Enterprise AI firm C3.ai (AI) just scored a major win with the U.S. military.
The company has been awarded a $350 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to expand its predictive analytics platform, which could reshape how America’s aircraft fleet is maintained and deployed.
The system in question is called PANDA, short for Predictive Analytics and Decision Assistant, and was co-developed by C3.ai and the Air Force itself.
PANDA has already being used across hundreds of Department of Defense aircraft, following an initial $100 million contract. Under the new deal, C3.ai will work with the Air Force to deploy the system at scale through October 2029.
“We believe our program with RSO may be the largest production AI deployment in the U.S. DoD today,” said Ed Abbo, C3.ai’s CTO. “At the scale of the U.S. Air Force, this system has the potential to increase aircraft availability by up to 25%.”
The move cements C3.ai’s position in defense AI and comes as the company builds out a growing ecosystem of public and private sector clients.
Steady growth in both the public and private sectors
C3.ai reported Q4 revenue of $108.7 million, up 26% from a year earlier. Total revenue for the fiscal year came in at $389.1 million, a 25% jump over FY24.
Subscription revenue alone reached $327.6 million, up 18%, and now makes up 84% of total revenue. The company expects FYQ1 revenue to fall between $100 and $109 million, with full-year guidance between $447.5 and $484.5 million.
Much of that momentum is driven by government contracts: C3.ai closed new deals with agencies in 16 U.S. states in Q4, doubling its government contract revenue year-over-year.
But the company is also making moves in the private sector. It closed 264 commercial agreements in FY25 — a 38% YoY increase — and continues to expand partnerships with cloud and software giants.
“Largest ecosystem of enterprise AI”
CEO Thomas Siebel told CNBC last week that C3.ai is leaning into its cloud alliances with Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Baker Hughes, Google Cloud, and McKinsey QuantumBlack.
“I think we have the largest ecosystem of distribution partners in the world,” Siebel said. “And we have the largest family of enterprise AI applications of any software company in existence.”
Siebel also noted that the Trump administration’s renewed focus on AI is accelerating government demand.
“There’s a lot of activity,” he said. “The government is committed to taking advantage of commercial off-the-shelf solutions that can be delivered quickly and can also realize benefits quickly.”
Shares of C3.ai are down 27.5% YTD, but with defense contracts piling up and enterprise demand growing, investors may soon be taking a second look.
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