XPONENTIAL Detroit was a useful snapshot of an industry in transition.
Defense was visible, but it did not dominate the floor the way it did in Düsseldorf.
Commercial UAS, startups, component suppliers, integrators, and international players all had real presence.
It felt like a shift in conversation this year.
Less future promise hype. More specific problems, specific customers, and specific use cases.
The supply chain and subsystem layer is clearly growing fast, with alot of focus on domestic supply.. not a surprise.
But so is the need for stronger international collaboration.
For founders, the lesson was familiar: the best pitches were not the most technical. They were the clearest about the customer.
My takeaway: this market is maturing, but the winners will still be the ones who stay closest to the problem.
I shared more of my thoughts with Lidar News here: https://lidarnews.com/xponential-detroit-uas-industry-in-transition/