Enterprise sales leader · Founder · Non-executive director · Scientist

Adam Durant

I build markets for new technology. I founded SATAVIA, persuaded airlines to buy contrail management before any regulation required it, and sold the company to GE Aerospace.

Portrait of Adam Durant
Cambridge, UK · New York
About

From the upper atmosphere to the boardroom

I started as an atmospheric scientist, studying volcanic ash, ice clouds and how they affect aircraft. That work took me from Michigan Tech to Cambridge, Oslo and the Norwegian Institute for Air Research, where I ran technical pre-sales and flight test campaigns with Airbus and easyJet.

In 2013 I founded SATAVIA to turn that science into products. I sold alone at first, then built and led a five-person sales team selling to airline CFOs and COOs across the Middle East, Europe and the UK. We created a new market: contrail avoidance that turns a sustainability cost into a carbon-credit revenue stream. In 2024 GE Aerospace acquired the company, and I ran the business there as General Manager.

Career

Where I've worked

  1. 2026 – now

    Founder

    Disclozure Inc
  2. 2024 – 2026

    General Manager

    GE Aerospace

    Owned the P&L for the DECISIONX product line after the acquisition, co-selling into airlines with GE Aerospace's commercial teams.

  3. 2013 – 2024

    Founder & CEO

    SATAVIA, Cambridge

    Built the sales function from zero and signed over £10M in contract value, including a seven-figure contract on a new product and what Etihad called the world's first multi-year commercial contrail management contract. Customers and partners included Etihad, Emirates, KLM, Boeing and GE. Raised £2.5M and led the company to acquisition.

  4. 2007 – 2018

    Research scientist and technical pre-sales

    NILU, University of Oslo, University of Cambridge, University of Bristol

    Aviation weather modelling with NCAR and Rolls-Royce, a volcanic-ash detection consortium with Airbus and easyJet, and grant-funded sensor and satellite IoT projects.

Patents

12 granted patents, six families

  • Sole inventor

    Optimising the climate impact of aircraft by forecasting and validating contrail formation

    US 12210356 B2 · GB 2599918 B · EP 4229493 B1
  • Sole inventor

    Method and system for determining improved flight trajectory

  • Lead inventor

    System and method for aircraft flight control

    US 12462700 B2 · EP 3850553 B1 · GB 2577064 B
  • Lead inventor

    System and method for generating an aircraft flight trajectory

    US 12140432 B2 · GB 2584499 B
  • Co-inventor

    System and method for aircraft contaminant monitoring and operation scheduling

  • Co-inventor

    Meteorological hazard identification apparatus and method

    GB 2529271 B · GB 2561996 B
Background

Education, family and life outside work

  • PhDMichigan Technological University · 2005–07
  • MSMichigan Technological University · 2002–05
  • MSciUniversity of Bristol · 1997–2001
  • DadFamily ski trips in the Alps
  • RYA Yachtmaster OffshoreSailing
  • Cycling and off-piste skiingMountains and roads
  • KitesurfingWind and water
Adam and his two children on skis beside a Welcome to Switzerland banner in the Portes du Soleil
With my kids on the Swiss border, Portes du Soleil
Adam kitesurfing on the lagoon at Langebaan, South Africa
Kitesurfing in Langebaan, South Africa
Contact

Let's talk

I'm happy to hear about enterprise sales leadership roles, AI adoption in regulated industries, or anything aviation and climate.

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