# Brandon Tseng Co-founder and President of [[Shield AI]]. Former Navy SEAL and Surface Warfare Officer who served seven years including combat in Afghanistan. Got the idea for Shield AI after his unit suffered casualties in Uruzgan province due to poor reconnaissance of a hostile building. ## Background - Served as a Navy SEAL officer; combat experience directly motivated the company's founding. - Co-founded Shield AI in 2015 in San Diego with brother Ryan Tseng and Andrew Reiter. - Represents the "operator-turned-founder" archetype in defense tech — someone who experienced military capability gaps firsthand. ## Shield AI Under Tseng - Company valued at ~$5.6B. - Revenue ~$300M (FY ending March 2025), targeting $1B by FY2028. - Products include AI-powered V-BAT drones and uncrewed X-BAT fighter jets. - Planning VTOL demonstrations in late 2026, full operational validation by 2028. - Maintains a nuanced position on armed autonomous systems — argues against fully armed drones despite having weapons deals for V-BAT. ## See Also - [[Shield AI]] - [[Autonomous Weapons Debate]]