OCTO
Changing landscape Partnerships are critical to the success of Octo and its oLabs operation . Indeed , the rapid prototyping innovation centre it ’ s building in Reston , Virginia will be dependent on yielding many successful partnerships . oLabs enabled us to prototype AI and ML enabled tactical applications on our 15 petaFLOP supercomputer and walk down the hall where we can test them in our own close quarters battle ( CQB ) facility . There aren ’ t many , if any , places in the defence ecosystem that can provide our government customers and partners all of these technologies and capabilities under one roof .”
Octo has already teamed up with big hitters such as Dataiku , Dell , Reveal Technology , and Tomahawk Robotics to produce its pioneering military tech . “ We ' ve really created a coalition like-minded organisations who are completely focused on pushing boundaries , innovating in the grey , to deliver mission capability ,” says Rob .
Another product which has emerged from the industrious oLabs is CX Terrain – used to visualise 3D data and carry out 3D mission planning in an augmented reality . “ It allows mission planning to unfold anywhere in the world ,” explains Rob . “ It means an individual in Virginia can see the same mission plan and 3D data in their heads-up display than someone in Europe , Afghanistan or Iraq simultaneously .”
Meanwhile , climate change is also having an impact on the way in which Octo and oLabs deploy technologies . Clusters of GPUs that make up a supercomputer , or high performance computing capability , require a lot of energy . This has prompted Octo to consider how its technologies are powered and to run fewer servers rather than thousands , without losing computational prowess . It ’ s another example of the company ’ s continual focus on future-proofing .
Living on the edge Ultimately , Octo , lives and breathes its mission on a daily basis and Rob knows many military men and women operating on the ground , and this provides an additional incentive to keep pushing the boundaries and keep exploring the grey areas of innovation .
“ We still have really close ties ,” he says . “ Knowing that tech like CX Edge , computer vision capabilities and our AI models are being used to bring troops home safe is immensely rewarding . Making military personnel more lethal is very cool , but making them more survivable is just as cool , if not cooler .”
“ Knowing that we ' re impacting those people , the actual boots on the ground , every single day , is certainly the most rewarding aspect of working at Octo . We work at a company that encourages a close working relationship with our government and military counterparts , because it ' s all about building long-term relationships , impacting the mission and bringing the war fighter home safely . That will always be our priority .” And that is what sets Octo apart – the ability to place humanity over revenue . It ’ s all about the numbers of lives they help save rather than the number of dollars the company is worth .
This is the stark symbiosis that defines oLabs – an enduring relationship between the creators of technology and the armies , generals and foot soldiers using them . It is a bond built on trust and a bond which is reinforced every time Octo develops its latest military tech ; it ’ s latest lifepreserving solution . aimagazine . com 157