don't want to question their job. They're pretty honest. At least my guy is pretty honest. But I have a dream. When I retire, I want to be a DIY pool cleaner. My pool will be maintained by me. The chemical side of things is scary, is unknown. You have to put drops in a little measuring thing. If I have a report out from my robot that says, you need this, this, and this in order to stabilize your pool. By the way, there is a Pinto Penny or a Leslie's a mile away. Please press here so they'll have the order ready for you when you get in your car and you get there. That's the dream. And that's what we're working next. Chemicals is, it's a consumer demand. Everybody, everyone that asks me, what's next? Chemicals. Oh, that's great. Finally, I can get this so I can become a DIYer. No. Not really, you don't. Do you clean your filter today? And they said, no. Okay, so you're never going to eliminate your guy because he's a pretty big filter, heavy. It's difficult to clean. You have to do it the right way. And if you don't do it the right way, you break your filter container. Well, that costs about $1,500 if you do that. So you have to be careful how you do. But those are the dream spaces that we're working on the next things for the consumer.
Steven:Right. And honestly, it's kind of like something as simple as just alerting if there's a problem with the filter alerting if there's problem with the chemicals and then you kind of take it from there you hire that pool guy you have your pool guy still come in exactly so it's kind of like a full circle with technology meeting the human hands on So that is great. Now, can you share, you know, any stories that you have from whether it's the production process, what that looks like, or even on a consumer's point of view? Have you had any stories of, you know, wow, this technology is great. It saves me so much time.
José:Yeah, stories are, there are many. In the last show in CES in January of this year, when we presented the solar charging technology, the self-cleaning robot technology, everybody said, okay, you guys are going the right direction. I needed to clean my pool. You brought up a self- contain robot that doesn't have a cord, that doesn't have a hose. It's a battery operated that you throw in the pool. Then you said, I want to charge it inside the pool so I don't have to pull it out of the pool. So we introduced a self-charging inside the pool technology. Now we're putting solar technology. Oh, that's pretty cool. So I don't have to connect it to my electricity. Even though the electricity for a charging of a robot is like charging your cellular phone. And that's a misconception. A lot of people think, oh, it's going to be a lot of electricity. No, it's like charging your phone. And then we bring, it cleans itself. And they all went like, wow, now it's a real Roomba in my pool. And I go like, yep, it is. Because now it charges, it cleans. All you have to do is just come out once every week or every other week and pull the basket on outside of the pool, empty it, clean it, and put it back. And the robot keeps operating. So that's a wow situation. And when you say, I'm going to introduce chemicals, they all go, done. Where is it? I really need to do this. And that's very rewarding for us. But at the same time, we hear the consumer on everything. So we introduce a skimmer that is solar technology. It flows around, and because it's solar, it charges itself, right? But they say, what about if I want to clean my pool and it's a cloudy day? And the pool was in the shadow for a day because I had a pool and he didn't charge 100%. You guys don't offer a charger inside your robot. Originally, we didn't. But quickly, the factory came in and said, you know what? The consumer is right. So let's put a charger inside just in case. So we're offering now the same product, same price, no changes. We're just going to put the charger inside the unit for the consumer to be happy.
Steven:And not only are you a historian, but you're a mind reader as well, because you took the words right out of my mouth. My next question was, how are you incorporating these real world feedbacks into your products? And it's clear just from that one story that you take. what the customer has to say very, very seriously.
José:Yeah. And the most important part is the customers know better. Like I said before, I'm an expert on consumer, on customer. I'm not an expert on specific products. I don't know anything of that. But if the customer is saying, what about this? We got to listen and we got to pay attention because they see something in their environment that fits them and that might fit them and a million more people yeah so bring it back analyze it consider it see if it's feasible see if it's affordable because that's the other thing the guy can be asking for a solution that costs a million dollars i don't know that we want to do that but we we gotta focus on the center of all planets which is called consumer or customer
Steven:There you go. And, you know, hearing that feedback and making that change quickly, trying to get a new product that's enhanced to have that charger onto the production line. What does that production process look like? How long does it take? And especially when you get feedback like that, you know, what's the production line look like to keep up with this demand?
José:Thankfully, we're a small company in size, so that makes us humble and nimble and faster. This was brought up probably two months ago. It's in execution now. In the S2 solar, which is the unit that has a solar panel, it charges itself inside the water. We didn't think about adding a charger to that. And that takes a little bit more work because you've got to redesign the solar panel casing to accept a charger. It's already in production. So we brought it up two months ago. So changes that are critical for the consumer that take priority. And we're pretty fast with that. If we were a bigger company and I've been in bigger companies, it might take a year or two. In this one, it took months. Fast, nimble, fast, real solutions. Very, very little
Steven:time. And, you know, of course, it all comes back to the customer. That's exactly what you want to hear. You want to hear about the customer service from a company. So that's really excellent. So speaking of customers, what's the best way for someone or a pool owner to get involved with YBOT? How do they get their technology? How do they get those pool cleaners up and running?
José:So very simple. Call me, and that way we'll do it. No, there is our website. We have a direct-to-consumer website. It's wybotpool.com. It's W-Y-B-O-T, pool, P-O-O-L, dot com. You can learn about our products. You can learn about our history. You can learn about things, and you can buy it there. We're also in broader distribution across the U.S. We are in walmart.com. We're We're in Amazon.com. We're in our own website. And we're expanding into other retailers as well as fast as we can. So the easiest way, don't be afraid of the robot. It's not complicated. It's a robot. That's the important part. People think, and I get millions of questions like that. Do I need to determine the area? How do I let them do these things? They learn. They learn. They learn quickly. They have the right programming inside that all you have to do is charge it after it's fully charged. charge, press the button and clean, put it inside the pool and enjoy how clean your pool is going to be.
Steven:That's a heck of an elevator pitch to wrap things up. I do want to ask you one final question. We really did touch on it here and there in the interview, but what excites you most about the future of pool care and the future of Y-Bot?
José:That's a heavy question. It is. It is a heavy and tricky question. But what excites me is being able to have a consumer that is happy, being able to people that have always been passionate about DIYing things in their house. And I'm giving them all the tools that provides them with doing that in the pool. And so much that they enjoy that, that they can enjoy the use of the pool. But what really excites me is all related to all this is bringing those continue consumer needs into their hands. And my next frontier, it's a passion of mine, is not only the chemicals, But if I can get the camera to look at what falls in the pool, and I can say, our robot helps your safety in your house, you can enjoy your pool calmly because your kids are safe while the robot is in the pool. So that's what it fills me up. And that's, I think, the focus of this conversation. But we have all the solutions and nobody else has those things that consumers are being asking for. Now they have them available for them.
Steven:You know, we're definitely excited to continue to follow your journey and continue to follow the future of YBOT. How can people do the same? Where can they connect with you?
José:They can connect with me if they have my name right, Jose Valles. They can connect with me on LinkedIn. We have a LinkedIn YBot. They can follow us. They can ask us questions there. But in the YBotPool.com, the website that I provided before, www.YBotPool.com, they can get a lot of that information and they can get in contact with us. Somebody will go back to them with questions, with answers, with concerns, with any type of situation We're available all the time. And we also have the capability of, you know, while we're sleeping in the U.S., Asia is working so they can answer those questions as well. So we're here. We're here. We're excited about providing you the information for you to feel comfortable and evolve into these all category with new technology and better pricing out there that you're going to be very satisfied with.
Steven:Once again, very exciting stuff. Jose, I really appreciate you taking your time. I really enjoyed this. It was a pleasure speaking with you.
José:Steven, thank you so much. Ladies, thank you so much. And this is great. And I hope I can pass all that information and my passion about pool cleaning performance and giving more time to the consumers. So if you have a pool, please enjoy and let's stay in touch. And if you have any questions or any other comments, please reach out.
Steven:Absolutely. It was a pleasure. Thank you again. All right, everyone. Thank you again. Until next time. Thank you so much.
José:Thank you.
Steven:Thanks for listening to this episode of the Four Worlds Podcast. Until next time, you can catch up on the latest innovations shaping our world at tomorrowsworldtoday.com, follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
