Shield AI

Shield AI develops Hivemind, an AI pilot platform that enables aircraft and drones to operate autonomously in GPS- and communications-denied environments. Its flagship products include the V-BAT vertical-takeoff unmanned aircraft and Nova indoor reconnaissance quadcopter, both fielded by the U.S. Department of Defense and allied militaries. Founded in 2015 in San Diego by former Navy SEAL Brandon Tseng, his brother Ryan Tseng, and Andrew Reiter, Shield AI has positioned itself as the leading pure-play autonomy software provider for defense aviation. In 2025 it launched Hivemind Enterprise, opening its autonomy stack to OEMs and governments building their own unmanned systems. In March 2025 Shield AI raised $240M at a $5.3B valuation, extended to roughly $5.6B shortly after, making it the second-largest U.S. defense technology unicorn after Anduril. Cisco veteran Gary Steele joined as CEO in March 2025 as Ryan Tseng transitioned to President and Chief Strategy Officer.

Shield AI is building the autonomy layer that could become the de facto operating system for Western military drones, a strategic capability at the center of modern air power doctrine.

shield.ai Autonomous Aviation

United Statesprivate

At a glance

Total raised

$1.4B

last round series f

Headcount

1001-5000

approximate · public range

Headquarters

San Diego

United States

Founded

2015

11 years active

Status

Private

Autonomous Aviation

Latest valuation

$5.3B

Series F · 2025

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Funding history

Total raised

$1.4B

Rounds tracked

Latest stage

Series F

Latest valuation

$5.3B

Date	Stage	Amount	Valuation	Lead investors
Mar 6, 2025	Series F	$240M	$5.3B	L3Harris, Hanwha Asset Management

Founder backgrounds

Andrew Reiter

Co-Founder

A former U.S. Navy SEAL officer, Reiter co-founded Shield AI in 2015 alongside Brandon and Ryan Tseng. After his military service, he earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company before launching the company. His background operating in contested environments directly informed Shield AI's core mission: building autonomous systems that function without GPS or communications. The company's Hivemind software pilot has since been deployed across multiple U.S. Department of Defense platforms, including the Kratos MQM-178 and the V-BAT drone.

Brandon Tseng

Co-Founder & President

A former Navy SEAL officer with multiple combat deployments, Tseng co-founded Shield AI alongside his brother, Ryan, after experiencing firsthand the dangers of operating in GPS- and communications-denied environments. He holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from MIT and an MBA from Harvard Business School. His military background directly shaped the company's core thesis: building AI pilots capable of autonomous operation without external signals, since adversaries can jam or spoof those systems. Tseng is recognized for taking a "warfighter-first" approach to product development, insisting that the technology be shaped by operator needs rather than engineering convenience.

Ryan Tseng

Co-Founder & President, Chief Strategy Officer

Co-founded Shield AI in 2015 with his brother Brandon Tseng (former Navy SEAL) and Andrew Reiter, driven by the operational problem of maintaining drone autonomy without GPS or communications. Previously a Product Manager at Google, where he worked on Google X, and a management consultant at McKinsey & Company. Earlier, he co-founded QikFit, a mobile fitness startup that was acquired. Holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

AI bull / bear

Bull case

Shield AI owns the critical autonomy choke point as military aviation pivots from crewed jets to autonomous swarms. Hivemind's GPS-denied operation is combat-proven with U.S. and allied forces—a barrier to entry few competitors can match. The V-BAT and Nova platforms already generate defense revenue while the March 2025 launch of Hivemind Enterprise turns proprietary software into a licensable layer for OEMs, dramatically expanding TAM without capital-intensive manufacturing. The company raised $1.4 billion through Series F, and recent intelligence indicates a $2 billion Series G in March 2026, signaling sustained investor conviction and runway to scale. Strategic investors L3Harris and Hanwha Asset Management bring procurement channels and international partnerships. New CEO Gary Steele—Cisco veteran—adds enterprise go-to-market muscle precisely as Shield pivots to platform licensing. With Western governments racing to field autonomous air power and China advancing its own systems, Shield's dual advantage in software and deployment creates a compounding moat.

Bear case

Shield AI faces a crowded autonomy race with deep-pocketed rivals. Anduril, valued higher and flush with capital, is building overlapping capabilities and has secured major DOD programs. Traditional primes (Lockheed, Boeing, Northrop) are embedding autonomy in-house, threatening to bypass third-party software layers. The Hivemind Enterprise pivot to licensing is unproven—OEMs may resist ceding control of core autonomy IP, preferring proprietary stacks or open-source alternatives. Defense procurement is glacial and lumpy; even with fielded systems, scaling revenue depends on multi-year budget cycles vulnerable to political and fiscal shocks. The CEO transition mid-scaling introduces execution risk, and the company's $5.6 billion valuation demands blockbuster outcomes that hinge on becoming the Windows of military drones—a winner-take-most scenario far from guaranteed. International expansion faces export controls and geopolitical friction. If Hivemind doesn't achieve platform lock-in soon, Shield risks becoming a niche hardware vendor squeezed by integrators.

Generated by claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929 · April 25, 2026Refreshes quarterly · see disclosures

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Leadership

Brandon Tseng

Co-Founder & President & President & Co-Founder

Ryan Tseng

Co-Founder & President, Chief Strategy Officer & President & Chief Strategy Officer

Andrew Reiter

Co-Founder

—

Gary Steele

CEO

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Products

Hivemind (AI pilot)
AI autonomy software that assumes the role of a human pilot, enabling unmanned defense systems to sense, decide, and act. Unlike traditional autopilots that simply follow preplanned routes, Hivemind can reroute around no-fly zones, avoid or engage obstacles, respond to unexpected conditions, and complete missions safely without human intervention. In continuous combat deployment since 2018, making it the most operationally experienced autonomous AI pilot. Has piloted 26 classes of vehicles including F-16s, jet-powered UAVs, helicopters, drone boats, and ground vehicles. Recently demonstrated autonomously flying two Navy BQM-177A aircraft during a December 2025 flight test at Point Mugu Sea Range in California.
Hivemind Enterprise
Autonomy software suite for developers and organizations building, testing, evaluating, and deploying autonomy for intelligent machines. Accelerates autonomy development by delivering a multi-year head start with platform products, AI-powered toolsets, and leveraging Shield AI's proven edge autonomy work enabling unmanned systems to operate in GPS- and comms-denied environments. The product suite includes an integrated autonomy factory, industrial-grade production ready middleware, a rich autonomy catalogue, and seamless mission control. The same tools that make up Hivemind Enterprise have already enabled Shield AI to autonomously fly F-16s, MQ-20s, MQM-178s, and operate V-BATs in GPS- and communications-denied environments.
V-BAT
Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle with ducted-fan design, more than 12 hours of endurance, and heavy-fuel engine. Designed, tested, and deployed for electronic warfare environments, V-BAT operates in GPS-denied and comms-contested conditions using Shield AI's Hivemind autonomy software, which includes visual odometry navigation capabilities. 40 lbs maximum payload capacity; lands in zones as small as 4.6 m × 4.6 m. First unmanned cargo delivery to a U.S. Navy ship at sea (December 2022).
Nova quadcopter
Compact quadcopter designed for indoor exploration, mapping, and reconnaissance in GNSS-denied environments, running Hivemind autonomy software to operate without GPS or human operator control. Deployed in high-stakes missions since 2018, including Israeli hostage rescue operations. Nova 2, the current generation, features an embedded Xavier AGX compute module and 15-camera sensor array, enabling dense depth matching and feature tracking for robust state estimation in complex 3D indoor spaces. The platform serves as the foundational testbed for Shield AI's broader Hivemind autonomy stack.

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