Shield AI

Shield AI is a US-based defense technology company that designs and deploys autonomous mission systems for aircraft and unmanned platforms. Founded in 2015, it employs over 1,000 people and works to what it describes as an aircraft-agnostic, battle-tested engineering philosophy. Its stated vision is "Autonomy for the world", with the long-term belief that "the greatest victory requires no war".

The company's products are built around Hivemind, an autonomy backbone that powers autonomous mission systems. Platforms include V-BAT, a vertical take-off and landing unmanned aircraft, and X-BAT, an autonomous aircraft. Supporting software and hardware modules comprise Pilot, an AI pilot for autonomous flight operations; Commander, which enables human directable autonomy; Forge, development and testing tooling; EdgeOS, an operating system for rapid development, testing and deployment of resilient autonomy; Hivemind Enterprise, built to operate in GPS and communications denied environments; and ViDAR, a sensor and AI capability for detection and reconnaissance in denied environments.

Technical work spans autonomy and AI pilots, autonomous mission systems, unmanned aerial systems, edge AI for GPS and comms denied environments, software and hardware integration, and resilient autonomy across domains. The company serves the defense, national security, unmanned aerial systems and aerospace sectors, with offices across the United States and international locations, and collaboration with allies.

Stated cultural principles include servant leadership, a mission-first mindset focused on protecting service members and civilians, an emphasis on safe and reliable autonomy, and a human directable approach to autonomy.