From Egyptian Ruins to First Responders: The VOTIX Story with Edwin Sanchez

Written By Spotlight Podcasting

From remote drone operations and public safety to hardware-agnostic robotics platforms, VOTIX is building the software layer designed to help organizations coordinate increasingly complex autonomous systems.

Edwin Sanchez, founder and CEO of VOTIX, joins Greg to unpack the journey from a simple idea inspired by archaeology and remote tourism to an enterprise platform now supporting drone operations across 16 countries. Drawing on more than two decades in IT, digital transformation, and enterprise software, Edwin shares why great technology alone is never enough, and why timing, resilience, regulation, service, and market fit are just as critical to building a lasting hard tech company.

The conversation explores how VOTIX acts as a kind of operating system for drone ecosystems, connecting different hardware, workflows, data sources, and third-party systems through one unified platform. Edwin also explains why public safety has become such an important use case, including how drone-first response programs can dramatically reduce emergency response times without requiring agencies to add more personnel.

In this conversation, Greg and Edwin explore:

  • How Edwin’s childhood in Colombia shaped his resilience, entrepreneurial mindset, and willingness to challenge difficult circumstances

  • The early fascination with computer viruses and self-replicating software that sparked his interest in how software interacts with machines

  • Lessons from more than 20 years in enterprise IT and digital transformation, including time working with companies like Microsoft, Oracle, and Adobe

  • Why strong engineering needs to be paired with service, market timing, sales, marketing, and a founder willing to adapt

  • The unlikely origin of VOTIX, from watching a live camera pointed at the pyramids to imagining remotely operated FPV drones anywhere in the world

  • Why the original remote tourism concept was ahead of the market, and how customer feedback pushed VOTIX toward industrial, commercial, and public safety applications

  • How VOTIX became hardware agnostic, allowing organizations to operate different drones and robotic systems through a common software layer

  • Edwin’s analogy of VOTIX as a symphony conductor, coordinating every component of a complex drone workflow so the system performs as one

  • The common operational building blocks across construction, mining, oil and gas, security, military, and public safety drone programs

  • Why public safety agencies are turning to drones as staffing challenges, shrinking budgets, and growing cities make traditional response models harder to sustain

  • How one police department reduced response visibility for priority emergencies from roughly 15 minutes to about 90 seconds using drone-based response

  • The launch of VOTIX Situational Rooms, which brings drones, body cameras, mapping, audio, chat, and other data sources into a single source of truth for faster decision making

  • Why the VOTIX vision extends beyond aerial drones to ground robots, robotic dogs, rovers, boats, submarines, and eventually humanoids

  • How integrations with airspace, weather, and traffic management systems help organizations safely execute more complex drone operations

  • The tension between public safety and privacy, and how software controls, audit logs, restricted camera movements, transparent feeds, and community education can help build public trust

  • Edwin’s approach to hiring senior technical talent, maintaining a culture comfortable with constant change, and making difficult personnel decisions quickly

  • Why VOTIX is increasingly looking for leaders with a global mindset as the company expands across enterprise and government markets

  • Why Edwin believes “autonomous” is one of the most overhyped terms in the drone industry today

  • The hardest lesson from building VOTIX: regulation, public perception, and forces outside a founder’s control can shape commercialization timelines far more than expected

For anyone building robotics infrastructure, deploying drone fleets, working in public safety, or trying to understand what it takes to turn emerging hardware into scalable enterprise systems, this conversation offers a practical look at the software, people, and operating models behind the next generation of autonomous operations.

Connect with Edwin on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwinysanchez/

Learn more about VOTIX:

Connect with Greg on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregtoroosian/

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