After a storm, Eagleview’s AI can analyze thousands of rooftops in minutes helping to identify damage, estimate repairs, and assist communities with faster recoveries. For families waiting to rebuild, those insights mean connections to emergency services and repair contractors in hours, not days.
Over the past year, AI has exploded into public awareness by powering chatbots, generating images and movie clips, and sparking conversations about how it will change our lives. But, AI has been evolving for decades.
I’ve been working in this field for more than 20 years, beginning with predictive models in the late 1990s, moving into neural networks and deep learning, and now leading AI initiatives here at Eagleview. The technologies have changed dramatically, but the theory and goal have always been the same: helping machines make sense of data so people can chart a better path for the future. At Eagleview, I’m continuing to do that work, by focusing on how we can use advanced AI with our world-class aerial imagery to understand and interact with the physical world.
Understanding AI’s Evolution
Put simply, we see AI when a machine performs a task that normally requires a human mind. That might mean contextualizing objects in an image, identifying key components of a story, or predicting outcomes from data. Some of the first claims of “AI” systems were based on statistical models—models that are now tagged as “machine learning”—that coaxed patterns from data and used them to make predictions. Later applications with neural networks and deep learning were also tagged as “AI”, with more sophisticated representations and the ability to process data through neural networks.
Today’s AI looks different. The latest generation of models builds on previous developments by adding mechanism to help the machines perceive inputs and maintain attention on key elements. These new AI “transformers” develop relationships between words, they contextualize images, and interpret data in more flexible and dynamic ways. These approaches underpin the large language models (LLMs) in ChatGPT and Claude, and generative AI image tools like Midjourney, and the newest video generation in Sora 2.
Alan Turing, the cryptographer often credited with being the father of computer science, proposed that we would know AI through the “imitation game”. He said that we would know that AI had arrived when a person could not distinguish between a conversation with a human and a machine. With today’s applications, we’ve clearly met the requirements of Turing’s test.
All that said, Turing did not say what we should do with AI once it arrived. I believe that the future of AI isn’t about replacing human insight, but rather, it’s about amplifying it.
Eagleview’s mission has always been to capture the most accurate, high-resolution images of the world and to transform that imagery into insights our customers can use. And as AI evolved from simple pattern recognition algorithms to systems that understand context, it unlocked a new frontier for Eagleview by turning raw pixels into actionable intelligence. AI is now transforming how we see, understand, and respond to the world.
Aerial imagery contains a tremendous amount of information. Every image includes information about materials, shapes, shadows, vegetation, water, infrastructure, and more. Further, images include very important information about the relationships between objects. Traditionally, it took teams of experts and a lot of time to interpret images and to understand the details about objects and relationships within. But AI now does this instantly and at scale, transforming the way that we use imagery.
AI now identifies rooftops, solar panels, and trees instantly, and with accuracy that once took hours of human analysis. And advanced AI can go further, spotting patterns over time such as how a neighborhood evolves, where vegetation might encroach on power lines, or how a storm has impacted a community.
From Imagery to Insight: The Next Frontier
AI’s greatest strength is its ability to process massive amounts of data and find meaning and understanding from the complexity. With regard to aerial imagery, that means embracing millions of pixels to form actionable knowledge.
In geospatial intelligence, AI doesn’t just answer questions; it allows us to ask better ones. Imagine a contractor receiving an immediate answer to a business-relevant question like “Take me to nearby properties with roofs that are due for replacement, and only ones with owners who are likely ready to buy”. Or think about how an insurance adjuster can compare pre- and post-storm imagery in seconds and use that to assess damage remotely. Or, how a city planner can understand environmental changes, like tree canopy loss or flood risk, without ever having to step into the field. Our work in geospatial AI isn’t just changing how the world is mapped—it’s redefining how organizations understand risk, growth, and opportunity.
Eagleview’s systems will have relevance for industries beyond our traditional audiences to get faster, more precise, and more intuitive answers. Our imagery provides the rich visual foundation and AI provides the reasoning layer that makes it readily accessible.
The Road Ahead
The next frontier is true geospatial intelligence. We no longer only see the world from above, but now are able to understand and respond to it at scale. For the first time, we have the computational power, data quality, and model sophistication to create a truly intelligent understanding of our built and natural environments. Eagleview’s AI models are trained on the most detailed aerial dataset in the world, resulting in more precise information, faster answers, and new capabilities that will redefine what’s possible in geospatial intelligence. AI will surely bring predictive environmental modeling, high-precision infrastructure monitoring, and adaptive disaster response.
Eagleview combines the world’s largest and highest-quality aerial dataset with custom-built AI models—creating a level of geospatial understanding that’s unmatched in the industry. As we turn pixels into patterns, and patterns into insights, we help both our traditional and new customers drive insights into actions. And this is just the beginning. As AI and imagery converge, we’re entering an era where every pixel tells a story and Eagleview will be there to make sense of every new horizon.
Dr. Dylan Kesler
Head of AI at Eagleview
Dr. Dylan Kesler, Head of AI at Eagleview, has more than a decade of experience advancing artificial intelligence technologies and developing real-world solutions for commercial and government clients. His work spans over sixty peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, multiple patented technologies, and AI products widely used across both public and private sectors. Dr. Kesler earned his Ph.D. and M.S. from Oregon State University and previously served on the research and teaching faculty at Virginia Tech and the University of Missouri.