Lightning Rod Labs Assessed 'Awardable' for Department of Defense work in the CDAO’s Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace

AI startup helps defense organizations generate actionable predictions from unstructured data

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, July 2, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Lightning Rod Labs, a leading provider of AI-powered predictive intelligence, has been designated "Awardable" through the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office's (CDAO) Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace.

The Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace is the premier offering of

Tradewinds, the Department of Defense's (DoD's) suite of tools and services designed to accelerate the procurement and adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML), data, and analytics capabilities.

Lightning Rod Labs trains AI to make accurate, reliable predictions from unstructured data. Defense and intelligence organizations can continuously scan data feeds—like breaking news, social chatter, documents, images, APIs—to spot emerging threats before they materialize. The company's proprietary AI training framework learns at scale directly from real-world outcomes, without human labeling or curation, producing well-calibrated probabilities that outperform general LLMs. Beyond defense applications, the technology shows promise for use cases that still rely on manual analysis, such as watch-office early warning, claims-cost forecasting, and AML compliance screening.

"We're honored to be recognized for our innovation and potential impact on DoD missions," said Ben Turtel, Founder and CEO of Lightning Rod Labs. "We’re excited to help defense partners transform messy data into actionable predictions."

Lightning Rod Labs' video, "Accurate AI Predictions from Unstructured Data," demonstrates how the company's models deliver better predictions at a fraction of the size of general LLMs, and can be tailored for specific use cases with non-public data. The video is accessible only by government customers on the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace. Lightning Rod Labs was recognized among a competitive field of applicants to the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace whose solutions demonstrated innovation, scalability, and potential impact on DoD missions. Government customers interested in viewing the video solution can create a Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace account at tradewindAI.com.