Ben Wolff spent two decades trying to build Iron Man suits for the Pentagon. After taking Sarcos Robotics public, he watched its market value collapse from $1.6 billion to around $12 million. When the board called in late 2023 to discuss liquidating the company, Wolff saw something worth saving: the AI behind the hardware.
He returned as CEO for a dollar a year, cut three-quarters of the workforce, and transformed the struggling robotics company into Palladyne AI. Today, the company develops software that allows drones from different manufacturers to operate as collaborative swarms, responding to changing battlefield conditions without constant human direction. It has also moved back into hardware, acquiring manufacturers and securing US production rights for Israeli Aerospace Industries’ Harpy, Harop, and Mini Harpy loitering munitions.
In this episode of Defense Disruptors, Wolff explains how the company made the transition from exoskeletons to autonomous warfare, why he believes one soldier could coordinate 200 drones using its software, and why he thinks the US military can no longer afford to wait until 2032 or 2035 for these capabilities.
Read the full episode on NextGen Defense: Defense Disruptors: How Palladyne AI Could Let One Soldier Command 200 Drones