Taming Complexity: The Next Wave of AI and Smart Systems Innovations

Critical Mission Studio helps Fathym accelerate novel developer platform and AI innovations.

Critical Mission Studio (CMS) today announced one of its portfolio companies – Fathym – has achieved significant development milestones that address urgent business and societal needs.

SUMMARY

• Fathym’s introduces its OpenX developer platform which is radically redefining and simplifying enterprise AI and software development by providing a self-serve “one-stop shop” with interchangeable components across all infrastructure, services, data and applications.

• OpenX leverages two core innovations – Everything as Code and AI as Code to provide developers with an architectural layer and unified configuration model and system of record for defining and orchestrating software solutions and for efficiently orchestrating robust, future-proof agentic AI solutions at scale.

In the brief 24 months since ChatGPT unleashed a new wave of AI innovations, many announcements about advancing AI capabilities and newly funded AI start-ups have dominated the news, but most of these stories have focused more on consumer and commercial innovations than on how AI can solve some of societies biggest challenges such as climate change, resource management and physical infrastructure effectiveness.

Operational Technology (OT) systems that support essential infrastructure in manufacturing, utilities, transportation, natural resources and more are at a critical crossroads. Rising operational complexity, increasing cybersecurity threats, and a global shortage of skilled labor threaten their stability. Simultaneously, the growing need for data-driven capabilities, AI-ready infrastructure and digital resilience demands modern, scalable, and secure computing and data center capacity.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to incorporate diverse features, functions and capabilities into software that manages mission critical systems such as the electrical grid, transportation hubs or critical resources. These systems are becoming more software-defined, but they are also becoming bottlenecked and error-prone due to their complexity. This situation is forcing many companies to rely on the expertise of operators who have been working in these industries for decades. The problem with this situation is it doesn’t scale.

Systems complexity and the criticality of resources are daunting challenges but, at the same time, ideal applications of new AI innovations. AI-enabled solutions are purpose-built to address the complexity that results from overly deterministic software and the need to optimize performance. The challenges of developing a new generation of adaptive systems that can balance mission criticality and complexity cannot be overstated.

“We are at a unique moment in time. Thanks to advances in reinforcement learning, computer vision, and large language models (LLM) and vision language models (VLM), many industrial use cases once thought impossible are now within reach. We believe that in the next 5 to 10 years, our physical world will be completely transformed by AI.” said Matt Smith, Founding Partner, Critical Mission Studio.

CMS has partnered with Fathym to help support their development of new software and AI innovations focused directly on the challenges we are describing.

FATHYM’S INTRODUCES OPENX TO REDUCE DEVELOPER COMPLEXITY

Reducing the complexity developers face and arming them with new AI tools is a critical step toward increasing development innovation and speed. Fathym’s OpenX developer platform is radically redefining and simplifying enterprise AI and software development by providing a self-serve “one-stop shop” with interchangeable components that provide flexibility to suit both simple and complex (multi-cloud or hybrid) architectures serving as the “glue” between existing tools, components and design choices.

Fathym has reached multiple technology development and commercial relationship milestones with the introduction of its revolutionary OpenX platform that combines two unique innovations:

• Everything as Code: a unified configuration model and system of record for defining and orchestrating software solutions spanning infrastructure, data, applications and AI.

• AI as Code: an architectural layer and configuration model for efficiently orchestrating robust, agent ops and orchestration to future-proof agentic AI solutions at scale.

Critical Mission Studio understands that Fathym’s work with enterprise developers across numerous mission critical domains has lead to an acute understanding of best practices, design principles and reference architectures that became the blueprint for OpenX, a best-in-class developer platform.

INNOVATIONS AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL WORLDS

It takes a specific mindset and skills to address mission critical domain challenges, combining unique technology development skills, deep subject matter expertise, and patience. We recognize that these domain issues are not easily or neatly solved; their timelines are often slower due to complex implementations and bureaucratic policies and compliance challenges. Companies building and developing solutions in the mission critical arena require support that looks different from what traditional VC’s and investors offer.

“We started Critical Mission Studio because we see these challenges every day. We are optimistic that experienced forward-thinking company builders like Fathym can address them. We are committed to easing operational limitations in critical infrastructure by integrating AI technology into modeling, simulation and automation of autonomous and adaptive systems.” said Glen Allmendinger, Founding Partner, Critical Mission Studio.

ABOUT FATHYM

Fathym empowers enterprises to deliver future-proof, adaptable and innovative software solutions that address mission-critical challenges and maximize return on investment. At Fathym's core is "Everything as Code" (EaC), a unified configuration model and system of record that transforms the way software is built, orchestrated and delivered. EaC provides a unified method to configure and define every component of a software solution, from code and data to pipelines, resources, services, apps and agents without sacrificing control and ownership.

This approach enables Fathym to deliver a range of specialized and adaptable solutions such as OpenBiotech, an intuitive cloud interface for biosensing, and OpenIndustrial, a cloud-native integration hub for industrial automation. By unifying and orchestrating infrastructure, data, applications and AI, Fathym empowers organizations to consolidate, standardize and boost the efficiency and innovation of their software initiatives.

Fathym’s collaborative work with enterprise developers across numerous mission critical domains has lead to an acute understanding of best practices, design principles and reference architectures that became the blueprint for a best-in-class developer platform.

ABOUT CRITICAL MISSION STUDIO

Critical Mission Studio (CMS) is a venture studio and investment fund created to support entrepreneurs and incumbent technology businesses tackling digital modernization in mission critical domains. CMS partners with large industrial organizations and entrepreneurs to co-create ventures that leverage software, AI and open innovation to enable a new generation of Smart Adaptive Systems. Critical Mission’s venture studio provides access to skills, resources, and a diverse community of entrepreneurs, developers, strategists, and customers to support scaling new businesses.