Boston Dynamics names Rohit Prasad as new CEO Quartz · Ben McShane / Getty Images Cris Tolomia Wed, October 7, 2026 at 8:27 AM EDT 2 min read AMZN -0.56% Trade AMZN on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
Boston Dynamics named Rohit Prasad as chief executive officer, effective Wednesday, with the Hyundai Motor Co.-controlled robotics company positioning him to accelerate its push into what it calls physical AI — the integration of artificial intelligence with robotic systems for industrial and commercial environments.
Prasad's tenure at Amazon stretched 12 years, during which he rose to Senior Vice President and Head Scientist for Alexa and Artificial General Intelligence. He was central to building Alexa from its earliest days into a consumer AI service used in hundreds of millions of households and later led development of the Amazon Nova foundation model family. Before Amazon, he spent nearly 14 years at Raytheon BBN Technologies leading machine-learning research for U.S. government and commercial clients, the company said.
"By bringing together advanced AI and robotics, we can build intelligent systems that create meaningful value in real-world environments," Prasad said in a statement. Prasad is also expected to join Boston Dynamics' board of directors, subject to the relevant approval process.
Jaehoon Chang, Vice Chair of Hyundai Motor Group and Chair of the Board of Directors at Boston Dynamics, said in a statement that Prasad's "proven ability to turn AI into products at global scale" combined with Hyundai's manufacturing and logistics capabilities gives the company "a powerful foundation to build and scale Physical AI."
Prasad's hiring fills a vacancy created when Robert Playter departed earlier this year; Playter had held the CEO post for six years and was just the second person ever to lead the company across its more than three-decade history, according to Bloomberg. Several other senior executives also departed after Playter's exit, including Chief Technology Officer Aaron Saunders, according to Bloomberg.
Hyundai agreed to acquire SoftBank Group's remaining roughly 10% stake in Boston Dynamics in a deal valuing the robotics company at approximately $3.3 billion, which would make it a wholly owned subsidiary. Hyundai has set a 2028 target to begin putting Atlas humanoid robots to work on the floor of its Georgia factory, and aims to eventually ramp production capacity up to 30,000 units a year. Atlas is initially expected to handle tasks such as welding and materials handling, with more complex assembly work to follow by 2030. Hyundai has partnerships with Nvidia Corp. and Google DeepMind to develop the robot.
Boston Dynamics' current robot portfolio includes Spot, a quadruped used for industrial inspections; Stretch, a box-moving robot for logistics and retail; and Atlas, its electric humanoid platform, the company said.
