About
Built by researchers. Grounded in a real loss.
Forescient AI was founded to solve a critical bottleneck in autonomous drone operations: the prohibitive cost and risk of testing a mission for the first time in the real world. Born from rigorous academic research, we build the pre-mission validation workflow that lets teams understand the mission envelope before a high-value drone ever leaves the ground.
Why we built Forescient AI
Forescient AI was born from a first-hand experience during an MoD-linked ATRACT project. A £4,000 drone, flown by a professional pilot, crashed during its first flight in a new environment. The loss could not be recovered through insurance because the operating risks had not been sufficiently tested and validated before flight.
That experience made the problem clear: the question is not only whether a drone can fly, but what happens during a mission at a specific site, under specific conditions, before assets are put at risk.
Forescient helps teams test the mission before risking the asset.
What we stand for
Rigour for the Unpredictable
The real world is too complex to anticipate every edge case. We are scientists first, dedicated to testing the mission-risk scenarios operators haven't thought of, so every observation about a mission can be traced back to the conditions that produced it.
Safety by Design
Human life, sites, and expensive assets are too precious for trial and error in the field. We build rigorous mission environments so teams can understand the mission envelope and make safer go/no-go decisions before a drone ever leaves the ground.
Accessible Innovation & Transparency
Losing a high-value drone during first flight wastes vital resources. By providing accessible, transparent validation, we help teams test the mission before risking the asset, and build a clear record of the run conditions, outcomes, and remaining concerns.
Team
The people behind Forescient AI
Dr. Rafael Pina
Co-founder & CTO
ICURE alumnus. Formerly Postdoctoral Researcher in Machine Learning at Loughborough University.
Prof. Varuna De Silva
Co-founder & CSO
Professor of AI at Loughborough University. 100+ publications in adaptive learning and AI safety. iCURE mentor.
Dr. Charuka Herath
Co-founder & CEO
Postdoctoral researcher. Former senior software engineer at Sysco. Expert in MLOps and distributed systems.
Journey
From lab to deployment.
ICURe validation completed · Core mission-risk testing concept validated for autonomous drone operations
Research phase accelerated · Partner-led validation discussions with Babcock
Pre-Mission Validation Pack launched · Early pilots underway with drone operators
Scaling mission-risk testing to multi-drone deployments · Seed fundraising underway
Research-backed and partner-informed
Supported through UKRI, iCURE, Loughborough University, and partner-led validation activity.
Interested in working with us?
Whether you are an enterprise partner, researcher, or potential team member — we would love to hear from you.
Get in touch