In this episode, I sit down with Ariel Avitan, co-founder of Percepto; one of the companies quietly leading the adoption of autonomous drone systems across infrastructure in the United States.

Percepto didn’t just build a drone.
They built the full system - The box, the drone, the firmware, and the application, all designed to operate in real environments, weather, congested airspace and beyond line of sight.

We talk about what it takes to move from technology to deployment, and why some of the most important work in autonomy today is happening far from the spotlight - in energy sites, utilities, and industrial facilities.

Ariel shares his perspective on:

• Building a full-stack autonomous system, end-to-end
• Working closely with regulators and being part of the FAA unmanned vehicles ecosystem
• Why infrastructure became the right entry point for autonomy
• The gap between building a product and operating it in the field
• What changes when founders relocate and stay close to their customers

This is a conversation about execution, proximity, and building systems that are meant to run without you there.

In this episode, I sit down with Yahel Efroni to talk about what it means to build technology in a reality where roles constantly shift and how does the ecosystem have evolved with new faces that 2 years ago were not looking towards Defense innovation but have realized thier dedication today is for the future of their children.

We discuss how that dual experience shapes the way early-stage companies are built in Israel today, and how it influences the type of solutions being developed across defense, medical care, physical AI, and logistics.

We also go into how Givon Ventures approaches early-stage teams, not just from an investment perspective, but from close involvement in the field, understanding what actually works under real conditions.

In this episode we cover:

- The dual reality of building companies while serving in parallel roles

- How real-world constraints shape early-stage product decisions

- Why getting to the field early matters more than perfecting in the lab

- How Givon Ventures works with founders from three different generations

- The challenge and opportunities that exist from venture capitalists living in conflict zones.

This is a conversation about people, responsibility, and building systems that are meant to operate in real environments.

This episode is In memory of Or Joseph Ran Z״L

In this episode, we sit down with Elinor Yakobson, a specialist in defense tech, dual-use innovation, cyber, and homeland security, for a candid conversation on what it really means to lead in one of the world's most demanding industries.

In this conversation, we explore:
- What it's like to be a woman in a field where women are rarely in the room
- Israel's high-tech defense ecosystem - home to over 1,200 companies, roughly 600 in cyber and 600 in military, homeland security, and related fields with a significant concentration in drones and UAVs
- What it takes to bridge government, venture capital, and startups in high-impact fields
- Translating national security priorities into actionable innovation strategies
- Building policy frameworks and public-private partnerships that actually move the needle
- Where dual-use technology is heading and who gets to shape that future

This episode is not about surviving in Men's world.
It's about redefining it.

In this episode, we sit down with Aaron Appelbaum, Partner at Kinetica VC, for a thoughtful conversation on defense tech, investing, and long-term responsibility.

In this conversation, we explore:

• Growing up in a home shaped by investing, policy, and global security

• Why Aaron was drawn early to international relations and decision-making

• Choosing Israel as a home base for building and backing defense technology

• How defense tech investing compares to cyber and traditional software

• Why timelines, risk, and accountability look different in defense ventures

• What early-stage founders often underestimate in the defense ecosystem

• How dual-use technologies move from national needs to global markets

• Where Aaron sees Israeli defense startups positioned globally over the next few years

This episode is not about headlines or hype.

it’s about judgment, patience, and building technologies that matter.

In this episode, Shay Senior sits down with Ike Bodner for a deeply personal conversation about identity, responsibility, and building in the hardest moments.

Ike moved to Israel in 2009, served in the Israeli Air Force at Nevatim Air Base as an F-35 engine mechanic, and later worked as a drone mechanic at Aeronautics. But this conversation goes far beyond résumés.

We talk about Ike’s journey as an oleh to Jerusalem, his military service, and the personal impact of October 7th, a tragedy that reshaped his priorities and sense of mission.

Out of that moment came action.

Ike shares what led him to help establish the Sandbox — a physical space for early-stage defense startups to build, test, and move fast. Not as an accelerator, not as a pitch room, but as a place where ideas meet reality, tools, and people who understand urgency.

We also talk about friendship, loss, and commitment. Ike puts his professional work on hold to honor the memory of David, his high school teammate and lifelong friend, through the ongoing operations of Soldiers Save Lives — turning grief into responsibility.

This isn’t an episode about technology specs or fundraising rounds.

It’s about what happens when building becomes personal and why, sometimes, the most important systems are human ones.

Episode 10 - Yariv Bash | From the Moon to Your Front Door

What does it take to move an idea from imagination to real-world operation?

In this episode, Shay Senior sits down with Yariv Bash, co-founder of SpaceIL and CEO of Flytrex, one of the first companies in the world approved to operate commercial drone deliveries to residential homes in the United States.

Yariv shares the journey from helping lead Israel’s first private mission to the Moon, to building the infrastructure behind autonomous aerial delivery, working with both DoorDash and Uber Eats, navigating regulation, scale, and public trust.

This conversation isn’t about specs or hype.
It’s about how ideas are born, tested, and transformed when they meet reality.

In this episode, we talk about:
• What SpaceIL taught Yariv about ambition, failure, and resilience
• Why Flytrex chose to build drone delivery step by step, in the real world
• The challenges of operating autonomous systems at scale
• How regulation, safety, and public perception shape innovation
• Why big dreams don’t end, they evolve

A thoughtful conversation about leadership, persistence, and building the future — one decision at a time.

This episode isn’t about building a product.
It’s about how an industry becomes an industry.

Lior Caspi has spent over 25 years in marketing and business development positions, at the intersection of:

• technology

• defense

• global audiences

• live moments where ideas become movements

He’s seen unmanned systems evolve from niche military demos to global platforms that shape policy, markets, and public perception.

Ending the first podcast cycle with him is intentional:
he connects technology, people, timing, and responsibility.

In this episode, Shay Senior speaks with Itay Nourian, co-founder of Insignito and former commander of the Israeli Air Force “Signatures” unit, where the foundations of drone acoustics were built for the defense establishment.

They discuss how sound is measured, how it behaves in real environments, and why acoustics is still a largely unexplored field in modern defense. The conversation also dives into the gap between expensive detection systems and cheap drone threats, and why cost-effective solutions are becoming critical at scale.

This episode offers a rare look into a field that operates quietly in the background, but plays a decisive role in counter-drone operations.

🎧 In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• Why acoustics remains an underdeveloped but powerful tool in drone defense

• How low-cost drones create a need for low-cost, scalable solutions

• The challenges of detecting drones in real operational environments

• Building a defense startup where the market demand came first

Follow the podcast, share the episode with someone curious about defense innovation, and let us know who we should host next.

In this episode, Shay Senior sits down with Roy Shmuel, founder of Sightec, the new edge of computer vision in autonomous vehicles.

They discuss how autonomous vehicles operate when gps signals and positioning can’t be trusted, why scaling autonomy is harder than most people expect, and how hard it is for investors and decision-makers to tell the difference between promising ideas and technologies that are ready for real use.

This is a grounded conversation about reality, academia as an important pillar in the advancement of defensetech and the future of drones in warfare.

🎧 Tune in to hear:

• Why “working in the lab” doesn’t mean working in the real world
• The challenges of operating without reliable signals or infrastructure
• Why it’s important to build redundancy instead of relying on a single navigation source.

Follow the podcast, share the episode with someone curious about autonomy, and let us know who we should invite next.

In this episode, Shay Senior sits down with Yaron Rosen to examine a question the industry hasn’t fully answered yet:

Who will manage the skies as autonomy scales and who actually owns that space?

Drawing parallels to the cyber world of a decade ago, we explore how today’s unmanned and autonomous ecosystem is approaching a familiar inflection point. Back then, cyberspace grew faster than regulation, ownership, and governance. Today, the same tension is building in the air.

This conversation looks beyond technology into responsibility, control, and the systems that will decide whether autonomy scales safely or collapses under its own complexity.