Autonomy Failed. We Fixed It. Victus builds contested autonomy software that works where GPS doesn’t, on any platform, from the seafloor to low Earth orbit.
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Leadership
Jesse Hamel
Founder & CEO, VICTUS
Lt Col (Ret) Jesse Hamel is the Founder and CEO of VICTUS and a retired U.S. Air Force Special Operations officer with more than 20 years of experience leading combat aviation, autonomous systems, and advanced defense technology programs.
Jesse served as an AC-130J Gunship aviator and accumulated more than 2,000 flight hours, including over 800 combat hours supporting operations in Afghanistan and other global theaters. During his military career, he led operational teams in some of the most demanding environments in modern warfare and developed a reputation for disciplined leadership, mission execution, and innovation.
He commanded both an AC-130J gunship squadron and a special operations drone squadron before serving as Chief Technology Officer for a 1,000-person special operations group. His experience spans combat aviation, unmanned systems, operational technology integration, and autonomy in contested environments.
In parallel with his operational assignments, Jesse focused heavily on emerging defense technologies and national security innovation. He was selected as a Blue Horizons Fellow, where he conducted research on directed energy systems and advanced manufacturing. He later became a Fellow with the Air Force-MIT AI Accelerator, concentrating on artificial intelligence, autonomy, and next-generation defense applications.
After retiring from the Air Force, Jesse attended MIT, where he continued his work in AI, autonomy, and defense technology. During that time, he founded VICTUS with the mission of developing resilient autonomous systems designed for contested and denied environments across air, maritime, and multi-domain operations.
Today, Jesse leads a growing team of operators, engineers, and autonomy experts focused on delivering Contested Autonomy for the United States and allied partners. The VICTUS team brings together deep experience across special operations, AI, robotics, advanced manufacturing, autonomy, and mission systems integration to build resilient capabilities designed for real-world operational environments.
Victus is now coming out of stealth. Jesse’s mission is the same as it’s always been: make sure the machine works when it counts.
Built For Where Autonomy Gets Tested. Not Where It Gets Pitched.
Victus was founded by a retired Special Operations aviator and drone squadron commander who spent 20 years in environments where software either works or it doesn’t. That experience shapes everything, how we think about failure, how we build for the real world, and why contested autonomy isn’t just a feature we added. It’s the reason Victus exists.