Vaishali Neotia: How Merxius is Revolutionizing Aerospace and Defense with Extended Reality (XR)
In the high-stakes world of aerospace and defense, a single mistake in engine maintenance can cost millions—and lives. While the world was obsessed with VR for gaming, Vaishali Neotia, Co-founder and CEO of Merxius, was building a "Photoshop for VR" to solve real industrial problems. Today, Merxius’s flagship platform, RED, is used by the likes of Boeing and the Indian Army to train engineers on complex machinery without ever touching a wrench. Vaishali is proving that Extended Reality (XR) isn't just about entertainment; it's the digital backbone of the future's heavy industry.
Vaishali Neotia’s journey is a masterclass in pioneering a market before it exists. A graduate of Osmania University and later a part of the Stanford Graduate School of Business SEED program, Vaishali co-founded Merxius in 2011—long before Oculus or the "Metaverse" were household names. Starting from a small room in Hyderabad with zero external support, she and her team built Merxius into a global XR powerhouse. Recognized as a winner of the Boeing HorizonX India Innovation Challenge and a recipient of the MIT Innovators Under 35 award, Vaishali has navigated the "Deep Tech Desert" of India to emerge as a global leader in spatial computing.
The Cost of Inaction in MRO
In Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO), training a technician on a live jet engine is dangerous and prohibitively expensive. Vaishali’s insight was that Retention is 10X higher when you "do" rather than "read." By allowing engineers to disassemble a virtual engine in a risk-free XR environment, Merxius reduces training time by 40% and virtually eliminates field errors.
The Problem: The "Programming Bottleneck" in VR
For decades, creating a VR simulation required a team of highly specialized programmers and months of development. This meant that while a Boeing engineer knew exactly how to fix a turbine, they couldn't "build" the simulation themselves. This disconnect prevented XR from scaling in the industrial sector. Traditional VR was bespoke, expensive, and inflexible—unsuitable for the fast-moving world of aerospace manufacturing.
"We realized that VR shouldn't just be for coders," Vaishali explains. "If a trainer wants to show how to repair a tank engine, they should be able to do it themselves. We wanted to build a platform where you simply import your CAD (3D design) files, and the software creates the interactive XR experience automatically."
The Solution: RED (Real-time Engine for Design)
Merxius’s breakthrough is RED (RealSim Editor). It acts as a digital engineering platform that allows non-technical experts to create high-fidelity XR training content. By democratizing the creation of spatial experiences, Merxius has moved XR from a "cool demo" to a "mission-critical" tool.
The RED Industrial Workflow
- CAD Import: Taking complex engineering blueprints and 3D models directly into the RED platform.
- Automated XR Generation: The engine automatically processes the physics and geometry of the machine parts.
- Expert Authoring: Subject matter experts (engineers/pilots) add "logic" to the virtual machine without writing code.
- Multi-Device Consumption: The training module is deployed across VR headsets, AR glasses, or even tablets.
- Real-time Collaboration: Technicians in different parts of the world can enter the same virtual engine room to collaborate on a repair.
Building in the "Deep Tech Desert"
Vaishali is refreshingly candid about the struggles of starting an XR company in India in 2011. There were no role models, no specialized investors, and "VR" was often dismissed as a toy. She shares how she had to "teach herself everything" from animation to business strategy. The turning point came with the Boeing HorizonX partnership, which provided the global validation and mentorship needed to scale beyond Indian borders.
"Success doesn't happen in a vacuum," Vaishali notes. "You need the right mentors and the right industry bodies like NASSCOM or T-Hub to support the fabric of the company. In the early days, we were told XR was 'too early.' We just kept building. Today, those same people are calling it the future of computing."
Merxius Global Impact
- Boeing HorizonX Winner: One of the few Indian startups selected for global aerospace collaboration.
- RED Platform: Drastically reducing the time to create VR training from months to days.
- Defense Grade: Trusted by the Indian Army for mission-critical maintenance of high-value assets.
- 12+ Years Innovation: A pioneer in the Indian spatial computing ecosystem since 2011.
The Founder’s Reality: Loneliness and Resilience
Vaishali speaks deeply about the "invisible costs" of entrepreneurship. She addresses the loneliness that comes with being a CEO and the importance of physical and mental health. She advocates for founders to find a "balance" that allows them to stay in the marathon. For Vaishali, the ultimate definition of success is when the company's vision—not the founder's presence—drives the mission forward.
"You have to be in charge of your own well-being," she advises. "If you get stressed and lost, everything else suffers. Your sleep cycle, your food, your peace of mind—these aren't luxuries; they are the fuel for your decision-making. Don't let the 'start-up hustle' kill the very person who had the vision."
Founder's Lesson: Don't Re-invent the Wheel
Vaishali emphasizes the power of existing frameworks. "Find the right ecosystem. Whether it's an accelerator or a mentor, don't try to solve every problem by yourself. Use the platforms that exist to shorten your learning curve."
The Future: Spatial Computing as Standard
Vaishali’s vision for Merxius is a future where every complex machine on the planet comes with a "Digital XR Twin" powered by RED. She sees a world where a technician on a remote airstrip can put on a pair of AR glasses and be guided through a repair by an expert thousands of miles away. For Vaishali, the goal isn't just to build a billion-dollar company; it's to build a billion-dollar impact by making human error a thing of the past.
Merxius is proving that the next generation of industrial giants will be built on "Spatial Intelligence." By giving heavy industry the tools to see and interact with the digital world, Vaishali Neotia and her team are ensuring that for the future of aerospace and defense, the truth is finally three-dimensional.
About the Guest
Vaishali Neotia is the Co-founder and CEO of Merxius. An engineer by training and an innovator by heart, Vaishali is a global pioneer in the XR space. She is an alumna of Osmania University and the Stanford Graduate School of Business SEED program. Under her leadership, Merxius has won numerous awards, including the Boeing HorizonX India Innovation Challenge and the MIT Innovators Under 35. She is a recognized thought leader in the deep-tech ecosystem and a vocal advocate for women in technology and the ethical use of spatial computing.
Merxius is a leading Extended Reality (XR) company that builds spatial computing solutions for the enterprise. Their flagship platform, RED (Real-time Engine for Design), allows industrial experts to rapidly create and deploy VR and AR content for training, maintenance, and complex engineering collaboration, helping global leaders in aerospace and defense reduce costs and improve safety.