Ep 72: Tocaro Blue | The Perception Layer Powering Unmanned Marine Growth

In this episode of the Maritime SoftwareHub – The People Podcast, Callum Beaumont interviews Andrew Rains, Senior Sales Director at Tocaro Blue, a company building AI-powered maritime perception software.Andrew shares his journey into the autonomous and defense software space, including his early role in shaping Tocaro Blue’s growth and go-to-market strategy. He explains the company’s role in the autonomy stack, focusing on the “perception layer” and why transforming sensor data into usable insights is one of the biggest challenges in maritime autonomy.The conversation explores why perception is often a greater bottleneck than decision-making, Tocaro Blue’s strategy of enhancing existing hardware, and how the unmanned vessel market compares to industries like automotive. Andrew also highlights the rapid adoption of autonomy in the defense sector and the key drivers behind it.From a commercial perspective, Andrew shares lessons on selling AI software into hardware-led industries, as well as the importance of hiring talent that can bridge technical complexity with real-world applications.If you want to reach out to Andrew, feel free to connect with him on LinkedIn or visit https://www.tocaroblue.com/++This podcast is brought to you by Cordell Beaumont, the specialist maritime software, commodity insights, and carbon intelligence recruitment agency.