News
Official news

Leading developer of AI for aviation hires a new CEO and a VP of Product

2024-05-23 11:30
The company bringing AI to the cockpit made key personnel changes, signaling its commitment to deliver its products to market.

Daedalean will appoint Bas Gouverneur as CEO to lead the company’s commercial strategy. Gouverneur will join Daedalean after a four-year tenure at Swiss aviation technology leader RUAG, where he most recently served as its Chief Technology Officer, focusing on the strategic planning and execution of the company’s technological innovations.

Bas Gouverneur

“The opportunity to lead Daedalean represents one of the most exciting prospects in aviation,” says Gouverneur. “The company has shown extraordinary capabilities in developing innovative software and hardware solutions. I’m thrilled to drive its strategy to penetrate the many market sectors where its technology will make a revolutionary difference in improving safety and efficiency.”

Gouverneur will replace Dr. Luuk van Dijk, the founder of Daedalean, as the CEO. Dr. van Dijk will continue as Executive Chairman of the Board and as the company’s frontman in its relationship with regulators, including the FAA and EASA. This new configuration will also allow Dr. van Dijk to focus on several far-reaching technical projects slated to be accomplished along the company’s innovation roadmap.

“I am very happy to hand over the leadership to someone with such deep and extensive aerospace experience,” says Dr. van Dijk. “I am equally excited to continue leading our certification efforts and look ahead to the next innovations that will move the company toward the ultimate goal of fully autonomous flight.”

Having worked at Google and SpaceX, Dr. van Dijk founded Daedalean in 2016, inspired in part by company co-founder Anna Chernova’s observation during her training as a helicopter pilot that recent advances in computing could assist piloting in revolutionary ways. The company’s ultimate goal is to create a system that can measurably outperform human pilots in all their functions. Currently, the company is preparing the market launch of its first product for pilot assistance, which is expected to be the world’s first AI-based safety-critical application certified for civil aviation use.

“The board and investors would like to extend their deep gratitude to Luuk for his tireless efforts in growing the company from three employees to its current one hundred fifty-plus size,” says board member Emmanuel Mogenet. “He will remain the visionary genius at the heart of the company’s success, which will only continue to yield technological innovations pushing the industry forward. We are optimistic that these innovations will meet with market success with our new CEO, whose priority will be to strengthen the company’s market position.”

After a six-month transition phase, Dr. van Dijk will hand over the reins to Gouverneur in October 2024.

To further support Daedalean’s strategy to go to market, a new Vice President of Product, Dr. Joschka Hoefling, started on May 1. Dr. Hoefling’s previous position was Chief Product Officer at Swiss UAV developer UMS SKELDAR, where he managed the company's product strategy and development process.

“Bringing on Joschka will yield an immediate advantage in ensuring our product-market fit," says Dr. van Dijk. “We trust him to create a tailored value proposition for each potential market and launch products that precisely address our target customers' pain points.”