Jared Silberman Takes the Trophy at ASCA Pitch Day

From Three Minutes to a Trophy

Some pitches are just presentations. Others are proof points.

When Jared Silberman took to the stage at ASCA Pitch Day in Sydney, he had three minutes to show a room full of senior Defence personnel, investors and some of Australia’s leading innovators what Mission Systems had built. He came home with the trophy.

The Pitch

Held on 3 November ahead of the Indo Pacific International Maritime Exhibition, ASCA Pitch Day brought together a select group of Australian organisations to present innovative solutions to two Defence challenge themes. Jared pitched under Theme 2: Acoustic Data Collection and Processing — a challenge focused on how Australia might collect and monitor acoustic intelligence data using low-cost, deployable systems.

His pitch centred on Mission Systems’ Nautilus technology for AI-enabled acoustic surveillance — a capability designed for deployment by either humans or heavyweight autonomous underwater vehicles.

“It’s a short time, but a big opportunity,” Jared said ahead of the day. “We’re showing that this capability already exists — it’s real, deployable and ready for Defence applications.”

The judges agreed.

Jared’s background and role at Mission Systems

Jared came to Mission Systems directly from The University of Sydney. His biomedical engineering background may not have been the most common path to a career in maritime robotics, but he has quickly moved to playing a major role both within the company and through AUKUS Pillar II projects in which Mission Systems is involved.

Sovereign Capability, Built Here

What makes this recognition significant is not just the win — it’s what the win represents. Australia’s undersea environment is strategically vulnerable, and the availability of sovereign technologies to monitor, interpret and respond to acoustic data represents an essential capability.

Mission Systems is building that capability here, with Australian expertise, for Australian Defence needs.

Jared’s pitch didn’t just present an idea — it demonstrated a system that already exists, already works and has been deployed in Sydney Harbour for over a year. That is the kind of sovereign capability that matters.

Looking Forward

As Mission Systems continues to develop next-generation autonomous and underwater systems, Jared’s work in acoustic sensing, perception and autonomy will remain central to that progress — and this recognition from ASCA is a strong signal that the broader Defence community is paying attention.

Jared Silberman is a Senior Robotics Engineer at Mission Systems, specialising in software for autonomous systems.