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CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 5:54
Why Two Founders Entered Drone Technology
Matt Cronin asks both founders what drew them into a field once seen as a hobbyist niche. Ryan Tseng describes seeking a noble mission after selling his company to Qualcomm, with his Navy SEAL brother pulling him in. Adam Bry describes a lifelong interest in radio-controlled aircraft and MIT research that led to Skydio.
- •Ryan Tseng wanted to combine a noble mission, extraordinary people and a chance to define the possible
- •His brother, a Navy SEAL, proposed bringing autonomous driving advances to protecting service members
- •Adam Bry grew up flying radio-controlled airplanes and studied AI flight at MIT
- •Skydio started with a consumer quadcopter before government and enterprise markets
- •Skydio won the Army Short Range Reconnaissance program after the military saw value in civilian quadcopters
- 5:54 – 9:31
How Drones Are Reshaping Warfare and Cost Asymmetry
The discussion turns to how drones have transformed combat, especially in Ukraine. Ryan Tseng describes distributed, decentralized and lethal force structures, while Adam Bry stresses the asymmetry of cheap systems destroying expensive ones and says the US military hasn't fully digested this.
- •Drones bring far more mass to the battlefield and enable decentralized force structures
- •Tseng says the US needs to embrace about a hundred times more systems
- •A system costing a few thousand dollars can take out one costing millions
- •Ukraine builds ground, air and sea drones at a rapid, scrappy pace
- •Bry sees institutional inertia toward large exquisite systems, though it is starting to pivot
- 9:31 – 16:45
China's Manufacturing Scale and the Reindustrialization Challenge
Cronin asks about the gap in production capacity between the US and China. Bry explains how manufacturing was outsourced and why electronics ecosystem expertise matters. Tseng calls China's industrial capacity fearsome and argues the US must pair mass with software and autonomy.
- •Drones combine RC aircraft parts, motors and consumer electronics largely built in China
- •Bry says the gap is about ecosystem expertise and built capacity, not just cost
- •Skydio has manufactured in the US since 2016 and sees early tailwinds
- •Tseng describes a 'max-Q' moment and says mass differs from effect
- •Both see AI and autonomy as the US advantage, with Bry calling it a second wave not yet broken
- 16:45 – 21:36
Policy Recommendations: Scaling Procurement and Operationalizing Autonomy
Prompted by a question about what they would tell policymakers, the founders give their recommendations. Tseng urges mobilizing the bureaucracy to deploy autonomy at scale, and Bry says US small-drone programs are off by three orders of magnitude from Ukrainian usage.
- •Tseng praises the people who serve and calls large-scale autonomy deployment the security challenge of our time
- •Ukraine uses millions of small quadcopters yearly versus single-digit thousands in US programs
- •Military purchasing power could move the industrial base for dual-use drones
- •The founders suggest shifting spending from a few exquisite systems toward large quantities of AI-driven drones
- 21:36 – 26:13
Swarm Technologies and Competing in Autonomy
Cronin asks whether the US matches China in swarm technology, citing Chinese drone light shows. Bry argues light shows depend on GPS and constant comms, which are irrelevant in contested battlefields, and says Skydio's edge over DJI is autonomy. Tseng explains Shield AI's focus on AI pilots and enabling the industrial base.
- •Light shows rely fully on GPS and comms links, easily jammed in war
- •Bry says Skydio's advantage over DJI is AI and autonomy
- •Deploying autonomous drones at scale is still a domain the US can win
- •Tseng says mass must be intelligent to find, fix and finish targets at scale
- •Shield AI shifted from building the best AI pilot to enabling others to deploy it
- 26:13 – 29:33
Surviving Electronic Warfare in Ukraine
Cronin asks how drones can operate amid heavy jamming. Bry explains Skydio's vision-based approach, admits its first Ukraine drones failed because EW wasn't in Army requirements, and describes the years-long adaptation. Tseng agrees EW resilience determines relevance.
- •Skydio bet on computer vision in 2014, avoiding reliance on GPS
- •First-generation drones in Ukraine failed because electronic warfare was not in requirements
- •Lessons from visits to Ukraine drove development more than US requirements
- •EW testing is becoming part of purchase evaluations
- •Tseng says claims of EW capability are hard to credit unless proven in practice
- 29:33 – 32:49
Pace of Deployment: The V-Bat Story and Software-Defined Conflict
Tseng recounts the V-Bat losing GPS at three feet in Ukraine, a 24-hour software re-architecture, and a successful demonstration. He argues deployment speed is make-or-break. Bry says modern conflict becomes a software writing fight and the status quo of slow updates is unacceptable.
- •The V-Bat lost GPS at three feet and flew off, found orbiting a cornfield about 80 km away
- •The team rewrote the stack to avoid GPS in 24 hours and validated it in Texas
- •The demonstration ended with a Russian SA-11 found, fixed and finished by a HIMARS
- •Some programs take up to a year or two to push software changes
- •Bry says autonomy and EW are software-defined, so conflict becomes a software fight
- 32:49 – 39:34
Autonomy, Human Control and Ethical Concerns
Cronin raises the concern that autonomous drones remove humans from the loop. The founders discuss deterrence, game theory, military controls, human judgment, and the possibility that machine-only teams could become most effective. They argue autonomy can be more precise than the status quo and that American leadership is essential.
- •Tseng frames weapons as terrible but meant to deter and minimize suffering
- •The game theory resembles nuclear weapons: the worse world is where only your adversary has them
- •Autonomy may be more precise than dropping a 2,000-pound bomb
- •Defensive situations may push toward machine control, as with the Phalanx
- •Bry notes relinquishing control over outcomes, such as dropped bombs, isn't new
- 39:34 – 41:41
Two Futures: Who Dominates AI and Autonomy
Cronin summarizes the earlier points and asks the founders to imagine two futures, one where authoritarian states dominate the technology and one where the US leads. Bry calls AI the most important technology in history and says adversary dominance is unacceptable, criticizing heavy AI regulation as music to Beijing's and Moscow's ears.
- •Cronin frames a contest between totalitarian and free states
- •Bry says AI is the most important technology in human history
- •An adversary having AI while the US doesn't is compared to adversaries holding nuclear weapons alone
- •Bry argues slowing down through heavy regulation benefits rivals, while still urging thoughtfulness
- 41:41 – 43:39
Advice for Aspiring Defense Tech Founders
Cronin asks for one piece of advice for would-be founders in defense and public safety. Tseng says the mission is worth it. Bry says the work is extremely hard, especially hardware, and success requires loving the challenge and embracing the struggle.
- •Tseng says security and stability underpin everything else people care about
- •He is excited and honored to contribute to the mission
- •Bry says to expect hardware serving high-stakes industries to be very hard
- •Long-term success requires loving hard problems
- •Embrace the struggle to have real impact
