Artificial intelligence company NestAI is opening an office in Tallinn and plans to grow its Estonian team to more than 25 engineers and specialists in 2027. Its main focus will be on developing adaptive defence AI in collaboration with local forces and industry.
The European AI lab for defence is formalising a presence it has been building for more than a year. In its announcement, NestAI said Estonia is the latest step in its expansion across the Nordic and Baltic region, following entries into Sweden in August and Latvia in September. The company also has a Letter of Intent with the Estonian Defence Forces, announced in June 2026.
NestAI builds around adaptive battlefield systems
NestAI develops NestOS, an open, modular and interoperable operating system for modern battlefield operations. The platform is designed to enable AI to learn continuously from operational data and adapt as conditions change, including when communications are degraded or the operating picture evolves faster than conventional software release cycles.
That approach is intended to support unmanned and command systems after deployment rather than treating fielded software as fixed. NestAI says its architecture enables multi-vendor integration without dependence on a single supplier, keeping systems compatible across different nations and allied forces.
A cross-border framework for allied systems
The June Letter of Intent between NestAI, the Finnish Ministry of Defence and the Estonian Defence Forces established a framework for joint AI development, with a structured path for additional allied partners. The cooperation covers adaptive and learning AI, command-and-control support, and autonomous and unmanned systems.
The work adds a new R&D capability to Estonia’s defence technology sector, which the company says has grown its turnover roughly sevenfold in four years. Estonia published a national defence artificial intelligence strategy in March 2025 and is spending 5.4% of GDP on defence this year, according to the announcement.
Tallinn team to work alongside local forces
Minister of Defence Martin Herem said Estonia needs to turn new technologies into military capabilities faster through cooperation among companies, the state, and international experts. “Bringing this expertise together with Estonia’s operational experience and digital strengths helps us develop solutions that strengthen our defence and can be put to practical use by our forces,” Herem said.
Dr Ivo Peets, Commander of the Force Transformation Command, said the planned R&D centre would help retain engineers and data scientists in Estonia by giving them access to demanding work on sovereign AI for battlefield operations.
Founded in 2025 by Peter Sarlin, who previously founded Silo AI, NestAI has raised €100M from Nokia and Tesi and grown to more than 200 engineers and scientists. The company works with the Finnish Defence Forces and other European defence forces, as well as industry partners including Saab and Patria.
“AI that cannot keep learning after it is deployed will not hold,” Sarlin said. “Building that capability means building it with the forces and companies who face those conditions.”
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