Aware Inc (AWRE) 2025 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to Aware's fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 conference call. Joining us today are the company's CEO and President, Ajay Amlani; and CFO, David Traverse. (Operator Instructions)

下午好，歡迎參加 Aware 2025 年第四季與全年財報電話會議。今天與會的有公司執行長兼總裁 Ajay Amlani，以及財務長 David Traverse。(接線員指示)

Before we begin today's call, I'd like to remind everyone that the presentation today contains forward-looking statements that are based on the current expectations of Aware's management and involve inherent risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described.

在開始今天的電話會議之前，我想提醒各位，今天的簡報包含前瞻性陳述，係基於 Aware 管理層目前的預期，並涉及固有的風險與不確定性，可能導致實際結果與所述內容出現重大差異。

Listeners should please take note of the Safe Harbor paragraph that is included at the end of today's press release. This paragraph emphasizes the major uncertainties and risks inherent in forward-looking statements that management will be making today.

敬請聽眾留意今日新聞稿末尾所載的「安全港」段落。該段落強調管理層今天將提出之各項前瞻性陳述所固有的主要不確定性與風險。

Aware wishes to caution you that there are factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those results indicated by such statements. These risks and uncertainties are also outlined in the company's SEC filings, including its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Any forward-looking statements should be considered in light of these factors.

Aware 提醒您，存在可能導致實際結果與此類陳述所指示結果出現重大差異的因素。這些風險與不確定性亦載於公司向 SEC 提交的文件中，包括 Form 10-K 年度報告與 Form 10-Q 季度報告。任何前瞻性陳述均應在考量上述因素的情況下解讀。

You are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak as only of the date made. Although it may voluntarily do so from time to time, Aware undertakes no commitment to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.

敬請注意勿過度依賴任何前瞻性陳述；該等陳述僅截至其作成之日有效。除非適用證券法另有要求，Aware 雖可能不時自願更新，但不承擔更新或修訂前瞻性陳述之任何義務，無論係因新資訊、未來事件或其他原因。

Additionally, the call contains certain non-GAAP financial measures that are -- that the term is defined by the SEC and Regulation G. Non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in isolation from or as a substitute for financial information presented in compliance with GAAP. Accordingly, Aware has provided a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures in the company's earnings release issued today.

此外，本次電話會議包含若干非 GAAP 財務衡量指標，其定義依據 SEC 與 Regulation G。非 GAAP 財務衡量指標不應單獨視為或用以取代依 GAAP 編製之財務資訊。因此，Aware 已在公司今日發布的財報新聞稿中，提供該等非 GAAP 財務衡量指標與最直接可比之 GAAP 指標的調節表。

I would like to remind everyone that this presentation will be recorded and made available for replay via link available in the Investor Relations section of the company's website.

提醒各位，本次簡報將被錄音，並將透過公司網站「投資人關係」專區提供的連結供回放收聽。

Now I'd like to turn the call over to our CEO and President, Ajay Amlani. Ajay?

現在我想把電話會議交給我們的執行長兼總裁 Ajay Amlani。Ajay？

Thank you, Matt, and good afternoon, everyone. Fiscal 2025 was a foundational year for Aware. While revenue timing dynamics, particularly within the federal market, created variability in our financial results, the year was defined by meaningful strategic progress across our technology platform, leadership team, certifications and market positioning. We strengthened the foundation of the business, expanded our competitive reach and positioned Aware as a trusted biometric identity solutions provider.

謝謝你，Matt，各位下午好。2025 財年對 Aware 而言是奠基的一年。儘管營收時點的動態變化，尤其是在聯邦市場，造成我們財務結果的波動，但這一年在技術平台、領導團隊、認證與市場定位等方面都取得了具意義的策略性進展。我們強化了業務基礎、擴大了競爭觸及範圍，並將 Aware 定位為值得信賴的生物辨識身分解決方案供應商。

To reiterate, our efforts this year have focused on progressing our three-pronged transformation. First, advancing our core biometric technology with a focus on liveness and biometric orchestration. Second, strengthening our science forward customer-obsessed approach go-to-market model. And third, deepening strategic partnerships and certifications that build trust and scale.

再重申一次，我們今年的努力聚焦於推進三管齊下的轉型。第一，推進我們的核心生物辨識技術，重點在活體偵測（liveness）與生物辨識編排（biometric orchestration）。第二，強化以科學為先、以客戶為中心的市場進入（go-to-market）模式。第三，深化能建立信任並擴大規模的策略夥伴關係與認證。

Starting with our first strategic pillar, advancing core biometric technology. Liveness remains one of the most critical vulnerabilities in remote biometric systems today. Biometric injection attacks, deep fakes and presentation attacks continue to evolve rapidly. Throughout fiscal 2025, we invested significantly in our science and research teams to remain a leader in this domain. Our next-generation Intelligent Liveness combines deep biometric expertise with advanced spoof protection to deliver their verifiable proof of personhood.

先從第一個策略支柱：推進核心生物辨識技術。在當今的遠端生物辨識系統中，活體偵測仍是最關鍵的弱點之一。生物辨識注入攻擊、深偽（deepfakes）與呈現攻擊（presentation attacks）持續快速演進。在 2025 財年期間，我們對科學與研究團隊投入大量資源，以維持在此領域的領先地位。我們的次世代 Intelligent Liveness 結合深厚的生物辨識專業與先進的防偽保護，提供可驗證的「真人存在」證明。

In the NIST IR 8491 evaluation, Aware achieved best-in-class gender and race parity, earning the lowest ratio bias rating in the market, and ensuring fair consistent performance across users at every high-risk touch point, critical for secure digital ecosystems. Aware Intelligent Liveness delivers subsecond capture speeds while materially reducing false negative rates and improving adaptability to emerging spoofing threats without introducing friction.

在 NIST IR 8491 評估中，Aware 在性別與種族一致性方面達到同級最佳，取得市場上最低的偏差比率評等，並確保在每一個高風險接觸點上，對所有使用者皆能提供公平且一致的效能，這對安全的數位生態系至關重要。Aware Intelligent Liveness 可在次秒級完成擷取，同時大幅降低偽陰性率，並在不增加摩擦的情況下提升對新興偽造威脅的適應能力。

We believe Liveness is not simply a feature. It is foundational infrastructure for secure digital identity. Innovation will continue to be at the heart of our progress in this area. At the same time, we have continued to evolve our biometric orchestration capabilities, which you may recognize as our Awareness Platform.

我們認為，活體偵測不僅僅是一項功能。它是安全數位身分的基礎性基建。創新將持續是我們在此領域進展的核心。同時，我們也持續演進生物辨識編排能力，您可能熟悉其為我們的 Awareness Platform。

Our orchestration framework is designed to maximize system uptime, enable modular integration of multiple biometric modalities and simplify deployment in complex customer environments. We are focused on building out our open architecture biometric infrastructure to bring civil and criminal identity management together in a single secure and highly scalable environment.

我們的編排框架旨在最大化系統正常運作時間（uptime）、支援多種生物辨識模態的模組化整合，並簡化在複雜客戶環境中的部署。我們專注於打造開放式架構的生物辨識基礎設施，將民事與刑事身分管理整合於單一安全且高度可擴展的環境中。

By eliminating vendor lock-in and supporting a broad range of biometric systems, it gives organizations the flexibility to modernize on their own terms. We are working diligently to ensure enterprise-grade security, interoperability and scalability of our orchestration platform.

透過消除供應商綁定（vendor lock-in）並支援廣泛的生物辨識系統，讓組織能以自身節奏彈性推動現代化。我們正努力確保編排平台具備企業級安全性、互通性與可擴展性。

Beyond orchestration, customer testing activity across our broader portfolio remains strong in both government and commercial sectors. Much of the demand is centered on defending against facial deepfakes, injection and presentation attacks and threats that are evolving in real time. Organizations are actively evaluating vendors capable of mitigating these risks at scale.

除編排之外，我們更廣泛產品組合在政府與商業領域的客戶測試活動仍然強勁。多數需求集中在防禦臉部深偽、注入與呈現攻擊，以及即時演變的威脅。各組織正積極評估能以規模化方式降低這些風險的供應商。

Initial customer feedback has been encouraging, particularly around algorithm accuracy, ease of integration and flexibility of deployment. These evaluation cycles are often lengthy especially in government, but the depth and rigor of engagement signal, meaningful intent. We are also seeing continued engagement in fingerprint biometrics, where our long-standing expertise continues to differentiate us.

初步客戶回饋令人鼓舞，特別是在演算法準確度、整合便利性與部署彈性方面。這些評估週期往往很長，尤其是在政府部門，但互動的深度與嚴謹程度顯示出明確且具意義的意向。我們也持續看到指紋生物辨識方面的互動，我們長期累積的專業仍是差異化優勢。

A driving force behind our technology is the Aware team. Over the course of fiscal 2025, we strengthened leadership across engineering, product, sales and marketing. We recently welcomed a new Head of Engineering and a new Head of Product, both of whom brought immediate domain expertise and began implementing operational improvements from day one. These leaders are building upon Aware's strong scientific foundation while driving tighter alignment between product development and customer requirements.

推動我們技術發展的一大力量是 Aware 團隊。在 2025 財年期間，我們在工程、產品、銷售與行銷等領域強化了領導層。我們近期迎來新的工程主管與新的產品主管，兩位都帶來即時的領域專業，並自第一天起就開始推動營運改善。這些領導者在 Aware 堅實的科學基礎之上，推動產品開發與客戶需求之間更緊密的對齊。

Our third pillar centers on building trust and scale through strategic relationships and certifications. Despite procurement delays stemming from the lasting effects of the government shutdown, including delayed appropriations and slower procurement cycles, we saw continued engagement across US and international government and commercial markets. During Q4, we successfully deployed our first mobile biometric solution within a US federal agency.

我們的第三個支柱聚焦於透過策略關係與認證來建立信任並擴大規模。儘管政府停擺的長期影響造成採購延宕，包括撥款延後與採購週期放緩，我們仍在美國與國際政府及商業市場看到持續的互動。在第四季期間，我們成功在一家美國聯邦機構部署了首個行動生物辨識解決方案。

Law enforcement customer growth also continued with the onboarding of additional US agencies. While individually modest, these wins demonstrate growing international trust and institutional trust in our technology. We are expanding direct engagement with US federal agencies at a time when Buy America priorities and supply chain considerations are increasingly relevant. As a US-based biometric provider, we believe we are well positioned to compete both directly for federal buyers and indirectly through system integrator partners. Both channels remain core components of our federal strategy.

執法客戶的成長也持續進行，新增更多美國機構上線。雖然單筆規模不大，但這些勝利展現了國際信任與機構對我們技術的信任正在提升。在「Buy America」優先事項與供應鏈考量日益重要之際，我們正擴大與美國聯邦機構的直接互動。作為一家以美國為基地的生物辨識供應商，我們相信自己具備良好定位，既可直接向聯邦買方競爭，也可透過系統整合商夥伴間接參與。這兩個通路仍是我們聯邦策略的核心組成。

While procurement timing remains dynamic, biometric modernization continues to be an area of focus within DHS and related agencies. Internationally, we continue to deepen relationships across both advanced and developing markets where digital identity systems are increasingly recognized as foundational national infrastructure.

儘管採購時點仍具動態性，生物辨識現代化仍是美國國土安全部（DHS）及相關機構的重點領域。在國際方面，我們持續深化與先進與新興市場的合作關係；在這些市場中，數位身分系統日益被視為國家基礎建設的基石。

In the fourth quarter, we launched a pilot program with the Caribbean nation to deploy biometric time and attendance systems for government employees, further expanding our global footprint. We also are seeing expanding engagement in aviation and border-related use cases. During Q4, we successfully tested biometric boarding in Orlando International Airport, which now serves as a flagship reference or a direct travel and border strategy in partnership with the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority and US Department of Homeland Security.

在第四季，我們與加勒比海某國啟動試點計畫，為政府員工部署生物辨識工時與出勤系統，進一步擴大我們的全球版圖。我們也看到在航空與邊境相關應用情境中的合作持續擴大。第四季期間，我們在奧蘭多國際機場成功測試生物辨識登機流程；該機場現已成為旗艦級參考案例，亦是我們與大奧蘭多航空管理局（Greater Orlando Aviation Authority）及美國國土安全部合作推動之旅運與邊境策略的直接示範。

Our technology supports contactless passenger processing under the Biometric Exit Program. This program demonstrates how biometric orchestration can improve throughput, reduce document handling and enhance traveler experience in one of the busiest airports in the United States. We also continued to expand our partner ecosystem through new strategic relationships, including integrations with digital workflow providers and collaborations with biometric hardware vendors. These initiatives remain in early stages, but we believe they strengthen our long-term go-to-market strategy and broaden our reach over time.

我們的技術在「生物辨識出境計畫」（Biometric Exit Program）下支援旅客的非接觸式通關處理。此計畫展示了生物辨識編排（orchestration）如何在美國最繁忙的機場之一提升通行量、減少文件接觸處理並改善旅客體驗。我們也透過新的策略關係持續擴大合作夥伴生態系，包括與數位工作流程供應商的整合，以及與生物辨識硬體供應商的合作。這些計畫仍處於早期階段，但我們相信它們將強化我們的長期市場進入（go-to-market）策略，並隨時間推進擴大我們的觸及範圍。

We also continue to perform strongly in independent government-led evaluations, including DHS related biometric testing programs. Our face and fingerprint algorithms have improved meaningfully in accuracy, bias mitigation and scalability. During the year, we successfully completed DHS RIVR face matching evaluations and achieved ISO-30107 Level 3 certification for Presentation Attack Detection, placing us among a small group of global providers that meet the highest standards for liveness detection.

我們在獨立、由政府主導的評測中也持續表現強勁，包括與DHS相關的生物辨識測試計畫。我們的人臉與指紋演算法在準確度、偏誤緩解與可擴展性方面均有顯著提升。在本年度內，我們成功完成DHS RIVR人臉比對評測，並取得ISO-30107第3級「呈現攻擊偵測」（Presentation Attack Detection）認證，使我們躋身少數符合最高活體偵測標準的全球供應商之列。

In the Selfie-to-Document Match track, operating under the first alias MTDS1, Aware was one of only five vendors to meet all DHS high-performance benchmarks. We were also one of just three to achieve zero to failure -- zero failure to extract rates for both selfie and document images, and we delivered the lowest false match rate among that group, including against demographically similar imposters.

在「自拍照對文件比對」（Selfie-to-Document Match）項目中，以第一個別名MTDS1參與的Aware，是僅有的五家達成DHS所有高效能基準的供應商之一。我們亦是僅有的三家達成「零失敗」——亦即自拍照與文件影像的擷取失敗率皆為零——的供應商之一，且在該群組中（包含面對人口統計特徵相近的冒名者）我們交付了最低的誤比對率。

These results highlight the accuracy, resilience and real-world readiness of our platform at scale. We also achieved ISO 27001 certification, a leading international standard for information security management. As enterprise and government customers increasingly require formal validation of security practices before engaging with vendors, this certification strengthens our ability to compete in larger and more regulated opportunities.

這些結果凸顯了我們平台在大規模部署下的準確性、韌性與實務就緒度。我們也取得ISO 27001認證，這是資訊安全管理的國際領先標準。隨著企業與政府客戶在與供應商合作前愈來愈要求對安全實務進行正式驗證，此認證強化了我們在更大型且監管更嚴格的商機中競爭的能力。

We also completed independent biometric bias testing conducted by BixeLab, NVLAP accredited lab under the ISO/IEC 19795-10 standard. The full system evaluation covering both liveness and matching under real-world conditions delivered outstanding results. These results reinforce the accuracy, consistency and fairness of our technology across critical applications, including border control, national ID, financial onboarding, mobile authentication and enterprise access control.

我們也完成由BixeLab（依ISO/IEC 19795-10標準、具NVLAP認證之實驗室）進行的獨立生物辨識偏誤測試。在真實世界條件下涵蓋活體偵測與比對的全系統評估，交出了卓越成果。這些結果強化了我們技術在關鍵應用中的準確性、一致性與公平性，包括邊境管制、國民身分證、金融開戶、行動驗證與企業門禁存取控制。

Finally, in addition to our biometric and liveness evaluations, where recently achieved FIDO2 Server Certification, validating our ability to support secure passkey-based authentication layered with biometric verification. This certification confirms compliance with FIDO Alliance standards for cryptographic authentication and interoperability, capabilities that are increasingly expected in regulated high assurance environments such as payments and financial services.

最後，除生物辨識與活體偵測評測外，我們近期亦取得FIDO2伺服器認證（FIDO2 Server Certification），驗證我們能支援以通行金鑰（passkey）為基礎、並疊加生物辨識驗證的安全驗證機制。此認證確認我們符合FIDO聯盟在密碼學驗證與互通性方面的標準；在支付與金融服務等受監管且高保證等級的環境中，這些能力正日益成為基本期待。

When combined with our Intelligent Liveness technology, this approach helps verify real user presence, reduce phishing and automated attack risk and deliver fast, seamless identity experiences. These certifications are not simply badges. ISO 30107 Level 3 demonstrates our technology can defend against increasingly sophisticated presentation, deep fake and injection attacks. ISO 27001 validates our corporate security posture and operational rigor. Together, they materially strengthen our credibility with both enterprise and government buyers. More importantly, these validations are how Aware becomes a trusted provider for top Tier 1 enterprises and leading government agencies worldwide.

結合我們的智慧活體（Intelligent Liveness）技術，此方法有助於驗證真實使用者在場、降低網路釣魚與自動化攻擊風險，並提供快速、無縫的身分體驗。這些認證不只是徽章。ISO 30107第3級證明我們的技術能防禦日益精密的呈現攻擊、深偽（deepfake）與注入式攻擊。ISO 27001驗證我們的企業資安態勢與營運紀律。兩者合併，實質強化了我們在企業與政府採購方心中的可信度。更重要的是，這些驗證正是Aware成為全球頂級Tier 1企業與領先政府機構可信賴供應商的方式。

The largest institutions require proven performance, independent verification and enterprise-grade security before they deploy biometric infrastructure at scale. Our certifications and evaluation results meaningfully expanded the universe of opportunities we could pursue and have already enabled us to compete in several large engagements that previously would not have been accessible.

最大的機構在大規模部署生物辨識基礎設施之前，要求可證明的效能、獨立驗證與企業級安全。我們的認證與評測結果，顯著擴大了我們可追求的商機範圍，並已使我們得以參與數個先前無法觸及的大型合作案。

With that, I will turn the call over to David to review our financial results in more detail. Over to you, David.

接下來，我把電話會議交給David，請他更詳細地說明我們的財務結果。交給你了，David。

Thank you, Ajay. Let's review our financial results for the fourth quarter and full year, which ended on December 31, 2025. Starting with the fourth quarter. Revenue in the fourth quarter was $4.7 million compared to $4.8 million in the prior year period. The slight decrease reflects lower perpetual software license revenue, partially offset by higher maintenance and services and other revenue.

謝謝你，Ajay。我們來回顧截至2025年12月31日止之第四季與全年財務結果。先從第四季開始。第四季營收為470萬美元，較去年同期的480萬美元略為下降。這項小幅下滑反映永久性軟體授權收入較低，但部分被維護、服務及其他收入較高所抵銷。

Operating expenses for the quarter improved to $6.1 million compared to $6.3 million in the prior year quarter. The lower expenses largely reflects the onetime costs incurred in the prior year period related to the former CEO's transition, which includes severance and acceleration of stock-based compensation expense of $600,000.

本季營業費用改善至610萬美元，去年同期為630萬美元。費用下降主要反映去年同期因前任執行長交接所產生的一次性成本，其中包括遣散費以及60萬美元的股份基礎給付費用加速認列。

As we noted in our last earnings call, we continue to expect operating expenses to reflect the strategic investments we are making. Net loss for the quarter was $1.5 million or $0.07 per diluted share compared to a net loss of $1.2 million or $0.06 per diluted share in the prior year quarter. Adjusted EBITDA loss was $800,000 for both Q4 2025 and the prior year quarter.

如同我們在上次法說會所提到的，我們仍預期營業費用將反映我們正在進行的策略性投資。本季淨損為150萬美元，或稀釋後每股虧損0.07美元；去年同期淨損為120萬美元，或稀釋後每股虧損0.06美元。調整後EBITDA虧損在2025年第四季與去年同期皆為80萬美元。

Turning to our results for the full year. For the full year, revenue was $17.3 million compared to $17.4 million in 2024. The slight year-over-year decrease was driven by lower perpetual license revenue, which was partially offset by increases in maintenance and services and other revenue. Net loss of $5.9 million or $0.28 per diluted share compared to a net loss of $4.4 million or $0.21 per diluted share in the same period last year.

接著看全年表現。全年營收為1,730萬美元，2024年為1,740萬美元。年減幅度輕微，主因為永久性授權收入較低，但部分被維護、服務及其他收入增加所抵銷。全年淨損為590萬美元，或稀釋後每股虧損0.28美元；去年同期淨損為440萬美元，或稀釋後每股虧損0.21美元。

Adjusted EBITDA loss for the year was $4.6 million compared to adjusted EBITDA loss of $3.9 million in the prior year period. Ended the year with $22.3 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities and no debt. Our balance sheet reflects the increased investments we've made throughout the year to enhance our team, advance our core technology and certifications and support go-to-market initiatives.

全年調整後EBITDA虧損為460萬美元，去年同期調整後EBITDA虧損為390萬美元。年末現金、約當現金與有價證券合計2,230萬美元，且無負債。我們的資產負債表反映了我們在全年所增加的投資，用以強化團隊、推進核心技術與各項認證，並支援市場進入（go-to-market）相關計畫。

We will continue to allocate capital to our strategic priorities and build a stronger, more competitive business. While we remain confident in our long-term positioning, we believe we will continue to experience quarterly results that remain uneven given the nature of our procurement cycles and customer conversion timing. This is particularly true in government and large enterprise markets, where funding and execution time lines can shift from quarter-to-quarter.

我們將持續把資本配置於策略優先事項，打造更強健、更具競爭力的業務。儘管我們對長期定位仍具信心，但鑑於採購週期的特性與客戶轉換時點，我們認為季度結果仍可能持續呈現不均衡。在政府與大型企業市場尤其如此，因為資金到位與執行時程可能會在各季度之間變動。

As a result, quarterly results may not fully reflect the underlying progress we're making. For that reason, we believe performance is best evaluated over multiple quarters.

因此，季度業績可能無法充分反映我們正在取得的根本性進展。基於這個原因，我們認為最佳的績效評估方式是跨多個季度來觀察。

With that, I'll hand it back over to Ajay for closing remarks. Ajay?

接下來，我把時間交還給 Ajay 做結語。Ajay？

Thanks, David. As David noted, variability remains a feature of our business, particularly as we advance complex government and enterprise opportunities where procurement and funding timing can shift between quarters. During the fourth quarter, multiple large identity solution providers progressed into testing and evaluation phases.

謝謝你，David。正如 David 所提到的，波動性仍是我們業務的一個特徵，尤其是在我們推進複雜的政府與企業機會時，採購與資金到位的時點可能在不同季度之間移動。在第四季，多家大型身分解決方案供應商推進至測試與評估階段。

These processes can be lengthy and technically rigorous and not at all evaluations -- not all evaluations result in near-term deployments. While timing remains uncertain, continued participation in these evaluations, expands our relationships and informs future opportunities. Retention performance remained strong and well above industry benchmarks and approximately three fourth of our current pipeline consists of new logos with the balance representing expansion within existing accounts.

這些流程可能耗時較長且在技術上非常嚴謹，而且並非所有評估都會在短期內導入部署。雖然時程仍不確定，但持續參與這些評估能擴大我們的合作關係並為未來機會提供資訊。留存表現依然強勁，且明顯高於產業基準；目前我們的管線約有四分之三來自新客戶（new logos），其餘則為既有客戶帳戶內的擴張。

This year marked the beginning of a comprehensive revitalization of the Aware brand. We've launched a fully redesigned website, our digital storefront with a modern look and feel that reflects the strength and innovation of our technology. At the same time, we sharpened our market positioning to clearly align Aware as a biometric identity solutions company.

今年標誌著 Aware 品牌全面振興的起點。我們推出了全新改版的網站，也就是我們的數位門面，以現代化的外觀與體驗呈現我們技術的實力與創新。同時，我們也強化了市場定位，清楚地將 Aware 對齊為一家生物辨識身分解決方案公司。

We also restructured and repositioned our product suite to better align with buyer needs and decision-making priorities, supported by refreshed messaging that clearly communicates our differentiated value across biometric identity, liveness and authentication solutions. While still early, search visibility has improved meaningfully, and we are seeing increased inbound engagement.

我們也重整並重新定位產品組合，以更貼近買方需求與決策優先順序，並以更新的訊息傳遞清楚溝通我們在生物辨識身分、活體偵測（liveness）與驗證（authentication）解決方案上的差異化價值。雖然仍在早期階段，但搜尋能見度已顯著改善，我們也看到更多的主動來詢（inbound）互動。

On the technology front, we continued advancing our intelligent liveness capabilities to defend against increasingly sophisticated presentation, deep fake and injection attacks. We also achieved ISO 30107 Level 3 certification for Presentation Attack Detection, and ISO 27001 certification for information security management, strengthening our credibility with enterprise and government customers that require independently validated performance and enterprise-grade security.

在技術方面，我們持續推進智慧型活體偵測能力，以防禦日益精密的展示攻擊（presentation attack）、深偽（deep fake）與注入攻擊（injection attack）。我們也取得 ISO 30107 第 3 級的展示攻擊偵測（Presentation Attack Detection）認證，以及資訊安全管理的 ISO 27001 認證，強化我們在需要獨立驗證效能與企業級安全性的企業與政府客戶面前的可信度。

Stepping back fiscal 2025 was about building the foundation and getting us out in front of key customers. We strengthened our core technology, expanded certifications, deepened partnerships and continued evolving toward a more integrated biometric solutions platform. Execution and conversion will take time, and we expect variability to remain part of the near-term landscape. However, we believe the structural progress achieved over the past year strengthens our competitive position and supports our long-term opportunity in biometric identity.

回顧來看，2025 會計年度的重點在於打好基礎，並讓我們能更貼近關鍵客戶。我們強化了核心技術、擴增認證、深化合作夥伴關係，並持續朝向更整合的生物辨識解決方案平台演進。執行與轉換需要時間，我們預期短期內波動仍將存在。然而，我們相信過去一年所取得的結構性進展強化了我們的競爭地位，並支持我們在生物辨識身分領域的長期機會。

As we move into 2026, our focus is disciplined execution, converting pilot programs, strengthening the awareness platform, scaling revenue and delivering durable long-term growth. We are building a more predictable and scalable biometric identity business, one that balances innovation with discipline and positions Aware to lead in the next era of digital identity.

展望 2026 年，我們的重點是有紀律地執行、推動試點專案轉換、強化 Aware 平台的能見度、擴大營收規模，並實現可持續的長期成長。我們正在打造一個更可預測且更可擴展的生物辨識身分業務，在創新與紀律之間取得平衡，並讓 Aware 能在下一個數位身分時代中領先。

That concludes our prepared remarks. We'll now open the call for questions. Matt, please provide the instructions.

以上是我們準備好的發言內容。接下來我們將開放提問。Matt，請提供操作說明。

(Operator Instructions)

（接線員指示）

First question is for Ajay. Federal procurement timing has created some variability in results and 2025 revenue was essentially flat year-over-year. How should investors think about the drivers of potential growth going forward, particularly given the mix of federal, commercial and international opportunities?

第一個問題給 Ajay。聯邦政府採購時點造成了業績的一些波動，而 2025 年營收基本上與去年同期持平。投資人應如何看待未來潛在成長的驅動因素，特別是在聯邦、商業與國際機會組合並存的情況下？

Thank you very much for the question. In 2025, we did see some programs move slower than expected during the year. As you know, government procurement cycles can vary in timing from quarter-to-quarter. We also had a pretty significant slowdown in government shutdown that also impacted the responsiveness of the members of the federal government, public servants that we're going through a very difficult point in time in their careers and in their lives trying to suffer through what was one of the longest shutdowns in the history in the US government.

非常感謝這個問題。在 2025 年，我們確實看到一些專案在年度內推進速度比預期更慢。如各位所知，政府採購週期的時點可能在不同季度之間有所變動。我們也遇到政府關門期間相當明顯的放緩，這也影響了聯邦政府成員的回應速度；公務員在那段時間正處於職涯與生活中非常艱難的階段，試圖撐過那次美國政府史上最長的關門之一。

Coming out of that, we've seen increased activity in federal government meetings, which have resulted in significant pipeline acceleration and opportunities here in the US federal government work. We continued working though, on the international front and in commercial markets to convert our pipeline, expand our pipeline and expand our brand to make sure that the business continues to stay in a growth path as we expand our product portfolio and our certifications.

在那之後，我們看到聯邦政府會議活動增加，帶動了管線顯著加速，並在美國聯邦政府業務方面帶來更多機會。同時，我們也持續在國際與商業市場推進，將管線轉換為訂單、擴大管線並提升品牌能見度，以確保在我們擴充產品組合與認證的同時，業務能持續維持成長軌道。

Thanks Ajay. Our next question is for David. How should investors think about the mix between perpetual licenses, recurring software, services and maintenance going forward?

謝謝 Ajay。下一個問題給 David。投資人應如何看待未來永久授權、經常性軟體、服務與維護之間的組合？

Thanks, Matt. What we're seeing is the mix will likely continue to evolve depending on the types of programs we're secure. As you know, historically, we've had a combination of perpetual license, maintenance and services and that's particularly in larger government deployments. Exact mix can vary from quarter-to-quarter depending on whether revenue is driven by platform licenses, recurring software sales or cloud-based solution-based programs. So rather than targeting a specific mix, what we're focused on is expanding our presence in these large programs where our software platform can be deployed and maintained over multiple years.

謝謝你，Matt。我們看到的情況是，組合很可能會持續演變，取決於我們拿下的是哪些類型的專案。如各位所知，過去我們的收入結構包含永久授權、維護與服務，這在較大型的政府部署中尤其常見。實際組合可能會因季度而異，取決於營收是由平台授權、經常性軟體銷售或雲端解決方案型專案所驅動。因此，相較於鎖定特定組合，我們更專注於擴大在這些大型專案中的布局，讓我們的軟體平台能在多年期間被部署並維護。

Thanks, David. Our next question. You mentioned several evaluations and testing phases with potential partners. What is the process and time line from evaluation to production deployment?

謝謝你，David。下一個問題。你提到與潛在合作夥伴進行了多項評估與測試階段。從評估到正式量產部署的流程與時間線是什麼？

Yeah. I mean many of these opportunities start with an evaluation after we've included establishing ourselves as a reputable company to be able to participate. These evaluations can basically move on to pilot programs and then the customers will validate the technology within their environment to decide if they want to be able to move forward. The process typically moves into production deployments, which can expand over time depending upon the scope of the program.

是的。我的意思是，許多這類機會一開始會先從評估開始，前提是我們已建立自身作為一家可信賴公司、具備參與資格。這些評估基本上可能進一步發展為試點專案，接著客戶會在其環境中驗證技術，以決定是否要繼續推進。流程通常會進入正式量產部署，並可依專案範圍隨時間擴大。

Well, our goal is to start small, honestly, with an onboarding a customer, keeping expectations in check and then continuously exceeding those expectations. And then from there, as long as we continue to exceed expectations, they'll grow the amount of work that they do with Aware and don't feel comfortable being able to feed more business and more opportunities our way, particularly in government and large enterprise environments.

坦白說，我們的目標是先從小規模開始，先讓客戶上線導入，控制好預期，然後持續超越這些預期。接著，只要我們持續超越預期，他們就會增加與 Aware 合作的工作量，也會更有信心把更多業務與機會交給我們，特別是在政府與大型企業環境中。

That's balanced obviously with procurement cycles, budget availability, but the focus is continuing to advance those evaluations and making sure that we can improve conversion and growth as our platform evolves and we end up in a land-and-expand strategy.

當然，這也需要在採購週期與預算可用性之間取得平衡；重點是持續推進這些評估，並確保隨著我們的平台演進，我們能提升轉換率與成長，最終採取「先落地、再擴張」（land-and-expand）的策略。

Thanks Ajay, another one for you. How did the recent certifications and platform enhancements strengthen Aware's competitive position and support future opportunities with customers and partners?

謝謝 Ajay，再一題給你。近期的認證與平台強化如何提升 Aware 的競爭地位，並支持未來與客戶及合作夥伴的機會？

So I really do applaud the amount of work that goes into the development of these new certifications around biometrics. We -- people globally are really pushing the envelope in terms of being able to make sure that the technology can keep up with current threats in the market. There are a lot of threats that are based in this market, especially with AI and AI generated identity that can basically trick systems. And so continuing to stay not just one step ahead of it, whereas you could potentially be breached, you need to stay 2 steps ahead of it. And that's where these certifications come into play and become very important.

因此，我確實要讚賞在開發這些圍繞生物辨識的新認證上所投入的大量工作。我們——全球的人們——正不斷突破界限，以確保技術能跟上當前市場中的威脅。在這個市場中存在許多威脅，尤其是 AI 以及 AI 生成的身分，基本上可能欺騙系統。因此，持續保持不只是領先一步；因為你可能會被攻破，你需要領先兩步。這正是這些認證發揮作用並變得非常重要的原因。

These certifications are typically listed within procurement from major customers, and it's very important to be able to meet these certifications. In a lot of ways, these are just basically ways to be able to make sure that Aware is qualified to be able to bid, but not all parties are usually qualified with these different types of certifications.

這些認證通常會列在主要客戶的採購要求中，而能夠符合這些認證非常重要。在很多方面，這些基本上只是用來確保 Aware 具備投標資格的方法，但並非所有參與方通常都具備這些不同類型的認證資格。

So it is an ability and a strategic differentiator for us to be able to advocate on behalf of including these certifications in the customers' requests and then also being able to meet these certifications, puts us in a competitive set that's smaller than the more broader set of people that you would normally consider for a solution by proving who's better and who's been able to meet certifications that are available in the industry.

因此，能夠倡議將這些認證納入客戶的需求，並且也能符合這些認證，對我們而言既是一種能力也是策略性的差異化因素；透過證明誰更優秀、誰能符合業界可取得的認證，這讓我們所處的競爭集合比一般你通常會考慮的更廣泛解決方案供應商集合要小。

Thanks Ajay. Our next question. Why are deals not announced as they are signed?

謝謝你，Ajay。我們的下一個問題。為什麼交易在簽署時不會立即公告？

Thanks, Matt. I can kind of break that down to two parts. One is from an SEC requirement standpoint and the other one is more from a customer standpoint. So the first one, the SEC, we make sure all our disclosures and we comply SEC disclosure requirements. Most of the contracts we do sign are within our ordinary core business and don't require a separate disclosure from -- on the SEC side.

謝謝，Matt。我可以把這個拆成兩個部分。一個是從 SEC 規定的角度，另一個則更多是從客戶角度。先說第一個，SEC 方面，我們確保所有揭露並遵循 SEC 的揭露要求。我們簽署的大多數合約都屬於我們日常核心業務範圍，並不需要在 SEC 方面另外單獨揭露。

On the commercial side, many of our government and security-focused customers also have confidentiality provisions. And in addition, our business -- in our business, the signing of a contract is not always the most meaningful milestone as programs often progress through pilots and deployments over time.

在商務面，許多政府與安全導向的客戶也有保密條款。此外，在我們的業務中，合約簽署並不總是最具意義的里程碑，因為專案往往會隨時間推進，經歷試點與部署。

Thanks David. Another question received. Are you seeing any new AI native competitors or customers in-sourcing by building their own algorithms using LLMs? What moats or risks does your business have from an AI disruption relative to other SaaS companies?

謝謝你，David。收到另一個問題。你們是否看到任何新的 AI 原生競爭者，或客戶透過使用 LLM 建立自己的演算法而選擇內製？相較於其他 SaaS 公司，你們的業務在面對 AI 顛覆時有哪些護城河或風險？

Our company is actually really well positioned to be able to take advantage of the LLMs and the technology that's in place to be able to improve our efficacy, improve our productivity, and also decrease our costs. We look towards the development of these capabilities is a really big strategic differentiator for us. Our existing presence in the market with existing customers and data allows us to be able to work with that data to be able to train our models in a more effective fashion. And we can also utilize it to be able to work on better co-development, upgrading the code and being able to serve our customers in a more effective fashion.

我們公司其實處於非常有利的位置，能夠利用 LLM 與現有技術來提升我們的效能、提高生產力，並降低成本。我們認為發展這些能力對我們而言是一個非常重要的策略性差異化因素。我們在市場上既有的客戶與資料，使我們能夠運用這些資料更有效地訓練模型。我們也可以利用它來進行更好的共同開發、升級程式碼，並更有效地服務客戶。

As you know, we have a blue-chip list of existing customers, including Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, and many others globally, that are really the who's who in terms of government agencies. So being able to expand the services that we actually do with our existing customers to be able to surprise and delight them with new capabilities and functionalities would typically take a lot of effort on our side to be able to invest behind that capability.

如你所知，我們擁有一份藍籌的既有客戶名單，包括美國國土安全部、國防部，以及全球許多其他客戶，這些在政府機構領域可說是「誰是誰」。因此，擴大我們與既有客戶實際提供的服務，以新的能力與功能讓他們感到驚喜並提升滿意度，通常需要我們投入大量努力與資源來支持該能力。

Whereas with all of the different tools that are now existing in the marketplace, we can be able to do that more effectively because we have a lot of inherent knowledge in the market in terms of what the customers need. We're in constant communication with our customers in terms of what they would like and how they'd like to improve their systems. And we're in the right place to be able to ask the right questions to the tools to be able to develop capabilities, whereas most people don't even know what to ask.

然而，隨著市場上現在存在各種不同工具，我們可以更有效地做到這一點，因為我們對市場中客戶需求具有大量內建的知識。我們持續與客戶溝通，了解他們想要什麼，以及他們希望如何改善系統。而我們也處在正確的位置，能夠向這些工具提出正確的問題來開發能力；反觀多數人甚至不知道該問什麼。

Thanks, Ajay. You described 2025 as foundational. What should investors look for in 2026 to measure success?

謝謝你，Ajay。你把 2025 年描述為奠基的一年。投資人在 2026 年應該看哪些指標來衡量成功？

Sure. So 2025 was really about strengthening the foundation and our product platform and our go-to-market execution. We're now in front of most of the major customers for biometrics. They know of us. They have a positive opinion of us. We're being included in a lot of their evaluations. And as we move into 2026, the proof points that investors should look around or look for really around improving execution, stronger conversion of our pipeline into actual program wins, recurring software deployments, larger solution-based programs, particularly in government markets are definitely things that investors can look to.

當然。2025 年主要是在強化基礎、我們的產品平台，以及我們的市場進入（go-to-market）執行。我們現在已經站在大多數生物辨識主要客戶面前。他們認識我們。他們對我們有正面的看法。我們被納入他們許多評估之中。當我們進入 2026 年，投資人應該關注的驗證點，主要會圍繞在執行力提升、將銷售管線更強力地轉化為實際專案得標、經常性軟體部署、更大型的解決方案型專案，特別是在政府市場——這些都是投資人可以關注的重點。

Progression from pilots and evaluations into production deployment is another one. And third, while results can be uneven quarter-to-quarter given the nature of government opportunities, especially, we expect to see greater consistency in bookings and revenue over time as those efforts begin to take hold.

另一項是從試點與評估推進到正式上線部署。第三，雖然由於政府機會的性質，尤其是政府案，季度之間的結果可能不均衡，但隨著這些努力開始發揮效果，我們預期隨時間推進，訂單（bookings）與營收將呈現更高的一致性。

Thank you, Ajay and David. At this time, this concludes our question-and-answer session. If your question wasn't answered, please e-mail Aware's IR team at AWRE@gateway-grp.com.

謝謝你，Ajay 和 David。此時，我們的問答環節到此結束。如果您的問題未獲回答，請寄電子郵件至 Aware 的投資人關係（IR）團隊：AWRE@gateway-grp.com。

Before we conclude, I'd like to remind everyone that a replay of today's call will be available via link in the Investor Relations section of Aware's website. Thank you for joining us for Aware's Fourth Quarter 2025 Conference Call. You may now disconnect.

在我們結束之前，我想提醒大家，今天電話會議的重播將可透過 Aware 官網「投資人關係」專區中的連結取得。感謝各位參加 Aware 2025 年第四季電話法說會。您現在可以掛線。