When the first drone images started beaming down, Tim saw the first problem. Size matters. That was just the start and life got complicated as all that ultra-high resolution imagery created ambiguity and bottlenecks for accurate analysis of the data. Despite years of analyzing satellite data around the globe for the US Army, this was different and current software couldn’t generate answers paying customers were asking of these new aerial platforms and remote sensing systems. Coupled with the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the landscape seemed right for a new approach to image analysis. As founder and CEO of Spectrabotics, Tim has led the company’s efforts to build an AI imagery analysis service that enables anyone to use Machine Learning (ML) to classify and identify objects, features, and conditions of interest within their imagery data. Along the journey there were moments of exhilarating highs (contracted by the US Air Force to build a hyperspectral sensor system), working with industry pioneers, and connecting data-collectors to problem-owners for repeat services. And of course, there were the lows—the occasional dead end market segments, the rollercoaster dips in revenue, and the ever-looming threat of the competition. All part of the adventure. As a result, the future of image-analysis is happening faster and evolving in ways that enable other technologies and use-cases to accelerate their development. The journey isn’t over and size no long matters.
Tim is an avid outdoor junkie and technology-nerd in Colorado where he lives with his wife and kids at the foothills of the Rockies.
