Shield AI is a defense technology company building AI-powered autonomy for aircraft and unmanned systems. Its core platform Hivemind is an AI pilot that flies UAVs and aircraft without GPS or comms; its flagship product V-BAT is a vertical take-off and landing UAV used by the U.S. military and allied forces, including in Ukraine. Hivemind Enterprise lets OEMs embed Shield AI's autonomy stack into their own platforms.
Shield AI is a defense technology company building AI-powered autonomy for aircraft and unmanned systems. Its core platform Hivemind is an AI pilot that flies UAVs and aircraft without GPS or comms; its flagship product V-BAT is a vertical take-off and landing UAV used by the U.S. military and allied forces, including in Ukraine. Hivemind Enterprise lets OEMs embed Shield AI's autonomy stack into their own platforms.
Founded in 2015 in San Diego by Navy SEAL Brandon Tseng, his brother Ryan Tseng, and Andrew Reiter. The idea came from a SEAL mission in Afghanistan where Brandon's unit took casualties clearing a hostile building with no situational awareness; they set out to build autonomous drones that could fly indoors without GPS, comms, or a pilot. The first product, the Nova quadcopter, was deployed for reconnaissance in the Middle East starting in 2018.
In March 2026 Shield AI raised $1.5B Series G led by Advent International (co-led by JPMorgan SRI) plus $500M preferred from Blackstone at a $12.7B valuation; proceeds include acquiring Aechelon Technology.
Shield AI named former Splunk CEO Gary Steele as its new chief executive as the defense-tech company crossed a $5.6B valuation.
In 2025 Shield AI began selling V-BAT to allied governments including the Netherlands, Ukraine, and Egypt, adding to its existing U.S. Marine Corps, SOCOM and Coast Guard customers.
Shield AI's Kyiv-based operations team has flown more than 130 V-BAT sorties alongside Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces and identified more than 200 Russian targets in 2025.
In August 2025 Ukraine's Ministry of Defence formally designated Shield AI a "verified business partner".
Shield AI raised a $240M F-1 strategic round in March 2025 led by L3Harris with Hanwha and existing investors, to scale Hivemind Enterprise to OEMs and governments.
Co-Founder & President
Co-founder and President of Shield AI. Former U.S. Navy SEAL officer; got the idea for Shield AI after his unit took casualties clearing a building in Afghanistan with no reconnaissance. Earned an MBA at Harvard Business School before co-founding the company in 2015.
Co-Founder
Co-founder of Shield AI, joining Brandon and Ryan Tseng in San Diego in 2015 to build AI-powered autonomous flight systems for defense.
$2B raised total
