Member Spotlight: PMSI Marketing Group

August 24, 2026

PMSI Marketing Group is a woman-owned marketing, public relations, website development, and digital communications firm specializing in technology, drones, defense, advanced manufacturing, and other complex industries. With more than 25 years of communications experience, drone pilots on its team, and strategic partners who bring more than 20 years of experience working with and selling to the defense sector, PMSI helps innovative companies explain their capabilities, establish credibility, build relationships, and connect with commercial, government, and defense audiences.

Value of PMSI’s AUVSI Membership

AUVSI membership connects PMSI directly with the companies, operators, manufacturers, defense organizations, government stakeholders, policymakers, and technical experts shaping the future of autonomous and uncrewed systems.

Kristine Kletke, President, PMSI Marketing Group, says that as a marketing, public relations, and digital communications firm, PMSI brings a distinctive perspective to the AUVSI community, helping highly technical organizations communicate the value of their innovations to audiences that may not have an engineering, aviation, autonomy, or defense background.

Participating in AUVSI also helps PMSI’s team remain informed about regulatory developments, emerging commercial and defense applications, procurement considerations, industry challenges, safety priorities, and changing market conditions, knowledge that Kletke says strengthens the guidance the firm provides to clients and helps it build meaningful relationships with organizations that need help developing their brand, earning media attention, or reaching commercial, government, and defense markets.

Exciting Industry Developments

PMSI is most excited about the continued expansion of drones and autonomous systems across commercial, public-sector, national security, and defense applications.

Kletke points to uncrewed systems increasingly demonstrating value in infrastructure inspection, public safety, emergency response, construction, agriculture, environmental monitoring, logistics, mapping, intelligence gathering, situational awareness, and force protection, among other operations where they can improve safety, efficiency, data collection, and decision-making. She also cites advancements in autonomy, counter-UAS technology, artificial intelligence, sensor integration, resilient communications, and Beyond Visual Line of Sight operations as creating new opportunities for dual-use technologies that serve both commercial and defense needs.

“This growth creates an important responsibility,” Kletke says. “Companies must clearly explain not only what their technology can do, but why it matters, how it is being used responsibly, and how it addresses the needs of commercial customers, government agencies, defense organizations, and the public.”

Industry Challenges

PMSI identifies the communication gap between technical innovation and market understanding as one of the industry’s greatest challenges. Kletke notes that many drone, defense, and autonomous-systems companies have sophisticated products and highly knowledgeable technical teams but struggle to explain their capabilities in language that resonates with customers, government decision-makers, procurement teams, defense partners, investors, media outlets, and the communities where the technology may operate.

Companies seeking to enter the defense market face additional challenges, Kletke says, since the sector is highly relationship-driven and requires credibility, patience, a clear understanding of customer needs, and messaging that connects technical capabilities to specific operational requirements. Through its strategic partnerships and hands-on experience, PMSI stays close to the advancement of UAS and C-UAS technologies, a perspective that Kletke says underscores why companies cannot approach both civil and defense audiences with generic marketing. They must demonstrate relevance, reliability, mission value, technical readiness, and an understanding of the environment in which their products will be used.

The industry needs clear, accurate, and transparent communication that addresses legitimate concerns without overstating capabilities, according to Kletke. Stronger messaging, public education, media relations, relationship development, and consistent positioning will be critical to earning trust and accelerating responsible adoption.

Supporting High Safety Standards

PMSI supports high safety standards by ensuring that communications surrounding drone, defense, and autonomous technology are accurate, responsible, and grounded in real-world operations. As drone pilots themselves, Kletke says members of the PMSI team understand that safe operations begin long before takeoff, requiring planning, awareness of the operating environment, respect for applicable requirements, risk assessment, and responsible decision-making.

That perspective carries particular weight when technology is being considered for defense, national security, critical infrastructure, public safety, or emergency-response applications. PMSI brings it to the marketing and public relations work it performs, helping clients communicate their safety practices clearly, avoid overstating the capabilities of their systems, and provide audiences with accurate information about how and where their technology is intended to operate while maintaining sensitive details.

“Responsible communication is an important part of responsible deployment,” Kletke says. “Marketing should help customers, government stakeholders, industry partners, and the public understand how safety is incorporated into a company’s technology, training, operations, testing, and organizational culture.”

Building Public Trust

Kletke says public trust begins with clarity, transparency, and relevance. PMSI helps companies explain drone and autonomous technology in terms of the problems it solves and the benefits it creates, demonstrating how the work can protect personnel, strengthen national security, improve emergency response, inspect critical infrastructure, collect better information, reduce operational risk, and make essential services more efficient, rather than relying exclusively on technical terminology.

Defense and national security applications can be particularly difficult to communicate, Kletke notes, because organizations must balance transparency with security, confidentiality, and operational considerations. PMSI helps companies develop messaging that communicates mission value, responsibility, safety, and credibility while respecting those boundaries, and helps clients communicate responsibly about privacy, safety, data use, operational limitations, and community impact.

“When people understand what a system does, why it is being used, and how it is operated responsibly, they are more likely to evaluate the technology based on facts rather than fear or misconception,” Kletke says.

PMSI’s Role in the Industry’s Future

PMSI’s role is to help drone, defense, and autonomous-systems companies move from innovation to understanding, credibility, market adoption, and meaningful industry relationships. Kletke says the firm works with companies to clarify their positioning, articulate their value, establish a credible brand, and communicate effectively with technical and nontechnical audiences, through brand strategy, website development, public relations, thought leadership, social media, content development, sales materials, capability presentations, event support, and business development communications.

For companies interested in commercial, civilian government, or defense opportunities, Kletke says PMSI can also help strengthen the materials and messaging needed to engage government agencies, defense organizations, prime contractors, industry partners, and other decision-makers. Because members of the PMSI team are drone pilots, the firm also understands that effective industry communication must be grounded in operational realities, not learned solely from marketing briefs.

“As the industry grows, PMSI wants to help ensure that valuable technologies are not overlooked,” Kletke says. “We’re here to help explain their relevance, differentiate their companies, establish the right relationships, or reach the commercial and defense audiences responsible for adoption.”

AUVSI Experiences

Kletke says attending XPONENTIAL in Detroit was an especially valuable experience for the PMSI team, giving them the opportunity to meet drone manufacturers, technology developers, operators, defense-focused companies, service providers, government stakeholders, and other organizations from across the autonomous-systems ecosystem.

Seeing the technology firsthand and speaking directly with industry leaders strengthened the team’s understanding of the opportunities and challenges companies are navigating across commercial, government, and defense markets. It also reinforced how frequently innovative organizations need support communicating their value, differentiating themselves, strengthening their digital presence, and building the relationships necessary to enter new markets.

“The relationships we developed through XPONENTIAL and the broader AUVSI community have helped PMSI become more deeply connected to the industry,” Kletke says. “Those conversations continue to inform how we approach marketing, public relations, websites, content, business development, and defense-market positioning for companies working within drones, autonomy, technology, and advanced manufacturing.”