MEET ROBERT
Obtaining a US Coast Guard upper level license is no easy task- it is compared in material amount and difficulty to the preparation it takes to pass the bar exam for attorneys.
Operating ships across global trade routes — taught me that operational discipline is not a policy you write down. It is a habit you build before anything goes wrong.
In 2002 I enrolled in Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, ME. In May, 2006 I graduated with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Marine Transportation Operations. 5 days after graduation I was aboard the MV Resolve, one of the car ships of the now American Roll-On/Roll-Off Carriers (ARC), at the time was called Interocean Ugland Management. They needed a mate in short notice due to a personal emergency. They called on a Friday afternoon and Saturday at 0700 I was aboard the vessel.
When I founded Airskydata, I made a deliberate choice: to build and operate this company the way the maritime and commercial aviation industries operate — with documented procedures, a formal Safety Management System, and standards that exist independent of whether a client or regulator is watching. The technology and the environment changes. The discipline does not.
I have watched many waves of technology — from darkrooms and C++ to mirrorless cameras and machine learning. Now we are in the age of AI. What has not changed is that no system, however sophisticated, replaces the judgment of an experienced operator. You have to set the tone, the limits and the expectations. Ethical considerations and repercussions don’t change because our core values don’t change.
The human element has to remain in the loop.
— Robert Rivera, CEO & Chief Remote Pilot
I have spent my career in environments where precision is not optional.
Where the consequences of getting it wrong are immediate and real.
My first ship…
