In 2017, TerraSense Analytics was building computer vision AI for the forestry sector — software that could identify tree species and map their locations from aerial imagery. Then the Department of National Defence came calling with a simple question: if you can do that with a tree, can you do it with an armoured vehicle?

One DND IDEaS program and many conversations with military operators later, TerraSense had found its market.

The company's product is MIST — Multimodal Input Surveillance and Tracking — an AI-driven middleware platform that connects sensors, data networks, and mission systems into a single operational view. The problem it addresses has grown sharply as drones and sensors have proliferated on the modern battlefield. Military operators are drowning in data — video feeds, imagery, signals — and the cognitive load of processing it all in real time is slowing down the very decision-making that intelligence is meant to support.

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq brought this challenge into sharp focus, as commanders watched hours of live drone footage while terabytes of data poured in daily. As drone technology advanced and sensors multiplied, the volume of data outpaced operators' ability to process it.

MIST is designed to close that gap — watching the sensors on behalf of the operator, detecting and tracking objects of interest in real time, and surfacing actionable intelligence rather than raw feeds. The platform works across aerial, land, and maritime domains and has been deployed with customers including Transport Canada, BAE Systems Australia, and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works.

Lessons from Ukraine have sharpened TerraSense's product thinking. The conflict has illustrated in real time what happens when more sensors don't translate into faster decisions — and reinforced the need for lighter, software-enabled systems that can adapt quickly rather than large legacy platforms built for a different era of warfare.

The company is headquartered in Kelowna, where a growing tech ecosystem and UBC presence have helped build a strong talent pipeline. TerraSense is now expanding into Calgary as it grows its footprint as a Western Canadian defence company.

TerraSense is one of eight ventures in the pilot cohort of UBC Sauder's Scale Up Program, an initiative from the team behind CDL-Vancouver designed to help companies scale into defence, dual-use, and advanced industrial markets. The program's tightly selected cohort and access to experienced mentors gave the team, in their words, "skills to push TerraSense to even greater heights" as it enters its growth phase.