DroneDeploy Progress AI for construction progress reports
Every capability on this page is DroneDeploy's own claim, as reported by DroneDJ in July 2025. The add-on price and the general-availability date are unpublished. DroneDeploy Progress AI reads stitched aerial maps and 360-degree captures uploaded to DroneDeploy's cloud.
It returns color-coded construction progress reports showing percent complete for each trade and floor. DroneDeploy unveiled it in July 2025 and describes it as an agentic vision-language model (VLM) that generates construction progress reports.
According to DroneDJ's July 22, 2025 report, it works without building information modeling (BIM) files, complex schedule integrations, or special flight paths.
What Progress AI Does
DroneDeploy Progress AI turns jobsite imagery into a construction progress report with percent complete broken out by trade and by floor. The report is color-coded. DroneDeploy says Progress AI also builds a dashboard automatically and produces heat maps that show room-by-room status.
To get there, Progress AI identifies installed work in the imagery, including framing, mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) systems, and finishes. It then checks the location, sequence, and visible changes of that work to flag what is complete and what needs attention. DroneDeploy describes report turnaround in minutes rather than days.
For a drone construction progress tracking workflow, the inputs are aerial maps and 360-degree panorama sets uploaded to DroneDeploy's cloud. Progress AI does not require BIM files or special flight paths.
What You Feed It
Progress AI takes imagery uploaded to DroneDeploy's cloud: stitched aerial maps and sets of 360-degree panoramas. DroneDeploy says no special flight paths are needed, so drone flights or 360 camera walkthroughs run as usual before the upload.
The inputs DroneDeploy says Progress AI skips are BIM files and complex schedule integrations. DroneDJ's report does not list supported drone models, so compatibility with a specific aircraft is unpublished.
| Input | Needed? | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Stitched aerial maps (orthomosaics) | Yes | Uploaded to DroneDeploy's cloud from normal drone flights |
| 360-degree panorama sets | Yes | Uploaded to DroneDeploy's cloud from 360 camera walkthroughs |
| BIM files | No | Not required, per DroneDeploy |
| Complex schedule integrations | No | Not required, per DroneDeploy |
| Special flight paths | No | Drone flights work as usual |
Who DroneDeploy Built It For
DroneDeploy names four groups as intended users of Progress AI. They are superintendents and project managers, trade partners, owners and executives, and drone service providers.
Asking Progress AI Questions
Progress AI answers questions typed as text or spoken by voice. DroneDeploy's example is "How far along is Level 4 drywall?"
Progress AI can answer using data from different capture dates.
What the Beta Reported
Beta users reported three concrete results, as relayed by DroneDJ. Superintendents used Progress AI to validate subcontractor pay applications faster. They also used it to spot trade work done out of sequence and to catch a mis-hung door frame.
Wharton-Smith Construction, an early partner that supports 90 projects nationally, uses Progress AI so its documentation team can check progress without setting foot on site. DroneDeploy has not published a total customer count.
What To Verify Before Buying
DroneDeploy has published no accuracy figures for Progress AI, and no independent test results appear in the source report. The training claim is DroneDeploy's own: DroneDeploy says Progress AI was trained on "billions of square feet and millions of acres" of ground-level and aerial visuals.
Progress AI is sold as an add-on. DroneDeploy says it costs a fraction of existing solutions but gives no dollar amount. DroneDJ's report gives no launch or general-availability date and describes a rollout that depends on beta feedback.
The price, the general-availability date and accuracy data are all unpublished. The beta results above show what superintendents caught. They do not show how often Progress AI misses an error.
What Would Change This Read
Price: a published dollar amount for the add-on.
Availability: a published general-availability date. The current rollout depends on beta feedback, and no general-availability date is given.
Accuracy: an independent test of Progress AI. Every capability on this page is DroneDeploy's claim, and no accuracy figures are published. Until those three items appear, read the original DroneDJ report as the source of every claim on this page.
Drones and UAS FAQs
What is DroneDeploy Progress AI?
DroneDeploy Progress AI is an agentic vision-language model (VLM) that DroneDeploy unveiled in July 2025. It reads stitched aerial maps and 360-degree captures uploaded to DroneDeploy's cloud and returns color-coded construction progress reports with percent complete for each trade and floor, plus a dashboard and room-by-room heat maps.
Does DroneDeploy Progress AI need BIM files?
No. DroneDeploy says Progress AI does not require building information modeling (BIM) files or complex schedule integrations. It also needs no special flight paths, so drone flights or 360 camera walkthroughs run as usual.
How much does DroneDeploy Progress AI cost?
DroneDeploy has not published a price. Progress AI is an add-on, and DroneDeploy says it costs a fraction of existing solutions without giving a dollar amount, per DroneDJ's July 2025 report.
Can I buy DroneDeploy stock?
No. DroneDeploy is a private software company, so its shares do not trade on a public exchange. For drone companies with listed shares, see our list of publicly traded drone companies and the guide on how to buy drone stocks.