If you are looking to stay relevant in the ever-changing tech industry, innovation is key. Too many tech companies begin with a great idea, have initial success, and then fade away as their product or service becomes irrelevant. Proctorio understands this well, as we had the right timing and product when we launched the first AI remote proctoring solution ten years ago. It was ground-breaking at the time, but we know we’d be long gone if we hadn’t found ways to stay relevant.

To keep our business flourishing, we believe in staying up with the times and listening to feedback from our users. Every successful company should make it a practice to do this, yet it is not the norm. This is why we launched Proctorio X, our user conference, in 2019. We have been iterating and growing it ever since (aside from a year off due to COVID).

Every year, we invite people to join us for an exclusive three-day event in beautiful, sunny Arizona. The idea is to create an atmosphere that expresses our culture and values. As an Evergreen® company, we aim to do everything possible to help our communities thrive. As such, we strive to be equitable and sustainable in all that we do. These are the two drivers that shaped our thinking as we built Proctorio X.

In order to get the right people in the room and ensure that they are engaged and ready to share, we knew we had to make the event special. Once a client receives an invite to the event and books their flight, we take care of the rest. This starts with the electric car service to the beautiful hotel, the curated meals, as well as the planned events. We also host a special event for the attendees’ ‘plus ones’ so they feel included. It’s our way of saying thank you for trusting Proctorio. The attendees are a mix of customers, vendors, and partners, who interact with our products and services from their own, unique perspectives. Many attendees work at universities worldwide.

Our goal at Proctorio X is to learn and grow as much as possible, and we can only do that when diverse thoughts and opinions come together. That’s why we offer many learning opportunities during the conference, including breakout sessions where attendees can engage with our team and products and brainstorm together.

For example, we host “Meet the Engineers” where our team can show how the product is evolving based on feedback. Our engineers and product designers are right there in the room, so people can ask any questions. To make it easier to find the person you want to speak with, we have a unique system where the Proctorio team wears a specific color t-shirt to represent their role in the organization. We tell everyone, if you have a question for someone in sales, look for a blue t-shirt. If you need to talk to an engineer, look for a red one.

One of the products that has evolved through this process is our alternate identity solution called GreenKey. This change grew out of a need we perceived that was on the rise; when a test taker is transitioning and needs to update their government-issued identity documents, the process can be difficult and time-consuming. This can cause problems for test takers trying to access exams under their dead names. However, with GreenKey, a multi-factor verification process, they can take exams without the worry of having proper government issued documents, all while protecting the integrity of the exam. Originally this product was just designed as a security solution for the Proctorio results center, protecting the security of the recorded exam content from unauthorized access. Based on feedback from clients, it was suggested at a Proctorio X event that the same multi-factor authentication could be used to speed up the test taker identity check process. GreenKey was born out of conversations with our clients and can be found on Amazon today.

Proctorio X is a substantial investment but it’s necessary for the improvement and development of new technologies in our company. At Proctorio, we go all in, leading with our values. We believe that finding ways to innovate, stay ahead of the curve, and be better than the competition is not just a goal; it is the key to our success.