Overwatch Imaging, an Oregon company that builds artificial-intelligence software for airborne cameras and sensors, is opening a Nashville office in the third quarter of 2026 and has already hired its first employee in the city. The Hood River, Oregon-based firm says the new site will help it develop and deploy its Automated Sensor Operator software while putting it closer to defense and law enforcement customers across the Southeast.
According to a company announcement on overwatchimaging.com, the Nashville office will open in Q3 2026 and will support the company's development and deployment of its sensor-agnostic Automated Sensor Operator, or ASO, software. The company says it is now hiring for roles in both Hood River and Nashville, and that its Oregon headquarters will remain its home even as the new location grows. Founder and CEO Greg Davis said the move puts the company closer to key defense and tactical applications customers and gives it access to a strong and growing pool of talent, per the same announcement.
Overwatch Imaging was founded in 2016 in Hood River, Oregon, and began operations roughly a decade ago focused on wildfire mapping, according to reporting by Hypepotamus. The company has since broadened into what it describes as AI-enabled sensor autonomy for defense, law enforcement, maritime, wildfire response, and other missions that depend on information gathered from the air, offering both imaging payloads and sensors alongside its ASO software. That software is designed to let customers automate routine sensor tasks on their existing aircraft and cameras without having to replace that hardware, freeing operators to focus on missions and make critical decisions in the moment.
A Combat Veteran Leads the New Nashville Team
Overwatch Imaging selected Nashville as its second location and has made its second local hire in the city, per Hypepotamus. Daniel Escobar, who joined the company this summer, was tapped as Director of ASO for Tactical Applications and will lead Overwatch Imaging's Nashville site. Escobar already resides in Nashville, and he told Hypepotamus that the city's ecosystem, talent, culture, and community influenced the company's decision to plant its second office there.
Escobar brings a military background to the role: he served in special operations for five years, completed four combat tours, and spent six and a half years working as a sensor operator, managing full-motion video, multiple radios, radar, and other equipment, according to Hypepotamus. He said he relied on information relayed from drones and crewed aircraft while serving on the ground, and described Overwatch Imaging's technology as providing superhuman vision and workload reduction for operators doing similar work today.
Why Nashville, and Why Now
Escobar told Hypepotamus that when he first moved to Nashville, the city had relatively few defensetech companies and its tech opportunities leaned heavily on healthcare, in contrast to Huntsville, Alabama, which already had an established concentration of defensetech firms nearby. He said Nashville is beginning to build its own defensetech footprint, and that Overwatch Imaging wants to get to know the Southeast as it grows there. The company has said it wants to work with nearby institutions and the broader regional tech community, including Huntsville, as part of that effort.
Overwatch Imaging plans to build a Nashville team focused on tactical intelligence and intends to hire software developers, test engineers, demonstration specialists, program managers, and product owners in the city, per Hypepotamus. The company says it is prioritizing reaching state agencies in Tennessee and surrounding states, and plans to expand its work with military, law enforcement, and state agencies across the Southeast. Its mission set is expected to include wildfire and forestry work, law enforcement, maritime support, and border protection.
Company Growth and the Broader Industry Picture
The Nashville push follows a period of rapid growth at the company. A February 2026 post on overwatchimaging.com reported that Overwatch Imaging employed 40 workers, with the majority based at its Hood River headquarters, and quoted Davis saying he expected that number to grow to 60 by the end of 2026 — a projection rather than a confirmed headcount. Davis also said at the time that he expected the company's revenue to grow more than 50% this year.
A separate job posting on talent.squadra.vc had listed a Senior Software Engineer role expected to work in the Nashville office full-time, specifying that the company was not accepting remote candidates for the position; that listing was no longer accepting applications when it was last checked. The expansion also lands amid a broader statewide push in the sector: a 2026 industry snapshot from tnecd.com reported more than 12,400 Tennesseans employed in aerospace and defense, more than 160 aerospace and defense companies statewide, and more than 3,220 new job commitments in the sector since 2019 — figures that describe Tennessee's overall industry landscape rather than Nashville specifically.
