2022 SIA Women in Biometrics Awards Profile: Bobby Varma

2022 SIA Women in Biometrics Awards winner Bobby Varma is co-founder and CEO of Princeton Identity, a leading biometric technology company. Varma, who has a proven track record as an executive in the biometrics arena for 15 years of driving sales and developing products, was drawn to the industry by her passion for technology.

“I started as a scientist developing a best-in-class solution using vision technology to identify people in war zones,” said Varma. “I realized that I loved seeing technology solve real-world problems and become focused on developing biometric solutions for identity management, which in turn launched my career in the biometric industry.”

Varma transitioned from being a scientist working in a lab to presenting in front of customers as a business development director.

“I really enjoyed working with customers and getting real-time feedback on our solutions. Also, it helped me understand the current needs in the market and work with technology experts to develop products that address those needs,” she said. “A few years later, I was fortunate enough to become a founder of a biometric company that focused on solutions to solve real-world problems.”

Princeton Identity is a global leader in biometric identity management, providing solutions for access control, physical security and data security across commercial and government enterprises, including Dubai’s airport, the Smart Salem Medical center, Emaar, Auburn University, the U.S. Department of Defense and numerous data centers. The company’s patented iris technology is featured on Samsung Galaxy phones. In her previous role as Princeton Identity’s vice president of operation and products, Varma built product organization from ground up and brought biometric products to market successfully. Her responsibilities also included overseeing operations to build efficiency and processes across the organization and managing a team of technical and product staff.

Now serving as CEO and president of Princeton Identity, Varma focuses on structuring business alliances with commercial entities across the world and educating the market on biometric domain applications.

Varma attributes much of her success – and her company’s success – to the larger Princeton Identity team.

“Honestly, I can’t take the credit for my accomplishments. Princeton Identity’s team has done phenomenal work in the biometrics arena. We have developed amazing solutions, especially around iris technology, for access control, identity management and time and attendance market,” she said. “We have been awarded over 35 patents that speak to the depth of knowledge, expertise and leadership in the biometric field. I am so proud to be part of my team and owe my success to them.”

Earlier this year, Varma was selected as one of the honorees in the SIA Women in Security Forum’s inaugural Power 100, which recognizes 100 women in the security industry who are role models for actively advancing diversity, inclusion, innovation and leadership in the community.

Varma was recognized, along with the four other 2022 SIA Women in Biometrics Awards recipients, on May 24 during a special award ceremony at the SIA GovSummit, SIA’s annual public policy and government security conference. In accepting her award, Varma emphasized the importance of innovation in the biometrics field:

“I am honored to be selected among a group of such talented women in biometrics,” she said. “I look forward to continuing to advocate and push the envelope of what we have accomplished in the biometrics industry, which has revolutionized how we experience identity and security.”

The SIA Women in Biometrics Awards are generously supported by 2022 sponsors IDEMIA and Paravision and organizational and media partners AVISIAN, Biometric Update, FindBiometrics and SIA’s Identity and Biometric Technology Advisory Board and Women in Security Forum.