Ayden Ashwill
President & Founder
Ayden Ashwill is the President and Founder of Vigilux, where he leads company strategy, product direction, and system-level engineering. He brings a background in mechanical engineering with direct exposure to aircraft engineering, combined with hands-on experience across unmanned systems, sensing payloads, and embedded platforms. His work centers on translating rigorous engineering principles into practical, mission-ready technologies built for real operational use.
A former collegiate football and baseball athlete, Ayden approaches leadership and engineering with discipline, resilience, and a competitive, execution-driven mindset. He founded Vigilux with a clear mission: to increase operator safety, reduce cognitive and operational burden, and provide operators with a decisive tactical advantage through reliable, easy-to-use sensing systems. He oversees end-to-end execution—from system architecture and prototyping to supplier engagement and customer alignment—ensuring Vigilux products are engineered for deployment rather than demonstration.
Ayden’s leadership emphasizes technical rigor, design-to-cost discipline, and production credibility, positioning Vigilux to deliver sensing solutions that simplify the operator’s job while meeting the evolving demands of small-UAS operators, defense partners, and national security stakeholders.
Conner Rucker
Executive of Business Operations
Conner Rucker serves as Executive of Business Operations at Vigilux, where he leads strategy, partnerships, and organizational execution. A former collegiate athlete and MBA graduate of Millsaps College, Conner brings a disciplined, mission-focused approach to building high-performance ventures in complex industries.
With professional experience spanning global and industrial markets, Conner’s background includes work across the maritime sector supporting aerospace, geospatial surveying, offshore energy, offshore wind, and defense operations. He is driven by a commitment to integrity, accountability, and operational excellence, with a clear focus on advancing technologies that enhance safety and national security.
Noah Browning
Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
Noah Browning serves as Chief Technology Officer at Vigilux, where he is responsible for technical strategy, system architecture, and the integration of software, hardware, and secure communications across the company’s platforms.
With a foundation in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Noah brings professional experience from the aviation industry, where he worked in component reliability engineering and systems analysis. In this role, he evaluated failure modes, operational risk, and lifecycle performance of aircraft components, developing a disciplined approach to safety-critical systems, verification, and long-term reliability. This background directly informs his emphasis on robustness, traceability, and fault-tolerant design.
In addition to his aviation work, Noah has extensive hands-on experience in robotics and autonomous systems, spanning sensors, actuators, embedded control, and real-time software. He competed and placed for the University of Memphis Robotics team in Spring 2025.
Noah’s work bridges rigorous engineering standards with practical execution, ensuring that complex technologies are not only innovative, but reliable, secure, and ready for real-world deployment.
Austin Russell
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Austin Russell is the Chief Executive Officer of Vigilux, leading the company with a clear vision for innovation, disciplined growth, and long-term value creation. He holds a Master’s degree in Business and brings a rare combination of strategic insight, financial acumen, and real-world operating experience to the role.
A former collegiate athlete, Austin approaches leadership with focus, resilience, and a competitive drive to win in the marketplace. As CEO, he is responsible for defining Vigilux’s strategic direction, building high-performing teams, and executing scalable growth initiatives. He works closely with investors and leadership to align capital strategy, operational execution, and market expansion, ensuring Vigilux is positioned to grow efficiently while maintaining strong fundamentals.
Austin’s hands-on leadership style and data-driven approach enable Vigilux to identify opportunity, manage risk, and execute decisively—laying the foundation for sustainable growth and enduring shareholder value.
