BigBear.ai ends year with border security play
Earlier this year, BigBear.ai (BBAI) found itself facing a potential major headwind to its core business as a provider of AI-powered decision intelligence solutions for defense and national security.
Although the company came into this year still struggling to become profitable, it had closed out 2024 by winning a series of big-ticket government contracts, giving it a wave of momentum to ride on.
But once Elon Musk started slashing federal budgets this past spring as part of his DOGE enterprise, BigBear.ai faced the threat of having future revenue from government contracts dry up.
In fact, both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Defense Department, two agencies BigBear.ai had landed contracts with last year, saw their budgets cut by DOGE.
TD Ameritrade Senior Markets Contributor George Tsilis, however, suggested to Schwab Network back in March that the company still had a potential avenue for growth through the government.
“Border security is essentially where this company’s revenue stream is focused,” Tsilis said, pointing to the Trump administration’s push to secure the US border.
And it's a revenue stream that BigBear.ai appears poised to ramp up as it enters 2026. The company has entered a new partnership with C Speed, a US-based provider of radar and defense solutions, to develop AI-powered border security solutions for global defense and homeland security partners.
The companies will integrate BigBear.ai's ConductorOS AI orchestration platform with C Speed's software-defined LightWave Radar (LWR) system to deliver AI-enabled real-threat detection and decision support for border security.
The LWR suite of radars that are used to support air and missile defense, as well as counter-UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) applications.
Both companies "have common strategic growth objectives across key U.S. Customs and Border Protection, national security, and critical Department of War missions," according to BigBear.ai.
“Securing complex borders and high-consequence environments requires intelligent systems that can sense, understand, and respond at machine speed,” BigBear.ai CEO Kevin McAleenan said in a statement.
“Our partnership with C Speed brings more secure, mission-ready AI directly to the edge—advancing situational awareness, automation, and officer support for the most demanding national security missions.”
C Speed CEO Kevin McLaughlin said that the two companies are "redefining rapid system deployment to empower the U.S. Government and its allies in safeguarding national security through advanced domain awareness capabilities."
BigBear.ai is not just focused on building its business within its own borders. The company announced earlier this month that it has expanded into the Middle East by opening an office at the World Trade Center Abu Dhabi, which it said is part of its long-term investment in the region.
McAleenan indicated that the company will be working with officials in the United Arab Emirates on advancing AI innovation in the Middle East.
BigBear.ai's stock is up 23.6% for the year.