Biju Nair on reverse logistics
From Physical AI Economics at 20M Unit Scale - Assurant Case Study at Avataar Dialogues USA · · Avataar Venture Partners
“We have about 19 facilities around the world, four here in the United States and the biggest one in Nashville. On an average last year we got about 18 million phones coming through. So this is very high scale. So when these phones come through what what happens there are a few different tasks. Most of it is you know mechanical and you know on a on a mundane task. it comes in. We have to receive an account for the box that came in because the average phone, used phone costs about $350. So, if you're getting 20 million of these, you do the math. If you lose a few of them, we are in big trouble.”
On , Biju Nair, Executive Vice President & President of Global Connected Living at Assurant, spoke about reverse logistics during Physical AI Economics at 20M Unit Scale - Assurant Case Study at Avataar Dialogues USA on Avataar Venture Partners.
About Biju Nair
Biju Nair, Executive Vice President & President of Global Connected Living at Assurant, appeared on the All Things Circular podcast in December 2025. During the episode, Nair discussed the evolution of device trade-in programs and the circular economy. He stated that since the inception of such programs, 197 million devices have been repurposed, $23.7 billion has been returned to consumers through trade-ins, 39,000 metric tons of e-waste have been diverted from landfills, and 10.3 million metric tons of CO2 emissions have been avoided. Nair also emphasized the importance of data as the fuel for AI and advised that learning AI should be domain-specific, particularly in areas like reverse logistics. Nair also commented on digital product passports, saying he is "waiting and watching to see how much value [they] will add other than the regulatory pressure." He noted that while some regulation makes sense, there is also regulation "for the sake of regulation" that may not accomplish its goals, and questioned whether Europe will continue to be as heavily regulated given changing political landscapes.