Inside Pano AI’s Mission to Combat Wildfires

By 2025, the wildfire crisis has grown so severe that it was no longer a seasonal concern, it was a year-round threat. More than one billion acres burned globally in 2024 alone. In the U.S., over 30,000 wildfires scorched 1.3 million acres just this year, with Los Angeles witnessing 24 days of relentless blazes that claimed 16,000 structures and caused up to $164 billion in damage. Against this devastation, Pano AI is trying to be a frontline innovator in climate adaptation tech. Founded in 2020 by Sonia Kastner, an alum of Google Nest, and Arvind Satyam, formerly of Cisco, Pano AI wants to help the emergency managers and wildland firefighters, “some of the most dedicated professionals on the planet,” that are operating without the tools they need. “The time to adapt to extreme we