Not every moonshot makes it to the moon.

Aalyria, a new company that was spun out of Google, is a prime example. The 30-person company, of which Google remains a minority owner, has its roots in two specific projects from the tech giant: Loon—Alphabet’s plan to deliver connectivity to remote and rural areas using balloons—and Project Sonora, a previously undisclosed technology focused on delivering connectivity through…laser beams.

• In stitching these projects together, Aalyria is aiming to create high-speed interoperability between network operators in space, on the ground, and at sea, allowing them to all talk to each other.

How we got here: In early 2021, Alphabet shut down Loon, citing an inability to “get the costs low enough to build a long-term, sustainable business,” per a company blog post.

Chris Taylor, a former US Marine and defense industry executive who is now CEO of Aalyria, said he contacted Google about the possibility of acquiring the tech once he “became aware that [it] might be shutting down.”

“I thought, ‘Okay, this, this really could be not just the next gen, but the next next gen,’” Taylor told Emerging Tech Brew.

Read the story of how Aalyria came together here.—JM

Whether forecasting a baseball team’s odds of making it to the playoffs or a region’s rainfall for fall, this much is true: Data is king. The same can be said about understanding employees—just ask the people analytics teams tasked with tracking and forecasting workers’ behavior.

Within these departments is a growing number of leaders focusing specifically on the future of work. Job titles related to the future of work have increased by 60% since early 2020, according to LinkedIn data provided to Forbes, with companies including LinkedIn, GitLab, and Microsoft adding such roles to their ranks. Meta’s director of future of work, Kelly Monahan, believes these roles will be key to HR’s long-term strategy.

Zoom out. Emilio Castilla, a professor of management at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, defines people analytics as “a data-driven approach to improving people-related decisions for the purpose of advancing the success of not only the organization but also of individual employees.”

Predicting human behavior is valuable, and HR teams are taking note: The people analytics sector is expected to grow 14% YoY between now and 2030, per Grand View Research. Yuan Hou, people analytics strategy manager at HubSpot, told HR Brew that people analytics has “become the engine of decision making, because knowing this data gives teams an edge to win,” adding that “repeated human behavior is really the most predictive thing of future human behavior.”

Read the full story from HR Brew here.—KP

Coworking is a weekly segment where we spotlight Emerging Tech Brew readers who work with emerging technologies. Click here if you’d like a chance to be featured.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in tech?

I am a talent partner for startups in industries like robotics, autonomous vehicles, biotech, and clean tech. I help find executives that are rock stars and vital to a startup’s growth. I specialize in DE&In—making sure all are represented in the startup tech world.

What’s your favorite emerging tech project you’ve worked on?

Where to begin? Autonomous parking garages, drones, and products that improve mental health are some of my favorites. But that’s part of what makes my job so meaningful. I’m learning about new technologies every day, and there are so many that have a strong focus on social impact.

What emerging tech are you most optimistic about? Least? And why?

Technology that focuses on reducing our carbon emissions :)

Technology that contributes to more carbon emissions :(

What’s the best piece of tech-related media you’ve read/watched/listened to?

I love the Wall Street Journal’s Tech News Briefing podcast.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile?

I’m part of an improv comedy troupe called the Bit Players. We do short-form improv and music in an hour show and have had Jay Leno open for us in the past.

What do you think about when you’re not thinking about tech?

I love baking and cooking, so I’m a total nerd about digging into what foods can be incorporated into your everyday life to improve your health. I also love learning about other cultures, which usually ties back into food.

Stat: At least 20 million hard drives are decommissioned each year in the US, per NREL research cited by the Financial Times, and at least 90% of decommissioned drives are destroyed, even though the majority still work.

Quote: “We pledge that we will not weaponize our advanced-mobility general-purpose robots or the software we develop that enables advanced robotics and we will not support others to do so.”—A letter from a group of robotics companies, including Boston Dynamics, which has caught heat for law enforcement use of its robots

Read: Inside the effort to cure HIV using CRISPR.

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Catch up on the top Emerging Tech Brew stories from the past few editions:

• Intel’s autonomous vehicle unit Mobileye ends NYC testing
• How Truist, product of the decade’s biggest bank merger, built its first AI assistant
• How one grocery chain used AI to slash food waste