Most digital transformation efforts fail the moment workers lose signal.
For industries that operate in forests, mines, ports, oceans and remote infrastructure sites, connectivity is unreliable by default.
Yet for years, software platforms have assumed Wi-Fi, stable bandwidth and office-based workflows.
That disconnect led Tampa-based Eskuad to build a different kind of system, one designed not for dashboards and boardrooms but for the people doing the work in the field.
Founded by Max Echeverría, Eskuad is an operational platform designed to digitize and automate field operations across the supply chain, even in environments with limited or no connectivity.
“We didn’t start with technology,” Echeverría said. “We started with the worker.”
A problem discovered the hard way
Echeverría’s insight came from experience, not theory.
As an industrial engineer working across mining, forestry and tourism operations in Chile’s Patagonia, he saw firsthand how much time field workers spent documenting their work after hours.
Safety logs, environmental reports, compliance forms and internal updates often required the same information to be rewritten multiple times in different formats.
READ: TAMPA BAY BUSINESS NEWS
“In many cases, people worked eight hours in the field and then spent two more hours at night reporting,” he said. “They weren’t paid for it. It took time away from their families. And it still wasn’t good data.”
Worse, those systems were built for offices, not remote environments. Intermittent connectivity caused failed uploads, battery drain and lost data.
Workers stopped trusting the tools altogether.
“They had been burned too many times,” Echeverría said. “Even if something worked, they didn’t believe it would.”
Designing for the field, not the cloud
Eskuad was built to function where most platforms break.
The system allows workers to input data once through customizable forms that work fully offline.
That information is then automatically structured and routed into multiple required reports, databases or integrations when connectivity becomes available.
At its core is a proprietary synchronization engine that listens for usable signals rather than constantly attempting uploads.
READ: TAMPA BAY’S BIGGEST COMPANIES
That prevents battery drain, data corruption and failed sync loops, which are common problems with traditional offline-online software models.
“We built it so the phone works for the user, not against them,” Echeverría said.
The platform also adapts to each device’s accessibility settings, automatically adjusting text size and interface design.
For workers in physically demanding roles, simplicity is not a feature. It is a requirement.
“If it has to be explained, it’s a failure of design,” he said.
Time savings that change quality of life
The impact shows up quickly.
On average, Eskuad users reclaim two hours per day after their shift, time that would otherwise be spent completing unpaid administrative work.
During active operations, data input time drops by roughly 60% because information is captured once instead of repeated across systems.
READ: TAMPA BAY ENTREPRENEURS
“For a lot of people, reporting happens after dinner, after their kids are asleep,” Echeverría said. “Taking that time back changes how people feel about their work.”
In one enterprise deployment, a Fortune 500 customer saved approximately $400,000 annually after rolling Eskuad out to a 50-person team.
Workers on that team regained eight to ten hours per week, while management gained consistent, structured reporting without delays.
AI that supports workers, not replaces them
Echeverría is clear that Eskuad is not designed to eliminate field roles.
“Most of what we’re replacing is analyst work, not field work,” he said. “People are hired to operate machinery, manage safety and make decisions. They were never hired to write five versions of the same report.”
Recent updates allow users to capture information through voice input, photos and on-device AI processing.
READ: TAMPA BAY REAL ESTATE NEWS
The intelligence runs at the edge, not solely in the cloud, preserving functionality in disconnected environments.
“People in the field understand nuance immediately, sound, vibration, visual change,” Echeverría said. “Our job is to capture that insight without slowing them down.”
He describes the goal as creating “blue-collar diamonds,” highly capable workers whose productivity has been constrained by broken systems rather than lack of skill.
Proven in the toughest environments
Eskuad’s earliest adoption came from industries where compliance pressure is high and margins are tight.
Forestry operations rely on daily environmental and location-based reporting. Aquaculture and fisheries may operate weeks or months offshore before returning to port.
READ: Tampa founder Balaji Ramadoss is building human-first AI
Mining sites often function far beyond reliable coverage.
In each case, Eskuad replaced fragmented reporting systems with a single operational flow.
Today, the platform is used by customers from Canada to Chile, with growing traction across logistics, energy and infrastructure operations.
Why Tampa Bay matters
Echeverría deliberately moved Eskuad’s U.S. operations to Tampa Bay.
The region’s ports, logistics corridors and industrial footprint mirror the environments where the platform has already proven effective internationally.
Mining, materials, shipping and energy all converge locally.
“Tampa Bay has the same operational DNA as where Eskuad was born,” he said.
The company also emerged from The Wave accelerator and later participated in Techstars, backed by Google and other investors.
Echeverría now mentors founders in the same ecosystem.
“In Tampa Bay, founders actually help each other,” he said. “That doesn’t happen everywhere.”
Building the operational system for the field
Echeverría sees Eskuad as more than a productivity tool.
The long-term vision is to unlock the vast, underused data generated in the field, data that can power safer operations, better compliance and smarter decision-making without increasing worker burden.
“Everything around us comes from natural resources,” he said. “Those industries depend on people in the field. If we make their work simpler, safer and more respected, everything downstream improves.”
For Eskuad, digital transformation is not about putting another app on a phone.
It is about closing the gap between technology and the people who actually use it, and finally building systems that work where the work really happens.
For more information about Eskuad and its platform, click here.
