Intelligence on machines that act
Sector
The rulebooks being written for autonomous machines — certification, liability, airspace, export controls and AI governance.
EASA's long-awaited framework lets approved operators fly beyond visual line of sight across member states under a single authorisation — a step-change for grid, rail and pipeline inspection.
Airbase incursions have triggered a €4bn procurement wave for counter-UAS systems. The hard part — deciding who is allowed to shoot what down, and when — is lagging badly.
The six-year master contract trades automation consent for wage gains and a retraining fund — a template both sides say could travel.
Ten-year procurement cycles cannot govern software that retrains monthly. Until contracting reform catches up, allied militaries will keep buying obsolete autonomy at exquisite prices.
What innovators call certainty, incumbents use as a moat. The sandbox model — provisional permission, dense evidence, iterated rules — is serving the sector far better than a premature rulebook would.
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