PeopleTec Wins $300,000 Prize in U.S. Army xTech AI Grand Challenge
Company's AI Solution Excels at Finding Mislabeled Military Assets in Massive Dataset
PeopleTec, Inc. is proud to earn second place and a $300,000 cash prize in the US Army's prestigious xTech AI Grand Challenge. The company's innovative artificial intelligence (AI) solution demonstrated novel computer vision methods in identifying mislabeled military equipment within a massive dataset containing 80,000 military vehicles, planes, and ships—a challenge akin to "Where's Waldo?" in a vast computer scene resembling Subic Bay, Philippines.
The 2025 xTech AI Grand Challenge, hosted by the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA(ALT)) in partnership with Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare & Sensors (PEO IEW&S), attracted over 100 initial submissions from AI-focused businesses nationwide. PeopleTec’s solution earned the silver prize award, emerging as one of only six awardees from this highly competitive field after multiple rigorous evaluation phases.
The competition challenged US defense companies to develop AI systems capable of finding mislabeled tanks, planes, and other military assets, while also detecting pixel-level offsets in bounding boxes around objects within complex visual datasets. PeopleTec's solution excelled at solving this needle-in-a-haystack challenge by automating the verification and validation of massive military asset databases to find the poisoned examples buried in each scene.
"We're honored that the Army recognized our technology's potential to solve critical data challenges," said Joan Smith, President at PeopleTec. "Our automated approach can significantly reduce the time required to validate military asset data while improving accuracy."
The Army judges were particularly impressed with PeopleTec's approach, noting: "Great presentation and demo. [PeopleTec] has a great understanding of the problem and challenges faced by the Army. They built that capability on existing software that they already have deployed. The pipeline is automated, and they have clearly defined [endpoints and application programming interfaces]."
PeopleTec's winning solution streamlined the data preparation process for AI applications, addressing one of the DoD’s most critical barriers to implementing AI at scale. The competition's testing phase evaluated participants using Army data curated for specific AI use cases identified by Army Futures Command and Project Linchpin, where PeopleTec demonstrated its capabilities in automated data verification, validation, and feature engineering.
PeopleTec submitted its initial concept white paper in January 2025. After earning one of 40 semifinalist slots in March and receiving $10,000 in initial prize money, the company advanced through the intensive testing phase from April to June. PeopleTec was then named one of 20 finalists in June, earning an additional $25,000 and the opportunity to participate in the Army's AI accelerator program before the final virtual demonstration in August at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD.
"This AI Grand Challenge validates our team's expertise in developing practical AI solutions for defense applications," added Dr. David Noever, PeopleTec’s Chief Scientist. "The insights we gained throughout the competition will help us continue refining our technology to meet unique defense needs."
Beyond the cash prize, PeopleTec's winning submission in the xTech AI Grand Challenge opens doors for potential follow-on contract opportunities with the Army and other DoD organizations. The xTech AI Grand Challenge represents the Army's commitment to engaging with innovative businesses across the US to accelerate the development and transition of AI technologies into defense applications. By automating and streamlining data preparation processes, PeopleTec's solution saves the Army time, reduces costs, and improves the accuracy and performance of AI applications critical to national defense.
About PeopleTec
PeopleTec, Inc. is a leading provider of innovative engineering and technical services to the DoD and other government agencies. With expertise in AI, data analytics, systems engineering, and advanced technology development, PeopleTec delivers mission-critical solutions that enhance our nation's defense capabilities. The company is headquartered in Huntsville, AL, with offices in Colorado Springs, CO and personnel dispersed across the nation.
For more information about PeopleTec, visit www.peopletec.com. For more information about the Army xTech Program, visit https://www.xtech.army.mil. Prize announcements, visit https://xtech.army.mil/competition/xtech-ai-grand-challenge/
