The Drone Ultimatum

What happens when a drone needs to navigate underground, inside a building, or in an environment where GPS is unavailable? Dr. Stefan Hrabar is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Emesent, an Australian robotics company developing autonomous navigation and 3D mapping technology. After completing his PhD in robotics at USC, Stefan spent a decade researching drone autonomy at Australia’s CSIRO before co-founding Emesent in 2018. Stefan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefanhrab

Malin Crewse and LeGrand Crewse are brothers and co-founders of Corvus Industries, where LeGrand serves as CEO and Malin as CTO. Corvus is developing small, low-cost kinetic interceptors designed to counter drones at ranges where electronic warfare and existing missile systems can fall short. Corvus Industries: https://corvusind.com/ Malin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malin-crewse-268642ba/ Follow the show! Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3F1sc8yzQIF9WcdHQ3w7kf Apple Pod

Derek McBride, Portfolio Manager in the Autonomous Warfare portfolio at the Department of War Innovation Unit (DIU), joins the show to discuss how the Pentagon is approaching drones, autonomy, and the defense industrial base. Derek on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derekmcbride/ DIU Website: https://www.diu.mil/ Follow the show! Steve on X: https://x.com/StevenSimoni Steve on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevensimoni Spo

Josh Giegel is the Founder and CEO of Gambit AI, an autonomous systems software company building technology to coordinate teams of robots. Before founding Gambit, Josh worked at SpaceX on the Merlin 1D engine and co-founded Hyperloop Technologies, later Virgin Hyperloop. Ben Richardson, Gambit’s Chief Commercial Officer, brings a military and defense innovation background to the company. Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-giegel/ Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/b

Brian Taylor is the Founder & CEO of Lux Aeterna, a startup developing the world's first fully reusable satellite for high-tempo, reliable, and flexible timelines in orbit. Brian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianjtaylor/ Lux Aeterna: https://www.luxaeterna.com/ Follow the show! Steve on X: https://x.com/StevenSimoni Steve on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevensimoni Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3F1sc8yzQI

Read the Global Drone Threat Report (2026): https://dronesec.com/resources/d479e340-f78f-11f0-ab58-9f Listen to our first podcast with Mike: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2utl1hG9Fc Mike Monnik, founder and CEO of DroneSec, joins The Drone Ultimatum to explain what his team is seeing across the global drone threat landscape—from fiber-optic FPVs and jet-powered attack drones to maritime systems, humanoid robots, and drone-enabled gray-zone operations. DroneSec tracks how militaries, terror