Top 50% vertical AI efficiency trophy

Shield AI: #25 of 83 by ARR per employee

Shield AI is ranked #25 of 83 vertical AI companies on Vertical Velocity with $251K ARR per employee. The company is #3 in Defense AI and is tracked as part of the vertical AI efficiency benchmark.

Company metrics

  1. Overall rank #25 of 83
  2. Category rank #3 in Defense AI
  3. ARR per employee $251K/emp
  4. Estimated ARR $300M
  5. Headcount 1,196
  6. Headquarters San Diego, CA

What the company does

Shield AI develops autonomous AI systems for defense, building AI pilots for drones and fighter jets that enable autonomous flight in GPS-denied and contested environments without remote operators. The company serves the US Department of Defense and allied militaries that need unmanned systems capable of operating independently in communications-degraded battlefields. Shield AI's Hivemind autonomy stack powers multiple aircraft platforms including the V-BAT vertical takeoff drone and is being adapted for fighter aircraft through its Mosaic AI pilot program. The company has become one of the highest-valued defense AI startups, competing for contracts in the Pentagon's push toward autonomous drone swarms and collaborative combat aircraft.