Vexcel Intelligence recognized for turning the world’s largest aerial imagery program into a searchable view of the real world.

Vexcel, the world’s largest aerial imagery and geospatial data program, today announced its Vexcel Intelligence platform has won Fast Company’s 2026 Next Big Things in Tech Award in the Applied AI category.

Fast Company’s annual awards highlight “the year’s most inventive advances in AI, sustainability, enterprise, medicine, and beyond.” The editors reviewed more than 1,000 submissions and awarded Vexcel Intelligence “for teaching AI to understand the world from above.”

Vexcel Intelligence makes that possible by indexing Vexcel’s high-resolution aerial imagery library, allowing users and AI systems to search the real world like they search the web. This transformative technology promises to change not only how geospatial data can be used, but who can put it to work.

"We're honored to receive this prestigious award," said Erik Jorgensen, Group CEO of Vexcel. “We’ve spent years building a detailed, consistent view of the real world. Now Vexcel Intelligence can search and understand it, opening novel ways to assess risk, manage infrastructure, respond to change, and answer questions we couldn’t answer before.”

Vexcel Intelligence answers a user's plain-language queries, like what one would type into a search engine or large language model. For example, a representative from a utility company concerned with vegetation management could type, "Find me trees growing near overhead powerlines in Redmond, Washington." An insurer could search, "Find me homes with unfenced pools in Southern California." A department of transportation, concerned with the changing condition of its jurisdiction's roads, could type, "Find me deteriorating roads and faded crosswalks downtown." In response, Vexcel Intelligence delivers high-resolution aerial imagery with latitude and longitude coordinates, ranked by a similarity score.

Since Vexcel's high-resolution ortho and oblique aerial imagery library spans more than 45 countries and territories, Vexcel Intelligence allows users to search and get critical answers on a truly global scale.

Vexcel also offers Vexcel MCP, built on the Model Context Protocol, an open standard that connects large language models to external data and tools, so teams can use LLMs to search and analyze Vexcel's high-resolution aerial imagery directly. Vexcel MCP links AI agents and business applications to Vexcel Intelligence, bringing high-resolution aerial imagery into the tools and processes organizations already use. Instead of running one-off searches, teams can build repeatable, automated workflows.

Vexcel first introduced Intelligence in January 2026 with a handful of searchable cities. It expanded Vexcel Intelligence to its global aerial imagery library in September.

Learn more about Vexcel Intelligence at vexceldata.com/intelligence and Fast Company’s Next Big Things in Tech at: fastcompany.com/applied-ai-next-big-things-in-tech-2026

About Vexcel

For over 30 years, Vexcel has been the industry leader in the photogrammetric and remote sensing space, building market-leading UltraCam sensors and providing a comprehensive library of cloud-based geospatial data. Vexcel operates the largest aerial imagery program in the world, collecting high-resolution imagery and geospatial data in 45+ countries and territories. Its dedicated fleet of fixed-wing aircraft captures imagery in the U.S., UK, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, India, and across Western Europe. Vexcel's unique technology stack results in consistency across its aerial collection programs. Its comprehensive aerial data library helps customers streamline remote assessment, innovate common workflows, and enhance decision-making with confidence. More at: vexceldata.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261006977469/en/

We’ve spent years building a detailed, consistent view of the real world. Now Vexcel Intelligence can search and understand it, opening novel ways to assess risk, manage infrastructure, respond to change, and answer questions we couldn’t answer before.