Europe’s defence landscape is shifting at unprecedented speed. The combination of an increasingly volatile strategic environment, NATO’s renewed focus on autonomous systems, and the EU’s quest for technological sovereignty has catalysed a new generation of defence‑tech companies across the Nordic region. Among them, NestAI, headquartered in Helsinki, has rapidly emerged as a focal point in the continent’s race to develop physical AI, the integration of artificial intelligence directly into unmanned systems, robotics, sensing architectures, and command‑and‑control platforms.
The company’s rise to prominence was propelled by a €100 million investment from Nokia and Tesi, announced in November 2025, alongside a strategic partnership aimed at accelerating the development and deployment of AI‑native defence technologies.
Today, NestAI occupies a central place in Europe’s ambition to reduce dependence on external defence AI providers, especially from the United States and China, and to build robust, sovereign capabilities for the decades ahead.
A Nordic Powerhouse
The November 2025 funding round brought NestAI decisively into the public eye. Both Nokia and Finland’s sovereign investment fund Tesi emphasised the strategic value of the company’s work for European defence and critical infrastructure. Nokia’s CEO Justin Hotard stressed that secure, AI‑native connectivity — an area Nokia has rapidly expanded into through new defence‑focused units — would be a key pillar of future defence environments.
Tesi took an equally strong position, framing NestAI as an emerging “foundational technology partner” for defence and security across Europe.
NestAI’s mission is shaped by the vision of its founder and chairman Peter Sarlin, a respected figure in Nordic AI. Sarlin, previously known for building Silo AI, acquired by AMD for $665 million, has positioned NestAI as a purpose‑built European physical AI lab designed to meet the continent’s most pressing operational challenges.
Physical AI
The essence of NestAI’s technological proposition lies in its commitment to physical AI, a term that signals AI systems embedded directly into real‑world, mission‑critical environments. According to multiple sources, the company’s work spans:
- unmanned ground and aerial vehicles,
- autonomous operational systems,
- advanced sensing networks,
- data‑centric command‑and‑control,
- mission‑grade multimodal AI,
- and dual‑use applications across logistics, security, inspection, and defence.
This strategic orientation aligns with a growing European emphasis on C2 modernisation, sensor fusion, and AI‑enabled autonomy, fields where U.S. firms such as Anduril and Shield AI have aggressively expanded. NestAI, however, differentiates itself by focusing on sovereign European development, open architectures, and interoperabilitywith NATO and EU defence ecosystems.
The company’s public statements highlight engineering‑led design, rigorous safety principles, and multidisciplinary integration, key requirements for deploying systems where reliability cannot be an optional feature.
Deepening Ties
NestAI’s trajectory reflects broader regional trends. With Finland now a full NATO member, national defence priorities have increasingly emphasised resilience, rapid deployability, autonomy, and data‑driven decision‑making. The company’s collaboration with the Finnish Defence Forces, reported in late 2025, fits squarely into this strategic context.
The partnership with Nokia is equally significant. Nokia has expanded into defence through a dedicated incubation unit aimed at accelerating co‑innovation with partners across Finland, Europe, the United States, and Five Eyes nations.
The NestAI partnership includes joint development of:
- AI‑native secure connectivity,
- advanced sensing,
- multimedia integration, and
- forward‑deployed engineering capabilities.
These efforts are geared toward enhancing unmanned and autonomous systems, data‑centric C2 environments, and battlefield information architecture.
This aligns with the wider defence‑technology shift across Europe, where physical AI and secure networks are converging into a single capability stack essential for modern operations.
Corporate Structure and Team Composition
The company’s own public materials emphasise a multidisciplinary team of nearly 100 engineers and scientists, many with backgrounds in Intel, Kongsberg, Palantir, Saab, and major AI laboratories.
This talent composition reflects a strategic blend of AI research, robotics engineering, systems integration, and security‑critical hardware experience, all necessary to build physical AI systems capable of operating in contested environments.
Patent Position
After a comprehensive patent search was conducted, we could not find any patent.
This is consistent with the company’s documented period of operating in stealth prior to the 2025 funding round.
It is important to note, without speculating, that this absence does not imply the lack of internal R&D, trade secrets, or pending unpublished filings, as many defence‑oriented applications are held under 18‑month confidentiality rules.
NATO Interoperability and Dual‑Use Constraints
NestAI’s technology stack sits at the intersection of dual‑use regulation, NATO interoperability, and EU export‑control frameworks.
The company’s target areas; unmanned vehicles, C2 systems, AI‑native sensing, and connectivity, fall squarely within domains governed by:
- EU Dual‑Use Regulation (2021/821),
- NATO Federated Mission Networking (FMN) standards,
- Finland’s national defence‑export regimes,
- emerging EU Defence Joint Procurement regulations,
- and increasing scrutiny on AI safety, auditability, and explainability for defence use.
While the publicly available sources do not detail NestAI’s compliance posture, the deepening partnerships with the Finnish Defence Forces and Nokia’s defence unit strongly signal alignment with NATO‑relevant integration and testing environments.
As Europe confronts a multipolar defence‑technology landscape dominated by U.S. and Chinese giants, NestAI represents a distinctly Nordic expression of strategic autonomy:
- engineering‑driven,
- sovereignty‑aligned,
- safety‑focused,
- and built around open, interoperable architectures rather than proprietary lock‑in.
The company’s emergence underscores a broader continental shift: the recognition that future defence and critical‑infrastructure resilience will be determined by Europe’s ability to build and control the physical layer of AI, not just software models.
The €100 million partnership with Nokia and Tesi therefore marks more than a funding milestone. It represents a structural investment in the defence‑industrial base of Northern Europe, signalling the region’s intent to ensure AI‑enabled deterrence and operational capacity are developed in Europe, for Europe.
References (APA )
- Nokia. (2025, November 20). Nokia and NestAI announce strategic partnership and NestAI raises €100 million to accelerate physical AI innovation. [nokia.com]
- TechFundingNews. (2025, November 21). NestAI grabs €100M to build Europe’s ‘Physical AI’ defence lab with Nokia. [techfundingnews.com]
- Tesi. (2025, November 20). Tesi and Nokia invest EUR 100 million in NestAI. [tesi.fi]
- TechCrunch. (2025, November 20). Finland’s NestAI lands €100M, partners with Nokia to build AI for defence applications. [techcrunch.com]
- Military AI. (2025). Finland’s NestAI advances military AI with $115M funding, Nokia partnership. [militaryai.ai]
- NestAI. (2026). About the company / Careers / Mission materials. [nestai.com]
- PRH – Finnish Patent and Registration Office. (n.d.). Patent Information Service. [patenttiti…elu.prh.fi]
- Google Patents. (n.d.). Global patent search. [patents.google.com]
- PRH / YTJ – Finnish Business Registry. (n.d.). Company and organisation search results. [prh.fi], [ytj.fi]
