Boston Dynamics has appointed former Amazon artificial intelligence executive Rohit Prasad as its Chief Executive Officer, effective October 7, as the robotics company looks to accelerate the integration of advanced AI with robots operating in industrial and commercial environments.
Prasad succeeds Robert Playter, who stepped down as CEO in February after six years in the role. He joins Boston Dynamics after spending 12 years at Amazon, where he most recently served as Senior Vice President and Head Scientist for Alexa and Artificial General Intelligence.
During his time at Amazon, Prasad played a key role in developing Alexa from its early stages into a large-scale consumer AI service. More recently, he led the development of Amazon Nova, the company's family of foundation models designed for enterprise and generative AI applications.
At Boston Dynamics, Prasad will lead the company's Physical AI strategy, which focuses on combining artificial intelligence with robotic systems capable of operating and adapting in real-world environments. The company said his appointment is intended to support the commercialisation of intelligent machines at scale.
Boston Dynamics' current robotics portfolio includes Spot, its quadruped robot used for industrial inspections and facility monitoring, Stretch, which is designed to move boxes in logistics and retail environments, and Atlas, its electric humanoid robot currently under development.
The company is owned by Hyundai Motor Group, which has been expanding its investments in robotics, manufacturing automation and AI. Hyundai has said it aims to build manufacturing capacity for 30,000 robot units annually by 2028, when it also plans to begin deploying robots across its manufacturing sites.
Before Amazon, Prasad spent nearly 14 years at Raytheon BBN Technologies, where he worked on machine learning and speech recognition technologies for government and commercial applications. He holds a bachelor's degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, and a master's degree in Electrical Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology.
Prasad said Boston Dynamics is positioned to advance Physical AI by combining its robotics expertise with developments in artificial intelligence. His focus will include developing intelligent systems for industrial and commercial environments, with applications aimed at improving safety, productivity and operational efficiency.
Subject to the relevant approval process, Prasad is also expected to join Boston Dynamics' Board of Directors.
His appointment places an executive with experience in consumer AI and foundation models at the helm of one of the industry's most prominent robotics companies as it moves towards wider commercial deployment of AI-powered machines.
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