Boston Dynamics Appoints Former Amazon Exec Rohit Prasad as CEO
Rohit Prasad takes the helm at Boston Dynamics, succeeding interim CEO Amanda McMaster following Robert Playter's departure earlier this year.
Radwan AbdulhadiEditor and technology writer
Leadership Transition at Boston Dynamics
Boston Dynamics has appointed former Amazon executive Rohit Prasad as its new CEO, effective tomorrow. Prasad takes over the position from Chief Financial Officer Amanda McMaster, who had been serving as interim CEO following the departure of former chief executive Robert Playter in February.
Prasad's appointment marks him as only the third CEO in the history of the company. Before Playter stepped into the role, founder Marc Raibert served as CEO from the organization's inception in 1992 until 2020, guiding its early technological milestones and quadruped innovations.
Scaling Physical AI and Industry Background
Before joining Boston Dynamics, Prasad spent 12 years at Amazon, where he helped build Alexa into a large-scale consumer artificial intelligence service and more recently led the development of the Amazon Nova foundation model family. His career also includes nearly 14 years at Raytheon BBN Technologies leading machine-learning research.
The company stated that Prasad's leadership will accelerate its physical AI strategy, uniting robotics expertise with advanced artificial general intelligence capabilities. Prasad noted that the goal is to build intelligent systems that improve safety, productivity, and operational efficiency across real-world industrial and commercial environments.
Hyundai Partnership and Industrial Integration
The leadership change arrives as the organization continues to integrate with its parent corporation. Hyundai acquired a controlling stake in Boston Dynamics from SoftBank Group in 2021, providing extensive backing across multiple sectors.
Jaehoon Chang, vice chair of Hyundai and chair of the board of directors at Boston Dynamics, highlighted the strategic backing available to the incoming CEO. Chang pointed to the combination of industry-leading robotics, Prasad's background in global-scale product development, and Hyundai Motor Group's modern manufacturing infrastructure as a powerful foundation for scaling physical AI.
In addition to automotive production environments, the broader corporate ecosystem involves advanced logistics capabilities. These operations align with the deployment of intelligent hardware designed to solve complex supply chain and commercial tasks.
Recent Technological Developments
The executive announcement follows a series of operational updates across Boston Dynamics' hardware portfolio. Last week, the engineering team unveiled a new four-fingered hand for the Atlas humanoid robot, designed without a pinky finger to improve high-fidelity simulation and reinforcement learning workflows.
Furthermore, the company recently opened its Robotics Metaplant Application Center at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America in Georgia to train personnel on integrating humanoid systems into automotive workflows. Platform updates have also rolled out for the Spot quadruped robot and the Stretch trailer-unloading system.
Sources
- The Robot ReportBoston Dynamics appoints former Amazon exec Rohit Prasad as new CEO
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