The FAA's Plan to Fix Air Traffic? $875M Worth of AI

My take: The FAA has been operating with a shortage of more than 3,000 air traffic controllers, the worst staffing gap in over two decades, and announced its response: an $875 million contract with Air Space Intelligence to deploy SMART, an AI system that uses predictive analytics to anticipate flight conflicts, traffic flow, and airspace conditions before they become problems.

This shows something important: AI isn't only arriving in tech or media. It's entering some of the most critical infrastructure in the country, with decade-long contracts and budgets to match. For any professional in a regulated or infrastructure-heavy sector, the question is no longer whether AI will enter your industry, but when and under what conditions.

Is there a staffing shortage or a set of repetitive processes in your sector that AI tools could help address? If you have not analyzed it yet, now is a good time to start.