Rani Plaut Of AIR On The Future Of Aviation and Aviation Tech

An Interview With David Leichner

Surround yourself with experts in the field — in a highly technical profession, it’s critical to be surrounded by the best minds to learn from and to produce the highest quality aircraft.

As a part of our series about “The Future Of Aviation”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Rani Plaut.

Rani Plaut is CEO and Co-Founder of AIR, the startup reimagining air mobility with eVTOLs for mass personal use. With a rich background in mathematics and physics, as well as automotive and aerospace technologies, Rani’s impressive experience has led him to work with several OEMs and serve on the boards of multiple tech companies and venture funds. Prior to co-founding AIR, he was CEO and Co-Founder of Bmax, a leading provider of advanced metal processing solutions.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

As a kid, I spent a lot of time playing chess or solving equations, which led me down the path of mathematics and physics. Along the way, I became fascinated with the intersection of technology and human progress and dedicated my career to leveraging smart technology for societal advancement. In the world of aerospace and automotive design and manufacturing, I found this passion and my skillsets collided.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

When I heard Chen Rosen (my co-founder and the CTO of AIR) speak about his vision of electric aircraft for personal use, I knew I had to be part of bringing personal aviation to the masses. So much of my experience had previously been in automotive and aerospace, but this opportunity has literally elevated that path, merging the two. It’s thrilling to build something that will soon allow people to “drive the sky.”

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Let me start by saying, this was one of those mistakes I can laugh about now that so much time has passed. In real time, I certainly would not have classified it as funny.

In 2006, I sold my first machine to a tier-two automotive industry supplier. Prior to the event debuting the machine, the factory moved the machine without notifying my team and that move subsequently cracked one of the electrical conductors. To put this into perspective, regular electrical sockets typically contain 2 amps of electricity. This machine had 800,000 amps pulsing through the conductor.

At the machine’s debut, with the corporate VPs and all plant staff in attendance, the plant manager turned the machine on and it literally exploded, burning to a crisp. Thankfully, everyone was physically unharmed.

I approached the plant manager and acknowledged that he had every reason to throw us out, but that if he’d let me stay, I would fix it. He agreed, and my team and I stayed there for 5 months and delivered on that promise.

This experience not only emphasized the value of accountability and persistence, but it also taught me the impact of strong relationships in business. This plant manager took a big risk by taking me at my word that I could make it work. It’s a primary example in my career of how important it is to deliver on your promises.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

I’m thankful for everyone who bet on me, like the plant manager I mentioned earlier. Partners like him and the numerous others, investors, employees and customers, who gave me a chance to prove myself throughout my career truly shaped the businessperson I am today.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

1. Follow-through: Follow-through is extremely important to me; it’s been a core guiding value that’s contributed greatly to my successes. I truly believe in following through on all my promises and setting realistic expectations.
2. Perspective and self-awareness: In any business venture, I measure success by how close my prediction is to the outcome. To achieve this skill, I work to deliberately identify, address, and let go of my subconscious biases and assumptions.
3. A sense of humor: Humor is an incredibly important part of my communication style. With my team, humor creates not only a sense of comradery, but also brings balance to difficult situations.

Thank you for that. Let’s jump to the core of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a bit about the innovations that you are bringing to the Aviation and Air Travel industries?

As AIR operates within the burgeoning electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) industry, we distinguish ourselves as a pioneer of personal air mobility, rather than focusing on air taxis for commercial use, which dominate the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) industry. We are spearheading a new category in the market, offering individuals the unprecedented and unique freedom to fly as an alternative to driving.

Which “pain point” are you trying to address by introducing these innovations?

In today’s world, traffic congestion has become an unbearable burden on our daily lives. Not only do people spend substantial portions of their precious time stuck in traffic, but the heavy carbon emissions from these idle cars also have lasting effects. AIR aims to solve this traffic crisis by providing an alternative: personal air mobility that allows consumers to bypass the traffic and turns the everyday commute into a thrilling flight experience.

How do you envision that this might disrupt the status quo?

AIR is disrupting the status quo of air travel with an experience revolving around every day, personal, electric flight. We believe that the future of air mobility isn’t just personal, but electric. Electric air mobility is perhaps one of the most significant disruptors to the aviation industry’s status quo in decades. And at AIR, we want to not only electrify the skies but also empower individuals to fly.

My expertise is in product security, so I’m particularly interested in this question. Recently there were famous cases of hackers breaking into the software running automobiles, for ransomware or for other malicious purposes. Based on your experience, what should aviation companies do to uncover vulnerabilities in the development process to safeguard their vehicles and aircraft?

Once the hardware is designed and an aircraft is built, aviation companies must then implement appropriate software security protocols and best practices. Whether the security software is developed in-house or purchased from a vendor, the aviation industry owes its customer base the same due diligence that software companies owe theirs.

What are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In The Aviation Industry?

1. Always maintain high ethical standards — In an industry where questionable ethics can directly impact people’s safety, it’s critical to build a career in the aviation industry on a foundation of the highest possible ethical standards.
2. Have effective communication — Effective communication is of course important in any career, but in an industry with so many moving parts needed to achieve a whole aircraft, it’s critical to effectively communicate every step of the way.
3. Own up to your mistakes — High level operational issues will occur. Mistakes in any career are inevitable. However, the stakes are exceptionally high in the aviation industry, where mistakes can lead to costly expenses and operational challenges. It’s important in these situations to take responsibility and learn from every mistake.
4. Have confidence in your vision — If you’re hoping to make a splash with an innovation in the traditional aviation industry, be prepared to face some natural pushback. Stay confident in your mission and understand that change, even exciting prospects, can take time for people to accept.
5. Surround yourself with experts in the field — in a highly technical profession, it’s critical to be surrounded by the best minds to learn from and to produce the highest quality aircraft.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I don’t think there is enough work around energy and yet, energy is at the core of everything we do. While solar energy has become influential, I think there are many misconceptions and issues with it that get ignored. It requires a lot of chemicals and requires a massive amount of physical space. I would love to help work toward finding a truly sustainable energy source without any harsh or negative effects.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

On AIR’s website, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success in your important work.

About The Interviewer: David Leichner is a veteran of the Israeli high-tech industry with significant experience in the areas of cyber and security, enterprise software and communications. At Cybellum, a leading provider of Product Security Lifecycle Management, David is responsible for creating and executing the marketing strategy and managing the global marketing team that forms the foundation for Cybellum’s product and market penetration. Prior to Cybellum, David was CMO at SQream and VP Sales and Marketing at endpoint protection vendor, Cynet. David is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Jerusalem Technology College. He holds a BA in Information Systems Management and an MBA in International Business from the City University of New York.