NEW YORK, Oct. 22, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Artificial intelligence is taking Drones-as-a-Service (DaaS) well beyond aerial photography and basic data collection. Today, AI-powered drones can analyze images in real time, identify potential problems, map large areas and perform inspections with far less human involvement. Businesses in agriculture, construction, energy, logistics and public safety are finding new ways to use the technology to cut costs, improve efficiency and get work done faster. For investors, the opportunity goes beyond companies that build drones. AI software, autonomous flight systems, fleet management and data analytics are becoming increasingly important parts of the business. As adoption grows, companies that can turn drone data into useful, real-time information may have a significant advantage. Leading Tech Companies on the move today include: ZenaTech, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZENA), Palladyne AI Corp. (NASDAQ: PDYN), Serve Robotics Inc. (NASDAQ: SERV), Veea Inc. (NASDAQ: VEEA), Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCAT).

The market potential is attracting attention across several sectors. Grand View Research projects the global commercial drone market will reach approximately $57.16 billion by 2030, while Fortune Business Insights estimates the precision agriculture drone market will grow from $4.38 billion in 2025 to $18.03 billion by 2034. These forecasts cover different market segments, but both point to growing demand for drone technology and the services built around it. AI could add another layer of opportunity by helping operators automate missions, monitor equipment, spot problems earlier and deliver valuable information without requiring customers to manage their own drone fleets. Recurring software subscriptions, data analytics and long-term service contracts could also create revenue streams beyond hardware sales. As more businesses look to automate routine and costly operations, companies that combine capable drones with practical AI software and dependable services could be well positioned to benefit from the industry's continued expansion.

Key revenue-growth drivers:

• Smarter, More Autonomous Drones: AI helps drones navigate obstacles, plan routes and carry out complex missions with less hands-on control.
• Recurring Software Revenue: Fleet management tools, analytics platforms and subscription services offer opportunities for ongoing revenue beyond equipment sales.
• Growing Commercial Demand: Agriculture, construction, energy and infrastructure companies are using drones for inspections, mapping, monitoring and precision operations.
• Expanding Market Opportunities: The precision agriculture drone market alone is projected to reach $18.03 billion by 2034, according to Fortune Business Insights, highlighting the potential for specialized drone services and AI-powered applications.
  
  

ZenaTech (NASDAQ:ZENA) Unveils its Proprietary AI Software Suite Designed to Accelerate Land Survey Delivery for Drone as a Service Commercial, Municipal and Infrastructure Clients - ZenaTech, Inc. ($ZENA) (FSE: 49Q) (BMV: ZENA) ("ZenaTech"), a technology solution provider specializing in AI (Artificial Intelligence) drone, Drone as a Service (DaaS), enterprise SaaS, and Quantum Computing solutions, today unveiled its proprietary artificial intelligence software suite and planed integration across its DaaS land survey operations. By pairing ZenaDrone high-density LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data acquisition with the automated feature extraction and point cloud classification, ZenaTech plans to accelerate survey-grade data delivery time from days to as little as minutes across commercial land surveying, municipal and infrastructure projects for DaaS clients across North America and around the world. The combined platform is currently in the development and testing stage.

Planned integration of automated LiDAR point cloud classification and feature extraction across ZenaTech’s Drone as a Service locations is designed to cut survey post-processing time and support scalable, recurring revenue

“Land survey delivery has traditionally been limited by manual post-processing, which caps how many projects a survey team can complete,” said Shaun Passley, Ph.D., CEO of ZenaTech. “By integrating our AI software directly into ZenaDrone DaaS operations, we aim to automate the heavily manual work of point cloud classification and CAD linework generation, so the same crews and drones can deliver turn-key, actionable intelligence to clients faster and with consistent quality. As we apply our AI suite across our AI tools growing network of DaaS subsidiaries, we believe it can improve operating efficiency and support the scalable, recurring revenue model at the center of our DaaS strategy.”

The combined platform is designed to bridge hardware data collection with AI-driven point cloud processing. A ZenaDrone land survey drone equipped with high-density LiDAR captures a site as a point cloud, a dataset that can contain billions of individual 3D measurement points. ZenaAI is then intended to run automated geospatial workflows on that data, classifying each point by what it represents, converting the classified data into terrain models and vector drawings, removing noise, tagging infrastructure assets and exporting the results in formats that survey and engineering teams can use directly. Its key planned capabilities include:

• Automated Point Cloud Classification: Designed to use deep learning neural networks to rapidly parse billions of 3D LiDAR points, separating ground returns from dense canopy, buildings, utility lines and surface vegetation to generate true Digital Terrain Models (DTM)
• Automated Feature Extraction and Linework: Computer vision algorithms are intended to detect and vectorize critical planimetric features, including curb lines, pavement edges, retaining walls and structures, and export them directly into CAD and BIM (Building Information Modeling) formats
• Rapid DaaS Turnaround: By replacing manual point-picking and heuristic scripting, the AI software suite is being designed to reduce post-processing workflows by as much as 80% and shorten survey turnaround time, allowing DaaS survey teams to deliver fully classified datasets within hours of flight completion
• Smart Noise Filtering and Asset Tagging: Automated artifact suppression is intended to clean airborne noise, multipath errors and scan overlap, while semantic tagging logs discrete infrastructure assets, such as manholes, hydrants and utility poles, with millimeter-level precision
  
  

Point cloud classification and linework have traditionally required skilled technicians to work through by hand, which can take days and limits how many projects a survey team can complete. ZenaTech believes that automating these steps could raise surveying productivity, allowing the same drones and crews to deliver more projects faster and potentially improving margins over time. As proprietary software, the AI suite is also intended to add a scalable SaaS layer to the Company’s acquisition-led DaaS strategy, applying a consistent processing workflow across the surveying businesses it acquires and supporting its recurring revenue model for commercial, municipal and infrastructure clients that rely on timely data for planning, design and construction.

The AI-powered LiDAR processing is currently in development with testing across DaaS land surveying, infrastructure monitoring and utility inspection projects expected next year. The Company will provide updates on launch and rollout as milestones are achieved.

ZenaTech’s Drone as a Service (DaaS) division provides on-demand turnkey drone piloting, data capture, and data processing services to commercial, government, and infrastructure customers, allowing them to access aerial data and automation without owning or operating their own drone fleets. The division is being built through an acquisition-led strategy that combines local low-tech service providers into a global network, creating a scalable platform for delivering recurring revenue aerial and data services such as surveying, inspections, power washing and construction progress monitoring. Continued…Read this full release and additional news for ZENA by visiting: https://www.zenatech.com/newsroom/

In other recent tech companies’ developments of interest:

Palladyne AI Corp. (NASDAQ: PDYN), a U.S.-based defense and industrial technology company delivering embodied AI-powered collaborative autonomy solutions, advanced avionics, precision-manufactured components, UAVs, and advanced aerospace engineering services, recently announced that BRAIN, its edge AI flight computer, has been selected as a finalist in the U.S. Army FUZE xTech|Apex Intercept competition. The selection gives Palladyne AI the opportunity to demonstrate BRAIN’s edge AI flight-control and autonomy capabilities in a mission-relevant setting as the Army evaluates technologies that could support next-generation interceptor and fire-control modernization.

“Low-cost interceptor modernization is one of the clearest examples of where edge intelligence, flight control and autonomy must come together,” said Ben Wolff, President and Chief Executive Officer of Palladyne AI. “Being selected as a finalist gives Palladyne AI the opportunity to demonstrate BRAIN directly to Army and DoW evaluators in a mission-relevant setting. We believe BRAIN is well aligned with the need for intelligent, adaptable, and cost-effective systems that can operate at the tactical edge.”

Serve Robotics Inc. (Nasdaq: SERV), a leading autonomous sidewalk delivery company, and Grubhub, a subsidiary of Wonder, a vertically integrated food technology platform built to make great food more accessible, recently announced a partnership bringing robot delivery to the Grubhub marketplace, beginning in Chicago, Los Angeles and Alexandria. Serve's robot delivery will be available from more than 100 participating Grubhub merchants in Chicago and nearly 200 in Los Angeles, with additional restaurants expected to join the program over time. Every platform that integrates widens the set of restaurants and neighborhoods our robots can serve.

“Not long ago, our robots were delivering dinner in a handful of neighborhoods. Today, they're rolling into new cities from San Jose, California’s third largest city, to Washington, DC, the nation's capital. Their hospital cousins, our new Moxi robots, are showing up in health systems across the country,” said Ali Kashani, Co-Founder and CEO of Serve Robotics. “Welcoming Wonder and Grubhub to our network is the clearest signal yet of where we are headed. Every new partner puts more robots to work, and every delivery makes the whole fleet smarter.”

Veea Inc. (NASDAQ: VEEA), a leader in edge computing, intelligent connectivity, cybersecurity, and AI-powered edge applications, recently announced the successful signing of a one-year agreement with La Estadia Community of 220 exclusive residential properties to deploy Veea's SecureConnect™ platform and Veea Vision™ AI video analytics solution across the community's network infrastructure.

The project will deliver a secure, managed digital infrastructure that combines enterprise-grade connectivity, cybersecurity, and AI-powered video inferencing at the edge to enhance operational efficiency, resident safety, and community management.

Under the agreement, Veea will deploy its SecureConnect platform to provide secure networking, centralized management, and advanced cybersecurity capabilities throughout the community. In addition, Veea Vision will enable intelligent video analytics through edge-based AI processing, allowing cameras to generate real-time insights while minimizing bandwidth consumption and reducing reliance on cloud-based processing.

Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: RCAT), a U.S.-based provider of advanced all-domain drone and robotic solutions for defense and national security, recently launched Red Cat Aerial, a newly unified entity that brings the Company's aerial systems, teams and engineering capabilities under a single brand. Red Cat Aerial also unveiled its newest platform, TRICHON™, a hand-launched, long-endurance vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) tricopter built for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions.

Red Cat Aerial combines the teams and technology previously represented by Teal Drones and FlightWave Aerospace into one organization with one public-facing identity. The division's portfolio includes Black Widow™, FANG™, Edge 130, and Hellcat™, now joined by TRICHON. Uniting both businesses gives customers a single point of engagement for Red Cat's aerial systems and gives the division a shared engineering foundation to develop new platforms faster as mission requirements change.

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