Every entrepreneurial journey is a squiggly line—marked by uncertainty, setbacks, and breakthrough moments. My story begins in the skies, growing up as a fifth-generation aviator, where I first learned both the wonder of clouds and the frustration of fog. Fog has long been aviation’s silent adversary: it grounds flights, disrupts plans, and costs the global airline industry an estimated USD $96 billion annually. Existing forecasts are notoriously unreliable, with airlines forced to act on false alarms most of the time, while many real fog events go unpredicted.

This talk will trace the journey from early experiments in fog dispersal to our leap into fog forecasting. I’ll share how our team at Pyper Vision navigated a huge pivot, built FogCast - an AI-powered system that finally delivers the accuracy and certification aviation needs to trust and act on weather intelligence. We’ll also explore the bigger challenge: transforming forecasts into decisions operators can rely on, and unlocking new possibilities for safer, more efficient skies. It’s a very personalstory of resilience, innovation, and reimagining how we navigate uncertainty, whether in the air or in business.

About Emily Blythe:

I grew up with one foot on the ground and the other in the cockpit. As a fifth-generation aviator, I learned about weather systems and how to fly a plane long before I earned a driver’s license. My family conversations often revolved around cloud formations, atmospheric changes, and how weather shaped every flight. But I also learned firsthand the frustration that fog brings to aviation—missed lessons, disrupted plans, and an ever-present sense of powerlessness when low visibility rolls in.

That personal connection to weather shaped my career path. Today, I’m the founder and CEO of Pyper Vision, a company built to solve one of aviation’s most stubborn challenges: fog. Along the way, I’ve guided a team from experimental fog dispersal technology to the creation of FogCast, the world’s first AI-powered, certified low-visibility forecasting system. My work sits at the intersection of aviation, technology, and entrepreneurship, driven by a vision of safer skies and more resilient operations. I believe in the power of turning complex, costly problems into opportunities for transformation, and in building systems that make the impossible suddenly actionable.

About PiperVision:

Pyper Vision exists to transform the way the world navigates weather. Founded in New Zealand, we began with bold experiments in fog dispersal before pivoting to address the deeper, global challenge: forecasting fog with the accuracy and reliability aviation desperately needs. Fog is the single most expensive and dangerous weather challenge for airlines, causing the highest fatality rates in weather-related aviation, the greatest delays, and immense financial loss - capturing a quarter of all weather related disruptions, roughly 3% of an airline’s annual revenue.

Our breakthrough is FogCast, an AI-powered forecasting system that predicts low-visibility events with a step-change in accuracy over existing models. But forecasting alone isn’t enough; aviation operators require certified data they can trust. That’s why Pyper Vision is on track to become the first private company in the world certified under ICAO Annex 3 Met Services, with the New Zealand CAA leading the way and expansion into the UK and EU underway.

Pyper Vision is building the future of weather intelligence: a connected platform that delivers trusted, actionable insights directly to airlines, air traffic controllers, and airports. Our mission is simple - unlock safer skies, reduce delays, and enable greater efficiency for aviation worldwide.