Military decisions are known to be made in Washington, DC, but defense innovation is happening in the Bay Area. 

San Mateo-based drone company Skydio is already being put to use by U.S. service members, aiding those on the battlefield to understand their terrain without deploying human assets. 

For CEO Adam Bry, the concept was meant to be. 

“I grew up flying radio-controlled airplanes. I took this stuff way too seriously as a kid,” Bry told CBS News Bay Area.

He took that childhood hobby and turned it into change-making drones. 

Today, Skydio drones are being deployed on battlefields and donated to Ukrainian soldiers where they give a unique perspective documenting war crimes and giving Ukraine a head start on understanding reconstruction efforts. 

“It’s just incredibly powerful for soldiers to be able to put something in the air to get immediate real-time situational awareness around them. They don’t have to rely on some super expensive high-flying drone,” Bry explained. “They can just put the thing in the air, they can see what’s on the other side of the hill, they can look out a couple miles on the other side of the building, and it keeps them safer and enables them to make better decisions.”

The autonomous drones are being put to work on the other side of the world, but the innovation is happening here, in Silicon Valley. 

“Silicon Valley, in particular, for the last few decades has been on the leading edge of software development, which has led to the genesis of artificial intelligence and all these other things,” said Bry. “So, I think those should be areas of strength for us as a country if we can get it right.”

It’s made possible in large part by venture capital firms like San Francisco-based Shield Capital run by former Air Force pilot Raj Shah. 

“I think you’ve seen a recognition in DOD or the Defense Department and the Pentagon that, ‘Boy, this advanced technology, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, the things that are really going to matter in the future to preserve Democracy are coming from companies based here in the in the valley,” Shah told CBS News Bay Area.

It’s a high-risk, high-reward field that the Pentagon isn’t always willing to dive head-first into. But with private investments, Shah said cutting-edge technology is what our service members deserve. 

“Our men and women in uniform are some of the most innovative, dedicated people you’ll ever meet, and you will see evidence of that Fleet Week in the air and on the sea,” said Shah. “And so they deserve to have the best technology and the best equipment possible because they’re going to take whatever we give them and do their best no matter what. They’re on a no-fail mission.”

For Bry, the impact goes beyond the military, and he sees his drones being applied to entire communities, including the newly-released X10 drone that’s equipped with high-level sensors and cameras that can map structures within minutes or track moving objects from miles away. 

“We imagine a world where drones are responding to 911 calls and getting eyes on scene in a matter of seconds to get better information to officers and help them keep themselves safe or help them keep the community safer,” said Bry. 

It’s a kind of innovation, he said, that he couldn’t have imagined a decade ago. 

“I’m not neutral, but I think it’s the most exciting stuff in the world to be working on,” said Bry. 

It’s that Silicon Valley motivation that will continue to advance how our warfighters are staying ahead of the curve.