DroneDeploy Unveils AI Agents and Ground Robots as Construction Tech Pivots From Aerial to Embodied Intelligence

DroneDeploy rolled out three operational AI agents and revealed plans for autonomous ground robots at its Horizons 2025 user conference in Newport Beach, signaling the reality capture company’s transformation from drone-focused mapping platform to comprehensive construction AI and robotics provider. The announcements position DroneDeploy to compete directly with established construction tech players while capitalizing on the emerging embodied AI revolution.

CEO Mike Winn told attendees that the platform now serves more than 3 million sites worldwide. “The future of construction and industrial operations isn’t some distant promise, it’s being built right now on jobsites and in facilities,” Winn said. “We’re meeting customers where they are, whether that’s enhancing the accuracy and automation of their current workflows or preparing them for autonomous robots.”

Three AI Agents Now Automating Construction Analysis

DroneDeploy’s new agentic AI portfolio includes three distinct systems that move beyond simple data processing into reasoning and decision-making territory. Progress AI uses vision-language models to track over 50 projects ranging from commercial offices to hyperscale data centers, delivering progress reports in minutes—more than 100 times faster than traditional manual tracking methods.

Safety AI has already identified over 90,000 safety risks across customer projects. The system now includes floorplan view capabilities and automatic verification when hazardous conditions are resolved.

Inspection AI debuts as DroneDeploy’s newest offering, purpose-built for predictive maintenance of oil and gas facilities, rail corridors, renewable energy sites, and utility infrastructure. The platform automates visual data review to detect asset issues, rank severity, and export results directly to asset management systems.

“AI agents aren’t just processing data—they’re reasoning,” said James Stripe, Chief Product Officer at DroneDeploy. “Progress AI understands construction sequences. Safety AI knows how equipment should be used. Inspection AI identifies how assets degrade over time. This is the next frontier: autonomous systems that do the work for you.”

Ground Robots Enter Beta in 2026 With Zero-Knowledge Requirements

DroneDeploy revealed its roadmap for embodied AI—physical robots that autonomously navigate and capture site interiors and exteriors daily. Beta deployments begin in 2026, powered by visual intelligence trained from data captured across DroneDeploy’s 3 million site network.

The company emphasizes that these systems will require zero robotics knowledge, zero fiducial maintenance, and minimal human intervention. “The challenge of maintaining frequent, consistent capture is solved by robots simply showing up and doing the work,” Stripe said. “What wasn’t possible even six months ago is now becoming reality. We’re meeting customers where they’re at with docked drones operating on 100-plus projects today and ground robots with embodied AI coming next year.”

The announcement arrives as construction industry leaders increasingly view embodied AI and humanoid robotics as potential solutions to severe labor shortages. McKinsey recently estimated the general-purpose robotics market could reach $370 billion by 2040, with construction representing a major application area.

Major Platform Upgrades Target Survey-Grade Accuracy

DroneDeploy announced significant enhancements to both aerial and ground capture capabilities. The aerial platform now delivers up to 3x better processing quality and 25% faster processing speeds, with automatic ground control point tagging and expert map accuracy review ensuring survey-grade standards.

New automatic earthworks analysis features include cut/fill quantities displayed in industry-standard grid views with instant quantity exports. The platform adds Gaussian Splats visualization for photorealistic representation of surveyed areas.

Winn shared a recent customer success story: “We heard from a contractor in Ohio who used DroneDeploy to validate cut/fill quantities, catching an 18% discrepancy that would have resulted in over $30,000 in unexpected costs. That’s the difference between data you hope is accurate and data you know is accurate.”

Ground platform capabilities now include mobile 3D scanning with LiDAR, dollhouse/splat/mesh views from standard 360-degree walks, RTK-enabled mobile scanning with centimeter-level accuracy, and measurable point clouds for underground utility tracking. The platform launches with integration to the Emlid Reach RX positioning system.

Construction Industry Validates AI Approach

Early customer deployments demonstrate the platform’s impact across construction operations. Tyce Carmichael, Chief Growth Officer and Chief Information Officer at Weddle Bros. Construction Companies, said:

“Safety AI has become an integral part of our safety program. It allows Weddle to expand our oversight to every job and get actionable insights for our field teams. Safety AI lets us be proactive in identifying and correcting issues, moving beyond basic compliance to a relentless pursuit of safety. Our safety program is better because of Safety AI, and we have the data to back that up.”

Scott Brown, Construction Technology Manager at Garney Construction, emphasized accuracy improvements:

“DroneDeploy’s accuracy workflows have transformed how we scale. Automatic verification removes the data bottlenecks and delivers higher accuracy drone data, every time, with less effort.”

The platform enhancements include a completely redesigned Explore interface that renders imagery 5 times faster and loads extra-large projects 100 times faster than previous versions.

DroneXL’s Take

DroneDeploy’s Horizons 2025 announcements represent more than incremental product updates—they signal a fundamental shift in how construction technology companies position themselves in an AI-driven market. The move from “drone mapping platform” to “unified robotics and AI provider” mirrors broader industry recognition that drones alone can’t solve construction’s productivity crisis.

This transformation follows DroneDeploy’s September 2025 break-even announcement and $15 million strategic funding round specifically earmarked for AI and robotics development. The company’s acquisition of Rocos provided the robotics team foundation, while its massive 3 million site dataset offers training advantages competitors can’t easily replicate.

The timing aligns with several converging trends DroneXL has tracked extensively. Ukraine’s battlefield AI innovations demonstrate how AI enhances human operators rather than replacing them—precisely the approach DroneDeploy emphasizes for construction. Agricultural drone applications prove autonomous systems can navigate complex environments when properly trained. And AI-powered police drone deployments across 1,500 U.S. departments validate that visual intelligence systems scale effectively.

DroneDeploy’s agentic AI approach—where systems reason about construction sequences, safety protocols, and asset degradation patterns—represents the next evolution beyond simple computer vision. DroneXL covered Progress AI’s initial launch in July 2025, but the Horizons announcements reveal how quickly the company expanded from one AI agent to three operational systems.

The 2026 embodied AI robotics timeline raises questions about hardware readiness and regulatory approval. While DroneDeploy operates docked drones on 100-plus projects today, ground robots navigating construction sites face different safety certification requirements. The “zero robotics knowledge” promise suggests significant abstraction layers between operators and underlying control systems—a strength for adoption but potential complexity for troubleshooting.

Competition intensifies as construction tech players race to integrate AI. SkyeBrowse recently unveiled AI-powered updates emphasizing speed over accuracy, while Pix4D maintains its precision advantage for surveying applications. Procore announced its own AI tools at Groundbreak 2025, and numerous startups target construction safety monitoring. DroneDeploy’s differentiation lies in platform unification—combining aerial drones, 360 cameras, ground robots, and AI agents in a single ecosystem rather than point solutions.

The construction industry’s desperate need for automation amid chronic labor shortages creates genuine market opportunity. Whether DroneDeploy’s embodied AI robots can deliver on 2026 promises while maintaining the “simply showing up and doing the work” simplicity remains the critical test. The company’s break-even status and strategic funding provide runway to execute, but hardware development timelines often slip.

For drone operators considering DroneDeploy’s platform, the SDK integrations with DJI drones provide familiar entry points, while the expanding AI capabilities offer clear value propositions for construction clients. The question isn’t whether AI transforms construction reality capture—it’s which platforms deliver production-ready systems first.

What do you think about DroneDeploy’s shift toward embodied AI and ground robotics? Share your thoughts in the comments below.