Shield AI
shield.ai
Actively hiring
Defense Manufacturing
Drone AI
Defense AI
Military Drones
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Salaries
Products
People
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Offices
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Financials
How Shield AI hires
Truth index
B 78/100
Median time to fill
76 days
Ghost roles
0%
Stale roles
70%
Reposted roles
0%
Shield AI scores B on the Alion truth index (A is best, E worst), measured over 63 open roles re-checked against its own hiring board: 0% look like ghost listings, 70% have gone stale and 0% are the same role posted again. Its roles close in a median of 76 days. It measures how much of what this employer publishes turns into a real, finite search - not the employer as a workplace. How the index is computed
Visa sponsorship
- United States · H-1B filings in 12 months: 2
- United Kingdom · Licensed UK visa sponsor (Senior or Specialist Worker, Skilled Worker)
Overview
Shield AI is an American defence technology company founded in 2015 that builds autonomy software and uncrewed aircraft for military missions. Its Hivemind autonomy stack lets aircraft fly, navigate and complete objectives without GPS, a remote pilot or a communications link, which matters in contested environments where those links are jammed. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the company fields the V-BAT vertical take-off aircraft with United States and allied forces, licenses Hivemind to other manufacturers and is developing the X-BAT jet for high-end missions.
News
Defense Startup Shield AI in Talks for Valuation of at Least $20 Billion
Shield AI, a startup building drones and AI-powered software for the military, is in talks to raise new funds at a valuation of at least $20 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the fundraise. The funding round, if it closes, would represent a
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Report
Shield AI Names Possible Polish Suppliers For X-Bat Aviation Week
Shield AI has committed to support future production and sustainment in Poland of autonomous X-Bat combat aircraft.
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Report
The Life of AVEN - How a 1990s F-16 Thrust-Vectoring Nozzle Became the Key to X-BAT's Vertical Takeoff
Every piece of disruptive technology in history has a life story. For X-BAT, that story begins nearly forty years before its conception with the development of a unique propulsion technology. AVEN, or the Axisymmetric Vectoring Exhaust Nozzle, is the thru
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Report
Shield AI and Taiwan's NCSIST complete autonomous swarm exercise and expand sovereign AI and Autonomy efforts
TAIPEI (August 6th 2026) - Shield AI and Taiwan's National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) today announced the successful field demonstration of a coordinated autonomous search mission with three NCSIST Mighty Hornet III unmanned a
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Report
Shield AI and Thunder Tiger complete Hivemind's first multi-asset autonomous maritime teaming demonstration in Taiwan
TAIPEI (July 29, 2026) - Shield AI and Thunder Tiger Corp. today announced the successful completion of Hivemind's first multi-asset autonomous teaming demonstration on water, validating Shield AI's Hivemind AI pilot aboard Thunder Tiger SeaShark unmanned
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Report
Honeywell Aerospace, Shield AI collaborate to advance development of autonomous aircraft
Honeywell Aerospace is building trusted autonomy for both commercial and defense platforms leveraging Shield AI software development kit FARNBOROUGH, United Kingdom (July 22, 2026) - Honeywell Aerospace (Nasdaq: HONA) and Shield AI, a leader in AI-powered
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Report
V-BAT achieves SORA SAIL III operational authorization, completes Frontex maritime pilot project in Italy
ROME (July 21, 2026) - Shield AI announced today that V-BAT achieved the highest European Union Aviation Safety Agency's (EASA) authorization issued to date in Europe for unmanned maritime operations and completed a pilot project with Frontex, the Europea
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Report
Shield AI and GE Aerospace light off X-BAT engine, completing thrust vectoring nozzle integration and clearing path to vertical flight
CINCINNATI (July 20, 2026) - GE Aerospace (NYSE: GE) and Shield AI have successfully completed integration, actuation, and engine light-off testing of the advanced Axisymmetric Vectoring Exhaust Nozzle (AVEN) for Shield AI's X-BAT aircraft, a critical mil
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Report
L3Harris and Shield AI complete autonomous electronic warfare flight test
MELBOURNE, Fla. (July 16, 2026) - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) and Shield AI have completed the first flight test of the electromagnetic battle management ecosystem known as Distributed Spectrum Collaboration and Operations (DiSCO) with Shield AI's H
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Tech stack
Technologies named in job postings at Shield AI over the last 12 months, by layer, with the share of postings for each.
Technologies in use
278
Postings analysed
441
Stack modernity
79/100AI adopter
Languages
Python50%
C++42%
MATLAB8%
Bash5%
Frameworks & libraries
ROS6%
ArduPilot5%
PyTorch4%
TensorFlow3%
Databases
Snowflake1%
Delta Lake1%
Amazon Redshift<1%
BigQuery<1%
Cloud & platforms
Linux28%
Kubernetes9%
Azure7%
Windows6%
AI & ML
LLM2%
VLM1%
ChatGPT1%
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Full Shield AI tech stack
278 technologies · by team · pay by technology · changes · similar stacks
Salary insights
Compensation ranges based on this company's open jobs
Median
$230k
Typical range
$12k – $430k
Open positions
458
441
Jobs
Intern
0.9%
Junior
5.2%
Middle
8.4%
Senior
31.3%
Staff
46.9%
Principal
1.8%
Architect
5.4%
| Level | Jobs | Median | Typical range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intern | 4 | $138k | $108k – $194k |
| Junior | 23 | $119k | $68k – $211k |
| Middle | 37 | $142k | $78k – $350k |
| Senior | 138 | $200k | $12k – $430k |
| Staff | 207 | $250k | $100k – $421k |
| Principal | 8 | $350k | $310k – $400k |
| Architect | 24 | $317k | $260k – $420k |
Highest paying role
Senior Manager, Engineering - Hivemind Reasoning (R6291)
$430k
Normalized to USD per year
All salaries at Shield AI
By role, level and city, against the market · 458 jobs with pay
Products
X-BAT
X-BAT is a vertical take-off autonomous jet aircraft designed for strike and air-to-air missions without a runway. It extends the company's line from small reconnaissance craft to high-end combat roles.
shield.ai
Hivemind Enterprise
Hivemind Enterprise packages the autonomy stack as developer tools other manufacturers can build on. It lets defence primes add autonomy to their own platforms rather than starting from scratch.
shield.ai
Nova
Nova is a small autonomous quadcopter built to explore and map buildings and tunnels with no operator input. It was the company's first fielded product, used to clear structures ahead of troops.
shield.ai
V-BAT
V-BAT is a vertical take-off and landing aircraft that needs no runway or launcher and fits in the back of a vehicle. It is used for reconnaissance and targeting by United States and allied units.
shield.ai
Hivemind
Hivemind is Shield AI's autonomy stack that pilots aircraft without GPS or a remote operator. It has flown fighter jets, quadcopters and fixed-wing drones using the same underlying software.
shield.ai
People
Brandon Tseng
Co-Founder & President
Brandon Tseng co-founded Shield AI after serving as a United States Navy SEAL and drives its product and government strategy. His operational experience shaped the company's focus on autonomy in denied environments.
Ryan Tseng
Co-Founder
Ryan Tseng co-founded Shield AI with his brother and led it as chief executive through its growth into a major defence supplier. He previously founded the wireless charging company WiPower.
Andrew Reiter
Co-Founder
Andrew Reiter co-founded Shield AI and built its early autonomy and robotics engineering. His work established the technical basis for the Hivemind stack.
Brian Losey
Executive Officer
Kingsley Afemikhe
Executive Officer
Gary Steele
Executive Officer, Director
Satya Patel
Director
Peter Levine
Director
Robert Harward Jr.
Director
Daniel Gwak
Director
Doug Philippone
Director
Thomas Tull
Director
Names and roles come from public filings, company registers and the company's own site. Is this you? Correct or remove · How we handle this data
Growth
Hiring Momentum
77/100
Scaling fast
Open positions
581
165 opened / 81 closed in 30 days
Median time-to-fill
75 days
faster than 18% of the market
ATS activity
Every ~4 hours
10/16/2026
Hiring Dynamics
+100%
Hiring Focus
The percentage next to each role is its share of the company's job openings over the last 90 days; the arrow shows the shift versus the previous period.
Industrial Engineering
28% ▲
Backend
13% ▼
DevOps
5% ▲
Hardware
5%
Operations
4%
Field & Service
4% ▲
Actively hiring for Industrial Engineering (+65 in 30 days)
Activity Timeline
New location: The Hague
Oct 2026
New location: Bogotá
Oct 2026
Added Robot Framework to stack
Oct 2026
Added Web Components to stack
Oct 2026
Added MQTT to stack
Oct 2026
Added Model Context Protocol to stack
Oct 2026
Added OSPF to stack
Oct 2026
Added BGP to stack
Oct 2026
Added Unreal Engine to stack
Oct 2026
Added Unity to stack
Oct 2026
Added Pytest to stack
Oct 2026
New location: Bonham
Oct 2026
Offices
Where the company hires and what each office is for
Cities
28
Hiring now
28
Countries
16
Busiest office
San Diego
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Headquarters
Builds here
Office with open vacancies
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San Diego
United States
HQ
161 open roles 125 posted in 90 days 47% engineering 1% remote 200-500 est. staff $246k Avg Salary
hires for Backend, Industrial Engineering, Product
Dallas
United States
Plant / site
194 open roles 138 posted in 90 days 28% engineering 1% remote 500-1000 est. staff $216k Avg Salary
hires for Industrial Engineering, Backend, Operations
Seattle
United States
Plant / site
162 open roles 106 posted in 90 days 22% engineering 200-500 est. staff $236k Avg Salary
hires for Industrial Engineering, Hardware, Field & Service
Washington
United States
Plant / site
140 open roles 109 posted in 90 days 38% engineering 1% remote 200-500 est. staff $241k Avg Salary
hires for Backend, Industrial Engineering, Product
San Mateo
United States
Plant / site
60 open roles 59 posted in 90 days 53% engineering 2% remote 50-200 est. staff $265k Avg Salary
hires for Backend, Finance, DevOps
Boston
United States
Engineering / R&D
47 open roles 26 posted in 90 days 70% engineering 50-200 est. staff $254k Avg Salary
hires for Backend, Industrial Engineering, Hardware
Melbourne
Australia
Regional office
35 open roles 30 posted in 90 days 51% engineering 50-200 est. staff
hires for Industrial Engineering, AI/ML, Backend
London
United Kingdom
Regional office
29 open roles 22 posted in 90 days 28% engineering 50-200 est. staff
hires for Solutions, Industrial Engineering, Backend
Bengaluru
India
Engineering / R&D
11 open roles 9 posted in 90 days 73% engineering 10-50 est. staff
hires for Backend, DevOps, Industrial Engineering
New Delhi
India
Sales office
8 open roles 7 posted in 90 days 38% engineering 10-50 est. staff
hires for Backend, Sales, Marketing
Taipei
Taiwan
Plant / site
8 open roles 3 posted in 90 days 13% engineering 10-50 est. staff
hires for Industrial Engineering, Sales, Backend
Kyiv
Ukraine
Regional office
7 open roles 8 posted in 90 days 43% engineering 10-50 est. staff
hires for Management, Backend, DevOps
Wichita
United States
Plant / site
7 open roles 6 posted in 90 days 29% engineering 10-50 est. staff $150k Avg Salary
hires for Industrial Engineering, DevOps, Operations
Tokyo
Japan
Sales office
6 open roles 33% engineering 17% remote 10-50 est. staff
hires for Sales, Backend
Abu Dhabi
United Arab Emirates
Sales office
4 open roles 3 posted in 90 days 10-50 est. staff
hires for Sales, Administrative
Lviv
Ukraine
Regional office
4 open roles 4 posted in 90 days 25% engineering 10-50 est. staff
hires for Backend, Product, HR
Los Angeles
United States
Engineering / R&D
4 open roles 3 posted in 90 days 75% engineering 75% remote 10-50 est. staff $296k Avg Salary
hires for Hardware, Backend, Industrial Engineering
Madrid
Spain
Sales office
3 open roles 3 posted in 90 days 1-10 est. staff
hires for Sales, Solutions
Orlando
United States
2 open roles 4 posted in 90 days 50% engineering 10-50 est. staff $245k Avg Salary
hires for Backend, Legal
Amsterdam
Netherlands
2 open roles 1 posted in 90 days 1-10 est. staff
hires for Management, Solutions
Warsaw
Poland
2 open roles 2 posted in 90 days 1-10 est. staff
hires for Management, Solutions
Athens
Greece
2 open roles 2 posted in 90 days 1-10 est. staff
hires for Management, Solutions
Singapore
Singapore
2 open roles 2 posted in 90 days 1-10 est. staff
hires for HR, Marketing
Seoul
South Korea
1 open roles 1 posted in 90 days 1-10 est. staff
hires for HR
Munich
Germany
1 open roles 1 posted in 90 days 100% remote 1-10 est. staff
hires for Management
Bucharest
Romania
1 open roles 1-10 est. staff
hires for Management
Bonham
United States
1 open roles 1-10 est. staff $68k Avg Salary
hires for Administrative
The Hague
Netherlands
1 open roles 1-10 est. staff
hires for Management
Earlier presence
Rome, Italy
Canberra, Australia
Tallinn, Estonia
Oslo, Norway
Jobs
$120k – $190k per year • In office • Full-Time • 5+ years exp • Bachelor's Degree • San Diego
Python
C++
CI/CD
GitLab
Linux
Cybersecurity
Threat Modeling
Apply
$150k – $230k per year • In office • Full-Time • 8+ years exp • Bachelor's Degree • San Mateo
Python
PowerShell
Bash
Terraform
Ansible
VMWare
Azure
Windows Server
AWS
Kubernetes
Ubuntu
Configuration Management
KVM
Hyper-V
Linux
Windows
TCP/IP
DNS
DHCP
Cybersecurity
Active Directory
Apply
$79k – $110k per year • In office • Full-Time • 3+ years exp • Bachelor's Degree • Dallas
Python
PowerShell
VMWare
Azure
Linux
Windows
Design
SolidWorks
Apply
$180k – $270k per year • In office • Full-Time • 8+ years exp • Bachelor's Degree • San Diego
Jira
Scrum
Apply
$185k – $275k per year • In office • Full-Time • Bachelor's Degree • Seattle
Python
MATLAB
Altium Designer
Keysight ADS
Apply
≈ $36k – $76k per year (Estimated) • In office • 7+ years exp • Bachelor's Degree • Bengaluru
C++
AI Agents
Robotics
Motion Planning
Apply
$120k – $190k per year • In office • Full-Time • San Diego
Python
SQL
Snowflake
Databricks
Apply
$120k – $190k per year • In office • Full-Time • San Diego
Jira
Scrum
Apply
$120k – $190k per year • In office • Full-Time • 3+ years exp • Bachelor's Degree • San Diego
Python
C++
AI Agents
Multi-Agent Systems
DevOps
CI/CD
Configuration Management
Robotics
ROS
Apply
$130k – $240k per year • In office • San Diego • San Mateo
Python
Go
JavaScript
TypeScript
Dagster
Ray
Synthetic Data
Physical AI
Frontend
React.js
DevOps
gRPC
Helm
WebSockets
CI/CD
Kubernetes
Argo Workflows
Apply
$79k – $110k per year • In office • Secret • Full-Time • Bachelor's Degree • Washington • San Diego
Python
C++
SciPy
Pandas
NumPy
Ray
Agentic Workflows
DevOps
Rest API
Terraform
Helm
GitHub Actions
Podman
GitLab CI
CI/CD
Jenkins
Git
Docker
Kubernetes
Buildkite
Linux
Cybersecurity
Wireshark
Tcpdump
Robotics
ROS
Analytics
Matplotlib
Plotly
QA
Pytest
Robot Framework
Apply
$92k – $140k per year • In office • Full-Time • Master's Degree • Washington
Python
Computer Vision
DevOps
CI/CD
Git
Docker
Linux
Apply
Financials
Total raised
$739.2M
Latest round
Series G
Funding rounds
9
Investors
5
Funding rounds
Key Investors
Hanwha
The Korean industrial group Hanwha invested in Shield AI and partnered on regional deployment of its aircraft. Its aerospace arm builds defence systems for allied markets.
hanwha.com
Point72 Ventures
Point72 Ventures participated in Shield AI's earlier growth financings. The firm invests across defence, fintech and enterprise technology.
point72.com
US Innovative Technology Fund
The US Innovative Technology Fund co-led Shield AI's Series F round. The fund backs companies working on national security relevant technology.
usitfund.com
Riot Ventures
Riot Ventures has backed Shield AI across several rounds. The Los Angeles firm invests in hard technology and defence companies.
riot.vc
Andreessen Horowitz
Andreessen Horowitz co-led Shield AI's 2024 financing at a valuation near three billion dollars. The firm invests heavily in defence and industrial technology.
a16z.com