Finland and Estonia have joined forces with defense AI company NestAI to accelerate the development of interoperable military artificial intelligence that can operate seamlessly across allied forces.
Formalized through a Letter of Intent, the partnership will enable the two countries to share expertise, jointly develop new technologies, and speed the deployment of AI capabilities across their defense organizations.
Bringing Defense and AI Together
The agreement was signed by the Finnish Ministry of Defence, the Estonian Defence Forces, and European defense AI company NestAI.
The Finnish Defence Forces will support the effort through its AI Center of Excellence, advancing research and capability development as part of the country’s broader defense AI strategy.
Meanwhile, the Estonian Defence Forces’ Force Transformation Command will help integrate AI into military capabilities, including command and control and autonomous systems.
NestAI will provide its expertise in open, modular AI platforms, enabling joint technology development while allowing participating nations to retain sovereign control over their data and operational capabilities.
Building AI for Allied Operations
The partners will initially focus on adaptive and learning AI, command-and-control support tools, and autonomous and unmanned systems.
A central goal is to develop AI capabilities that work seamlessly across allied military systems, improving interoperability while reducing duplicated development efforts.
The collaboration will begin with pilot projects to identify priority areas before expanding based on operational lessons learned.
“European defence forces need AI systems that work together across national boundaries and continue to learn after deployment,” said NestAI executive chairman Peter Sarlin.
