Navi AI: Pioneering AI in Pilot Training with $6M Funding
Navi AI, a San Francisco-based aviation tech startup, emerged from stealth mode on March 25, 2026. With a robust funding of $6 million, the company aims to revolutionize pilot training through artificial intelligence. Its notable backers include United Airlines Ventures, BVVC, New Vista Capital, Raptor Group, I2BF, and the U.S. Department of War.
The company has developed the first purpose-built generative AI platform that is commercially operational in pilot training. This innovative system connects cockpit audio, aircraft telemetry, and operational data to produce detailed, moment-by-moment debriefs of each flight automatically. The platform has been trained on more than 100,000 real flight hours and is set to be deployed to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and other leading flight academies this spring.
What once required days of manual analysis and was reserved only for accident investigations now happens automatically after every flight. This gives trainee pilots, flight instructors, and flight schools a continuous picture of performance and safety. The AI platform analyzes intent, behavior, and performance, aligning outputs with each flight school’s training syllabus.
“Aviation safety has improved dramatically over the decades, but has for the most part been reactive: We wait for things to go wrong to look at the data and understand why,” said Nikola Kostic, co-founder and CEO of Navi AI. “With Navi AI, every maneuver, every callout, every training flight becomes data that teaches how to make the next one safer and more efficient.”
In addition, the U.S. Department of War is funding Navi to adapt this groundbreaking technology for U.S. Air Force pilot training programs.