At the fourth edition of FlytBase’s NestGen event, the opening keynote set the tone for the rest of the event by highlighting how autonomous systems will shape the ways work gets done in the years to come.

In the opening address, FlytBase CEO Nitin Gupta stated that “AI is here to disrupt the way we work.” The use cases shared from all over the world during the keynote confirmed that idea and proved that AI will be a beneficial disruption for our industry.

However, the keynote cautioned that the biggest challenge to moving towards fully autonomous operations is adoption, a challenge faced in every corner of the industry. To this point, Jeremiah Karpowicz of Commercial UAV News stated during his keynote presentation that to encourage adoption “we have to show them it’s more about the people than it is about the technology.”

Overcoming the challenge of adoption is critical as the keynote showed how the integration of autonomous systems present can fundamentally transform business models. Specifically, the presentation demonstrated how drone-in-a-box (DIB) solutions, provide a way to move away from the idea that the solution provider needs to travel to the site, fly the drone, process the data off-site, then get the data to the customer. Now, all of this can be done remotely and autonomously, saving the customer money and reducing risk for operators.

Commercial UAV News spoke with Gupta about this topic in the fall of 2024. When DIB solutions first emerged, he explained, they seemed out of reach for most organizations due to the sheer cost of the hardware and the difficulties associated with integrating multiple autonomous systems to make sense for one organization’s needs.

Fast forward to today, and the narrative has shifted. As technology has advanced and the need for DIB solutions has become abundant, they are far more accessible, financially and operationally. In the Commercial UAV News piece, Gupta asserted that not only has the price of the hardware come down, but just as importantly the ecosystem of collaboration has become a major asset in adoption.

During the keynote, case studies from all over the world highlighted the points Gupta made, and showed how easy and efficient it was to use DIB solutions in high-risk situations and rural areas. For example, use cases were presented involving power line inspections, avalanche and landslide detection and monitoring, aerial surveillance, crop protection from wildlife, and forest fire prevention and beyond. Also, agencies discussed their autonomous operations as a successful and solid operation and reiterated the need to scale up operations in 2025.

In the days to come, check out Commercial UAV News for more recaps from NestGen 2025.