Shield AI builds autonomous aircraft (V-BAT, X-BAT) and AI-driven mission systems for defense. The tech stack—Python, C/C++, Rust, Kubernetes, MATLAB/Simulink, plus specialized CAD (SolidWorks, CATIA, NX) and RF/structural simulation (HFSS, CST, NASTRAN)—reflects a hardware-centric autonomy company, not pure software. Engineering dominates hiring (251 of 370 roles), with heavy emphasis on senior/staff-level talent, suggesting they're scaling manufacturing, flight test, and complex systems integration rather than growing a sales org.
Notable leadership hires: Chief Engineer, Strategic Capture Director, Capture Lead, Crew Chief, Director Engineering
Shield AI, founded in 2015 and headquartered in San Diego, develops autonomous aircraft and intelligent systems for defense operations. The product portfolio spans X-BAT aircraft, V-BAT platforms, and Hivemind software (Enterprise and Vision lines). Active projects include hybrid autonomy integration, next-generation unmanned aircraft mission systems, sensor processing pipelines, and A-PNT system development. The company operates across manufacturing, flight test, and post-deployment support, with facilities in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. Current hiring focuses heavily on engineering roles across the U.S. and internationally (India, Japan, UK, Australia, UAE, and others), alongside manufacturing, ops, and finance scaling.
Python, C/C++, Rust, Go, TypeScript, and Java. They're actively adopting TypeScript and Java while maintaining heavy investment in C++ for systems-level work.
X-BAT aircraft development, hybrid autonomy integration, mission systems for unmanned aircraft, flight test support, sensor processing pipelines, and A-PNT system development are active projects.
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