Insider Brief
- Boston Dynamics named former Amazon AI executive Rohit Prasad as CEO, saying his experience building large-scale AI products will support its push to integrate more advanced AI into robotic systems and expand its Physical AI strategy.
- Prasad spent 12 years at Amazon, most recently as senior vice president and head scientist for Alexa and artificial general intelligence, and also led development of the Amazon Nova foundation model family after helping scale Alexa to hundreds of millions of households.
- Prasad, who previously spent nearly 14 years at Raytheon BBN Technologies working on machine-learning applications, takes over Oct. 7 and is expected to join Boston Dynamics’ board subject to the required approval process.
Boston Dynamics has named former Amazon AI executive Rohit Prasad as chief executive, saying his experience building large-scale artificial intelligence products will help the company bring more advanced AI into its robotics systems.
Prasad spent 12 years at Amazon, where he most recently served as senior vice president and head scientist for Alexa and artificial general intelligence. The company said in it’s announcement that the appointment “accelerates Boston Dynamics’ Physical AI strategy by combining world-class robotics with advanced AI capabilities to commercialize intelligent machines at scale.”
At Amazon, he helped build Alexa from its early development into a consumer AI service used in hundreds of millions of households, according to Boston Dynamics. More recently, he led development of Amazon Nova, the company’s family of foundation models for enterprise customers.
Boston Dynamics said Prasad will apply that experience to turning AI advances into commercial robotics systems with greater autonomy and adaptability in real-world settings, along with improved safety, productivity and operating efficiency.
“Boston Dynamics is uniquely positioned to advance Physical AI through its world-class robotics expertise,” Prasad said in the announcement. “I am honored to join the company at such a pivotal moment for the industry. By bringing together advanced AI and robotics, we can build intelligent systems that create meaningful value in real-world environments, expand the reach of robotics across industries and shape the next era of Physical AI.”
Before joining Amazon, Prasad spent nearly 14 years at Raytheon BBN Technologies. There, he led machine-learning research and worked on applications for U.S. government and commercial customers.
The company pointed out that Prasad has lived in the Boston area for more than 25 years and has ties to the region’s robotics and AI community through his professional experience, academic affiliations and involvement with local technology and business groups. Boston Dynamics stressed those relationships will be beneficial for recruiting, technology partnerships and collaboration.
“Boston Dynamics’ industry-leading robotics, Rohit’s proven ability to turn AI into products at global scale and Hyundai Motor Group’s modern manufacturing, logistics and mobility capabilities give us a powerful foundation to build and scale Physical AI,” added Jaehoon Chang, vice chair, Hyundai Motor Group, and chair of the board of directors at Boston Dynamics. “We are thrilled to welcome Rohit to lead the company into this exciting new era of real-world Physical AI.”
Prasad will take over Oct. 7, Boston Dynamics. Subject to the required approval process, he is also expected to join the company’s board of directors.
