Humankind has been fascinated with the idea of unmanned flying machines since aviation’s early days in the late 19th century. This flight of fancy was finally made real with the advent of powered aircraft, which heralded the arrival of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). More commonly referred to as a drone, the UAV was subsequently adopted for military (aerial reconnaissance and targeted attacks) and recreational (for children and hobbyists) applications. However, from around the mid-2010s, people started using drones for commercial purposes encompassing mapping and surveying, data collection and analysis, and payload delivery. In this insight, we conduct a broad sweep of commercial drone tech, identifying the factors behind its emergence, its ecosystem’s inner workings, and its prominent players and growth challenges.