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The drone technology scene in San Diego is booming with many startups and companies taking advantage of the deep relevant talent, experienced tech and collaborative community. In today's podcast, Neal interviews Chad Sweet, CEO and co-founder of ModalAI, and Dev Singh, General Manager of Robotics, UAVs & Autonomous Systems at Qualcomm, who delved into the rapid growth and development of drone technology.

ModalAI is a San Diego-based robotics startup that accelerates autonomy for smaller, smarter and safer drones. Before founding ModalAI, Chad worked at Qualcomm for 20 years, spending the last five years in leading robotics research and development efforts. He pushed Qualcomm's flagship Snapdragon products into new use cases like robotics, which became the beginning for what became a larger effort with IoT and smart cameras, smart cities, robotics, etc. As the program matured, he worked with Dev and his team to commercialize it, working from proof of concept and lab work into actual formal products. When he left Qualcomm, he founded ModalAI, in collaboration with Dev and Qualcomm, and still maintains their close partnership — ModalAI using Snapdragon tech and Qualcomm chipping in the devices.

Dev calls Chad his "partner in crime," referring to their continuous teamwork at Qualcomm as Chad focused on R&D, and Dev was able to build a business and commercialize products into life. Now, they are working together on a new project: the RB5 5G Platform, a development/reference platform that will help jumpstart companies interested in creating drones with a specific use case or for building the next great application.

Tune in to hear Dev and Chad share how Qualcomm and ModalAI are working together to spearhead the future of drones beyond a visual line of sight. Also, if you want to check out Chad's previous podcast with us, click here!

Their favorite local tacos:

Dev: The Taco Stand in La Jolla

Chad: Las Olas in Cardiff

Connect with Dev and Chad:

Dev Singh

Chad Sweet

Learn more about Qualcomm and ModalAI:

Qualcomm

Website: https://www.qualcomm.com/

Facebook: @Qualcomm

Twitter: @Qualcomm

Instagram: @qualcomm

LinkedIn

ModalAI

Website: https://www.modalai.com/

Facebook

Twitter: @modal_ai

Instagram: @modal_ai

LinkedIn

Thanks to our partners at Cox Business & Cox Edge for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem.