From front line to bottom line: how Coactive AI is preparing veterans for careers after the military

A naval officer, an airman, and an entrepreneur walk into a bar. This isn’t a joke set-up, it’s a standard Friday night with the Coactive team unwinding after work. It’s possible thanks to our inclusive hiring policy, which means we welcome people from diverse career backgrounds – not just veterans of the Silicon Valley bubble.

As a VC-backed tech start-up, Coactive is proud to be part of the government-run Defense Ventures Program. We take on active or retiring military personnel and give them coaching, opportunities, and corporate experience to broaden their skill sets and advance their careers. In return, they contribute in their areas of expertise, while also giving us jaw-dropping stories about what it’s like to pilot a helicopter through disputed airspace in a storm, while keeping a cool head. It’s a great swap.

In this blog you’ll hear from two Coactive team members who joined us through the Shift Defense Ventures Program.

Caitlin, Ian, thanks for joining us! We’re delighted you’re here. Can you give us a snapshot of your career journeys from the military through Coactive? Oh, and congratulations on your recent ten-year military anniversary, Caitlin!

CAITLIN:

Thank you! I graduated from the US Naval Academy in 2012, then decided to become a helicopter pilot. I wanted to immerse myself in a challenging environment while also being part of a great team. I’ve had amazing opportunities and deployments, but now I’m ready to venture into the business world.

The Navy offers an opportunity called “Skillbridge” for the last 6 months of your career. It gives you the chance to work in the private sector before you leave the military, so you can figure out the job market and build your resume. I was introduced to Coactive through Shift's Defense Ventures Program last fall. The company made a real impression on me, so I put myself forward for Coactive’s Skillbridge program.

Start-up life has been absolutely amazing, and everyone at Coactive has been incredible. This has been the best possible start for my new career in the private sector, and a great springboard for business school.

How about you, Ian?

IAN:

I’m six years into my Air Force career, where I’m an F-22 stealth fighter mechanic and do a lot of deep testing. It involves a lot of back-and-forth with public-private partners like Boeing and Lockhead Martin, though. I felt I needed a change within my job to better understand commercial best practices, and Coactive has definitely given me that.

From an Air Force perspective, these career advancement programs are great because they allow us to get special “experience identifiers”. They’re basically add-ons to our job descriptions, which help us to get future roles in innovation.

Going forward, I plan on using my private sector experience to drive internal innovation at the Air Force and help the Department of Defense to embrace best practices.

Caitlin, aside from our tragic lack of a helicopter fleet, how has Coactive compared to your expectations?

CAITLIN:

Coactive is above and beyond my expectations. Will and Cody are two of the most genuine and caring people, and exceptionally intelligent. I had no idea what AI was, or what they were doing in the space, and they really took the time to sit down with me and explain how the sector works and how they’re changing it. I would spend an hour or two with them directly every couple of days. As the fourth member of the Coactive team, I was very lucky to get so much 1:1 time!

No pressure, Ian, but Caitlin clearly loves it here. How has your time at Coactive been?

IAN:

Ha! Well, I actually do agree with everything Caitlin just said. I was the tenth member of the Coactive team, though, so by the time I joined the company was more established. I had a little background in studying AI and ML, but what Coactive does is highly specialized, so I needed coaching too. Cody and Will, the co-founders, would routinely take the time to understand how I was seeing things, and they would pivot their teaching methods to help me understand Coactive’s strategies. I really appreciated the effort they made.

We were already hugely impressed by your Air Force experience, Ian, so when we found out you had some previous tech experience from the military, too, it was a really pleasant surprise. How were you able to develop those skills further at Coactive?

IAN:

To be honest, it was more about developing my entrepreneurial skills based on my tech knowledge, which of course grew at Coactive too. Truthfully, though, I hadn’t expected my military tech experience to be relevant – because it was so different to Coactive’s main commercial focus. I had some experience in digital game design through military testing games, you see. But as I understood more about Coactive’s capabilities and the company’s skillsets, I realized there was a great potential fit. I told Will and Cody that Coactive could totally add value in the gaming space. Because they’re incredibly open to ideas, and listening, they gave me the leeway to run with it.

Maybe it’s because they knew you were a… Maverick? Sorry, no more Top Gun references. Pinkie promise.

IAN:

Cody and Will gave me the machine learning pointers I needed, while I was able to give them relevant perspectives from a gamer POV. We pooled our knowledge and took things forward together.

But it’s not just the co-founders who are genuine teachers and collaborators – everyone else on the team has been great. If I watch designers here writing code on a whiteboard, they’ll bring me in and explain it all to me in a really open way. The whole team chemistry is geared around supporting each other through learning.

CAITLIN:

Plus one to that. They really want people here to learn and grow. That’s such a big part of my love for this startup. We’re all working as a team towards a common goal. Cody and Will want to solve a problem across industries, and make the world a better place. It’s inspiring.

(Caitlin leading a team plank challenge).

Talking of inspiration, Caitlin, what’s the most surprising way you’ve personally developed at Coactive?

CAITLIN:

Everyday I’m learning something new and that’s really boosted my confidence ahead of a career change. But the thing I’ve loved the most throughout this whole experience has been Cody and Will’s attitude. They take culture so seriously for their business. They live and breathe it, and they really want to make sure that everyone they hire fits within the culture.

Coactive is truly about inclusivity. Once someone starts here, they want them to learn, grow, and succeed. The way Cody and Will run meetings and make sure everyone’s opinion is heard is a wonderful thing that I want to take forward in the business world.

IAN:

The way I look at companies has really changed. Cody and Will have taught me to dig deeper, to go beneath the surface. I’ve learned how to scrutinize how companies really make money, how corporate partnerships work, and why companies market themselves in certain ways.

I’ve also changed the way I look at solving problems. Instead of just throwing money at problems to solve single instances, as the military can sometimes do, I’m now thinking about how we can solve the root issues. This new way of thinking will absolutely change my career.

Thank you both for your service to our country, and for all that you’ve brought to Coactive. We wish you all the best with your ongoing careers in innovation!

Culture is our first and most important product. What makes Coactive special is having a truly collaborative, diverse, and learning team. We’re also the best-in-class solution for analyzing unstructured image data. Be part of the next data revolution. Join our team.