NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA), in close collaboration with Allied Command Operations (ACO), has selected ten companies to advance cutting-edge capabilities through its Decision Superiority for NATO Warfighters Challenge.
The innovators are:
· Matrix Pro Sims
· Hadean
· Watchtower Labs
· Flai
· Grist Mill Exchange
· Decent Cybersecurity
· ETE Technology
· Onebrief
· Picogrid
· Levato AS
NATO’s Maven Smart System NATO (MSS NATO) serves as a foundation for DIANA’s Decision Superiority for NATO Warfighters challenge. With MSS NATO modernising Allied Command Operations through an advanced AI–enabled digital warfighting platform, the selected innovators will demonstrate how they can augment NATO Allied Command Operation’s capabilities.
The selected innovators will develop and demonstrate advanced artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and software solutions designed to enhance NATO’s operational planning and execution. Their technologies will be integrated into a cloud-based environment aligned to real-world use cases, supporting faster and more effective decision-making across the Alliance.
“We are super excited about this DIANA Challenge. For the first time, we are partnering the operational community and our warfighters directly with DIANA and the tech companies to iterate and innovate together,” said Col. Arnel David, Director, Task Force Maven, NATO SHAPE. “The NATO Maven Smart System as an open and extensible platform is built to handle this speed of integration and interoperability. This is how NATO wins the innovation race: we prototype fast, we test with the people who fight, and we scale what works.”
MSS NATO brings together data from multiple sources to improve situational awareness, targeting, and operational planning, forming the foundation for more dynamic, data-driven operations. DIANA and ACO will work to integrate the advanced analytical tools provided by these innovators into NATO’s digital environment to enable more adaptive, real-time decision-making.
“Through this challenge, we are accelerating the integration of cutting-edge technologies into NATO’s operational environment, enabling our forces to make faster, more informed decisions in increasingly complex scenarios,” said Jyoti Hirani-Driver, Acting Managing Director of NATO DIANA. “By working closely with Allied Command Operations and leveraging platforms like MSS NATO, DIANA is ensuring that innovation is not only developed, but also rapidly delivered where it is needed most.”
Each of the ten companies will receive €100,000 in contractual funding to support the integration and demonstration of their solutions. Over the coming months, they will engage directly with NATO stakeholders, including operational end users, to refine their technologies and demonstrate their impact in a simulated, mission-relevant setting. These activities will culminate in a demonstration phase for NATO stakeholders by December 2026, where solutions will be assessed by relevant NATO commands for their potential to provide enabling capability to Allied operations.