Disrupting the $60B Drone Race: Windlift Extends Flight, Power, and Surveillance
Rob Creighton, CEO of Windlift, joins the Disruption/Interruption podcast to discuss how his company's advanced tethered drone technology is revolutionizing energy and defense, providing mobile, resilient power and unparalleled surveillance capabilities for a more secure and energy-abundant world.
TAMPA BAY, Fla., Nov. 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- With over 855,000 drones registered in the U.S. and an industry projected to reach $60 billion by 2030, unmanned aerial technology is rapidly evolving. (1,2) However, its full potential for mobile energy and defense remains largely untapped. In the latest episode of the Disruption/Interruption podcast, host Karla Jo (KJ) Helms interviews Rob Creighton, Founder and CEO of Windlift, to explore how his company is pioneering tethered drones that provide long-endurance surveillance and generate clean power from the skies. Creighton explains, "We can actually take energy out of the wind and use it to accelerate the vehicle."
The Limits of Fixed Infrastructure
For decades, the energy industry has relied on massive, fixed infrastructure, from diesel generators to giant turbines and solar panels. This model is slow to build, expensive to maintain, and impossible to move, creating vulnerabilities and logistical nightmares, especially for military operations in remote or contested environments. "Every military in the world runs on liquid fossil fuel," Creighton states, highlighting the critical link between energy and national security.
This dependency creates immense challenges. "The further you get away from that plant, the more expensive that energy is," Creighton explains, noting that some locations pay ten times more for electricity, stifling economic growth. This fixed system presents an existential threat when disrupted, a fact that has driven conflicts throughout history. The need for a mobile, resilient, and clean energy source has never been more urgent.
Creighton's vision was to transcend these limitations. "I think that's fundamentally makes the world a safer, more peaceful place," he says, underscoring his mission to create energy abundance and reduce global conflict through distributed energy resources.
A New Era of Mobile Energy and Surveillance
Windlift's technology disrupts the traditional energy model by offering a lightweight, mobile solution that is 90-95% less material-intensive than conventional systems. By replacing heavy infrastructure with intelligent software and a tether, Windlift's drones can be deployed anywhere, from disaster zones to forward-operating military bases. "We're selling data. We're selling sensors in places where it's very, very valuable to have sensors, which is border regions, which is the edges of countries which typically are not very well electrified," says Creighton.
The platform's applications extend beyond energy generation. The same technology enabling power generation also allows the drones to be towed behind ships, providing a stable, high-altitude platform for surveillance. "Having that situational awareness and eye in the sky is really valuable to commanders who maybe get blinded because sensors get knocked out," Creighton illustrates. This capability gives forces a critical time advantage in detecting threats, transforming defense and security.
Creighton concludes with a powerful vision for the future: "Let's focus on a future of energy abundance. Dream, imagine that world into existence. That's where I really wanna put my efforts."
Links
Disrupting Defense Mobility: How Windlift Cracked the Code on Aerial Resilience, Agility, and Persistent Intelligence with CEO Rob Creighton
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-creighton-3572702/
Company Website: https://www.windlift.com/
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Disruption is happening on an unprecedented scale, impacting all manner of industries— MedTech, Finance, IT, eCommerce, shipping, logistics, and more—and COVID has moved their timelines up a full decade or more. But WHO are these disruptors and when did they say, "THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD IT!"? Time to Disrupt and Interrupt with host Karla Jo "KJ" Helms, veteran communications disruptor. KJ interviews badasses who are disrupting their industries and altering economic networks that have become antiquated with an establishment resistant to progress. She delves into uncovering secrets from industry rebels and quiet revolutionaries that uncover common traits—and not-so-common—that are changing our economic markets… and lives. Visit the world's key pioneers that persist to success, despite arrows in their backs at www.disruption-interruption.com.
About Rob Creighton
Rob Creighton is a trailblazer in the field of airborne wind energy, combining innovation, autonomy, and clean power to revolutionize how and where energy is generated. As the founder and CEO of Windlift, Rob is pioneering intelligent, tethered drone systems that deliver resilient, mobile energy solutions where traditional infrastructure falls short. Under his leadership, Windlift has secured over $24 million in U.S. government R&D funding, positioning the company as a leader in the intersection of defense, energy, and autonomy.
Before founding Windlift in 2006, Rob earned a B.S. in Genetics and an MBA in Strategic Management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His unique background in genetics, environmental science, and strategic leadership has fueled his vision to create energy solutions that are not only clean and powerful but also mobile and adaptable to the most challenging environments.
With nearly two decades of experience, Rob's work is driven by a deep personal connection to the military as the grandson of service members. His mission is to solve the logistical challenges faced by soldiers, sailors, and marines in the field, providing them with reliable, portable energy solutions. Rob's groundbreaking work at Windlift is reshaping the energy landscape, proving that the future of power lies in intelligent, autonomous systems that can go where no infrastructure has gone before.
About Karla Jo Helms
Karla Jo Helms is the Chief Evangelist and Anti-PR® Strategist for JOTO PR Disruptors™. Karla Jo learned firsthand how unforgiving business can be when millions of dollars are on the line — and how the control of public opinion often determines whether one company is happily chosen, or another is brutally rejected. Being an alumnus of crisis management, Karla Jo has worked with litigation attorneys, private investigators, and the media to help restore companies of goodwill into the good graces of public opinion — Karla Jo operates on the ethic of getting it right the first time, not relying on second chances and doing what it takes to excel. Helms speaks globally on public relations, how the PR industry itself has lost its way, and how, in the right hands, corporations can harness the power of Anti-PR to drive markets and impact market perception.
References
- Statista. "U.S.: Drone Registrations by Category 2022." Statista, 17 Oct. 2025, statista.com/statistics/1221517/uas-drone-registrations-united-states/.
- O'Halloran, Suzanne. "Investors Bet Big on Booming Drone Economy." Fox Business, 21 Nov. 2025, foxbusiness.com/markets/investors-bet-big-booming-drone-economy.
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