An innovative team
blended with unmatched expertise.

AIVE Systems is a spinoff from the University of Texas at Austin, led by Professor Luis Sentis, an experienced founder in robotics and AI, and Professor Greg Zwernemann, whose career includes leading aerospace and defense programs for prime contractors. Leo Lion sits alongside our founders on the board, bringing their experience backing and building technology startups to AIVE Systems.

Our team began as UT FLARE-X, a competitor and eventual semi-finalist in the XPRIZE Wildfire Competition. During this time we collaborated with several university partners, including the University of Southampton, University of Edinburgh, and Texas A&M Forest Service. We performed our semi-final demonstration in October 2025, showcasing the drones, sensors, and software we developed.

After the competition concluded in December 2025, AIVE Systems launched in January 2026, built on the technology developed during the competition. Today, we're focused on developing geospatial capabilities that enhance autonomy in drones and augment human operators across a wide range of industries and applications.