Boston Dynamics Appoints Former Amazon AI Leader Rohit Prasad as CEO
Boston Dynamics has appointed Rohit Prasad as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective October 7, as the robotics company prepares for its next phase of Physical AI development and commercialisation.
Prasad joins Boston Dynamics after 12 years at Amazon, where he served as Senior Vice President and Head Scientist for Alexa and Artificial General Intelligence. He was involved in building Alexa from its early stages and later led the development of Amazon's Nova foundation-model family.
Before Amazon, Prasad spent nearly 14 years at Raytheon BBN Technologies, where he led machine-learning research and its applications for government and commercial customers.
From Alexa to Physical AI
Prasad's appointment puts an executive with deep experience in large-scale AI products at the helm of one of the world's best-known robotics companies.
Boston Dynamics said his experience turning AI technologies into commercial products will help accelerate the integration of advanced AI with its robotic systems. The company is targeting industrial and commercial environments where robots need to operate autonomously, adapt to changing conditions and work alongside people.
Prasad is also expected to join Boston Dynamics' Board of Directors, subject to the relevant approval process.
Boston Dynamics Pushes Humanoid Commercialisation
The leadership change comes as Boston Dynamics is moving its Atlas humanoid robot closer to commercial deployment. The company has been training Atlas in real manufacturing environments at Hyundai Motor Group's Metaplant America in Georgia.
The Robotics Metaplant Application Center is being used to train Atlas for tasks including automotive-parts logistics and sequencing. Boston Dynamics and Hyundai plan to expand Atlas deployments across Hyundai and Kia facilities, with the wider programme eventually targeting tens of thousands of robots.
Hyundai Motor Group has also planned a US production facility capable of manufacturing up to 30,000 robots annually, giving Boston Dynamics a potential manufacturing base as humanoid deployments scale.
AI and Robotics Move Closer Together
Boston Dynamics' strategy increasingly centres on combining its established robotics hardware with advanced AI systems capable of handling more complex physical environments.
Prasad's background in foundation models and consumer AI could therefore become particularly relevant as the company works to make robots more adaptable and useful across industrial applications. The company is already developing Atlas alongside commercial platforms such as Spot and Stretch.
The appointment does not immediately change the company's existing robotics roadmap, but it signals a stronger emphasis on AI as Boston Dynamics moves from demonstrations and training environments toward broader commercial deployment.
