Hoverfly Technologies and Overland AI have expanded their collaboration to deliver integrated air-ground unmanned systems for defence and government missions. The partnership combines Hoverfly's tethered unmanned aerial systems with Overland AI's autonomous ground vehicle technology, creating persistent aerial intelligence paired with autonomous ground manoeuvre. The integrated solution has been demonstrated with organisations including CAL FIRE, the US Army 82nd Airborne Division and the Defence Innovation Unit. The system provides extended command-and-control, communications relay and persistent situational awareness in complex environments. The announcement follows Overland AI's recent $100 million funding round. The companies aim to address Department of War priorities including autonomous manoeuvre support, persistent intelligence gathering and reduced operator burden across multi-domain operations.

Hoverfly Technologies and Overland AI expand collaboration. * home * Hoverfly Technologies and Overland AI expand collaboration. 11 March 2026 Hoverfly Technologies, a leader in tethered unmanned aerial systems (TeUAS), and Overland AI, a pioneer in autonomous ground vehicle (AGV) technology, have announced the continued expansion of their collaboration to accelerate the development and deployment of integrated unmanned solutions for defense, national security, and government customers. Hoverfly Spectre TeUAS is deployed autonomously onboard Overland AI's ULTRA UGV The partnership brings together Hoverfly's Blue UAS Cleared, persistent aerial platforms with Overland AI's award-winning autonomy stack for ground systems, creating a tightly coupled air-ground capability that extends sensing, communications, and operational endurance across complex and contested environments. Together, the companies are delivering a remotely operated, multi-domain solution that provides persistent situational awareness and mission resilience. The combined system has been highlighted in demonstrations across the country with organizations such as CAL FIRE, the US Army 82nd Airborne Division, and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), showcasing how autonomous ground mobility paired with persistent tethered aerial sensing enhances operational effectiveness in dynamic and contested environments. Extending autonomy across domains. As the Department of War (DoW) accelerates adoption of autonomous and semi-autonomous systems across formations, the ability for unmanned assets to operate collaboratively across domains has become a priority. Hoverfly and Overland AI's collaboration directly supports this objective by integrating persistent aerial overwatch and communications with autonomous ground maneuver. The result is a more resilient and adaptive robotic ecosystem - designed to operate where traditional platforms fall short. "Modern operations demand autonomous systems that work together - not in silos," said Steve Walters, CEO of Hoverfly. "By partnering with Overland AI, we're extending the reach and effectiveness of unmanned ground systems with aerial persistence that fundamentally changes how Warfighters sense, decide, and act." Hoverfly's tethered UAS provides continuous power and data, enabling hours or days of uninterrupted operation - ideal for command-and-control (C2) extension, perimeter security, and expeditionary missions. When paired with Overland AI's autonomous ground platforms, operators gain a decisive advantage in mobility, perception, and endurance. Multiple mission sets have been demonstrated through the collaboration, including persistent situational awareness, electronic warfare (EW) sensing, and communications relay. By combining Overland AI's autonomous navigation with Hoverfly's vehicle-mounted TeUAS, operators gain a mobile, elevated vantage point that can remain aloft for extended periods while remaining RF-quiet and logistically efficient. Extending mission effects through autonomous maneuver. Deployed across multiple government evaluations, Overland AI's ULTRA UGV has consistently demonstrated its ability to project power and sustain autonomous mobility in unstructured environments. Whether supporting ISR, fires, or resupply missions, ULTRA delivers decisive advantages on the ground for warfighters. By integrating Hoverfly's persistent aerial systems, this capability is elevated, transforming the autonomous vehicle into a mobile unmanned platform for extended overwatch and communications retransmission. "Warfighters need autonomous systems that significantly extend their operational reach," said Stephanie Bonk, co-founder and president of Overland AI. "Our collaboration with Hoverfly delivers a fully integrated, mobile overwatch and communications node to reduce unnecessary risk while sustaining maneuver across the battlefield." The Hoverfly-Overland AI collaboration supports key DoW priorities, including modular open systems, rapid integration, and scalable unmanned deployment across echelons. The combined solution set addresses a wide range of operational needs, including: * - Extended command-and-control and communications relay * - Autonomous maneuver support in complex terrain * - Persistent ISR for perimeter security, route clearance, and forward operations * - Reduced cognitive and manpower burden on operators * By emphasizing interoperability and platform-agnostic integration, the partnership aligns with Army and joint initiatives focused on unmanned teaming, multi-domain operations (MDO), and next-generation C2 architectures. Backed by momentum and investment. This announcement follows a period of significant momentum for Overland AI, which recently closed a $100 million funding round, underscoring strong investor confidence in the company's autonomous ground technology and its role in the future of defense and robotics. The investment will support continued growth, advanced research and development, and expanded partnerships - such as the collaboration with Hoverfly - to bring next-generation unmanned capabilities to market faster. Together, Hoverfly and Overland AI are positioned to help shape the next era of unmanned operations - where air and ground systems operate as a unified, intelligent force. About Hoverfly Technologies. Hoverfly Technologies is a U.S.-based manufacturer of tethered unmanned aerial systems (TeUAS) delivering persistent ISR, communications, and force-protection capabilities for defense, homeland security, and public safety missions. Hoverfly systems are designed for reliability, endurance, and rapid integration across operational environments. About Overland AI. Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Overland AI builds autonomous land systems to defend the United States and its allies. The company is filling a capability gap with off-road autonomy that takes on the critical tasks that put humans at greatest risk. Overland AI products span the full stack across autonomy software, the sensors and control systems that enable perception and maneuver, and in-house manufacturing to deliver autonomous assets rapidly and at scale.

Tech moves: Smartsheet CTO departs; Overland AI taps legal lead; Zillow, Comcast promote execs. - Cynthia Tee has left Smartsheet, where she was chief technology officer at the work management software giant. Tee was CTO since February 2025; before that she was senior vice president of engineering for nearly four years. The Bellevue-based company has not publicly announced Tee's departure or named a replacement. A spokesperson said via email: "We thank [Tee] for the many contributions and wish her well in her next opportunity." Tee told GeekWire she has not taken a new role elsewhere. Early in her career, Tee was with Microsoft for two decades, joining in 1994 and working for many years on Windows technologies. Prior to Smartsheet, she was vice president of commerce technology at Nordstrom. Tee was also executive director of Seattle's Ada Developers Academy, a tuition-free tech bootcamp providing training for women and other underrepresented people in tech. Smartsheet laid off an undisclosed number of workers earlier this month. Tech veteran Rajeev "Raj" Singh took over as CEO in October following the August announcement that longtime Smartsheet CEO Mark Mader was retiring. - Overland AI, a Seattle startup building autonomous ground vehicles used by the U.S. military, hired Mark Dewyea as head of legal. Dewyea, who is based in Virginia, joins the company from Shield AI where he was chief of staff and in-house counsel. "Mark brings extensive experience across government, military, and defense technology sectors, including service as an active duty judge advocate in the U.S. Marine Corps and as a legal analyst at the Federal Bureau of Investigation," Overland AI said on LinkedIn. Overland AI spun out of the University of Washington in 2022 and earlier this month announced $100 million in new funding. - Jessica Roberto is joining the Washington State Department of Commerce as Knowledge Economy Lead in the Office of Economic Development and Competitiveness. Roberto was previously at the UW's Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship where she served as associate director and manager of graduate student programs and the Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge. She was with the Buerk Center for six years and holds a PhD from the UW in pathobiology. - Heather Redman, co-founder and managing partner of the venture firm Flying Fish, is now on the Seattle branch board of directors for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. - Seattle tech entrepreneur Anna Fuller is now working on commerce AI at Google. She was previously head of product at California's Big Sur AI, which Google acquired at the end of last year. Fuller is also a resident expert at Seattle's AI2 Incubator, which launched the AI House last year on the city's waterfront. - Alaska Airlines promoted Ben Brookman to vice president of real estate and airport affairs. Brookman has been with the airline for more than a decade over two separate periods. Past employers include Convoy and Amazon. - Comcast named Keith Turner as senior VP of its Pacific Northwest region, which serves Xfinity and Comcast Business customers in Washington and Oregon. Turner has been with the telecom and entertainment giant for nearly two decades. - Zillow promoted Rebecca Amos-Stuart to marketing director. Amos-Stuart, based in the Seattle area, has been with the real estate tech company for more than six years. She previously ran her own consulting business and was with Verizon for 12 years. - Cam Caldwell, chief operating officer for Binti, is now running the software development company's newly opened Seattle office. San Francisco-based Binti is building technology that serves the child welfare system. The new location is hiring. - Seattle-based music licensing startup Incantio appointed Virl Hill to its board of directors. Hill is a media and technology executive whose past employers include Microsoft, RealNetworks and Disney. He previously served on Incantio's advisory board. - The firm Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice named Brian Maxey as senior counsel in its Seattle office. Maxey, previously COO for the Seattle Police Department, will focus on risk management planning, crisis response and strategic litigation for clients in the public sector. - Vija Veinbergs-Rogers is now a senior software engineer at the Seattle-based AI roleplay startup Yoodli. She joins from the neurology tech company Rune Labs. - The National Academy of Engineering, an organization conferring one of the highest professional distinctions for engineers, has elected 130 new members including for four connected to the Pacific Northwest: * David Baker, a UW Nobel Laureate and director of UW Medicine's Institute for Protein Design, which uses AI to create de novo proteins. * Douglas Burger, a Microsoft Research technical fellow and corporate VP accelerating cloud-scale computing and networking infrastructures with field-programmable systems. * James Hamilton, an Amazon SVP and distinguished engineer focused on cloud computing and data center efficiency. * Elizabeth Lund, a retired SVP of quality for Boeing who worked on development and production of the twin-aisle commercial airplanes. - The Oregon Entrepreneurs Network appointed five new members to its 18-person board of directors: * Ernie Bootsma, shareholder and attorney with Buchalter LLC * Suhail Khan, SVP at the insurance firm Marsh * Allie Persitz (Magyar), owner of Dynamic Events and operating partner at Elevate Capital * Melanie Strong, founding partner of the investment firm Next Ventures * Shanbo Zhang, angel investor and venture partner at Oregon Venture Fund