Matt Beatty founded the Advanced Aviation Alignment (A3) consulting practice after realizing that state, local, territorial, and tribal stakeholders desperately need expertise and guidance on addressing the autonomous transportation revolution. Matt launched into the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) industry after finishing his MBA at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business in 2020 by joining AirMap as their Vice President for Defense Business Development. Through that role and subsequently, at DroneUp, Matt’s focus was on drone (uncrewed aerial systems, UAS) mission planning software, UAS Traffic Management (UTM)/U-Space solutions, and small UAS data collection services in a variety of industries, including Engineering/Construction and Public Utilities.

Matt has worked chairing industry standards committees in the Global UTM Association, consulted in state Department of Transportation AAM Working Groups, and collaborated with State and Local community leaders and officials in preparing for the safe, efficient, responsible, collaborative, and transparent use of airspace over their jurisdictions for the benefit of all stakeholders. Matt’s an FAA Part 107 certificated Remote Pilot who enjoys flying drones commercially and recreationally.

Matt’s early experience with UAS (benefiting from their operations and data) came after he graduated from San Diego State University in 2001 and served as a Marine officer in various operational and analyst roles, taking him to places like Japan, the Philippines, and Iraq. After leaving active duty in 2007 and returning to the Bay Area, he pursued a career in technical sales,  customer success, and executive roles in various networking technology, software services, and drone services companies leading him to his work at A3 today.