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Boston Dynamics has appointed Rohit Prasad as chief executive officer, effective October 7, 2026, placing a longtime Amazon AI executive in charge of one of the robotics industry’s best-known companies.
The Hyundai-owned robot maker announced the leadership change on X. Prasad previously served as senior vice president and head scientist for Alexa and Artificial General Intelligence at Amazon, where he helped build Alexa into a consumer AI service used in hundreds of millions of households and later led development of the Amazon Nova foundation model family.
Boston Dynamics Turns Toward Physical AI
The appointment was framed around “Physical AI,” a term Boston Dynamics is using for intelligent robotic systems that can operate in real-world environments with higher levels of autonomy, adaptability, and productivity. In practical terms, that means combining robotic mobility and manipulation with AI systems that can interpret surroundings, plan actions, and handle changing conditions outside a controlled demo.
Prasad will lead a portfolio that includes Spot, the company’s quadruped robot for industrial inspection and facility work; Stretch, a box-moving robot for logistics and retail customers; and Atlas, its electric humanoid platform currently in development. Prasad’s role is to productize intelligent robotic systems that improve safety, productivity, and operational efficiency across industrial and commercial settings.
“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,” Prasad said in the company’s announcement.
Why Prasad’s Amazon Background Matters
Prasad spent 12 years at Amazon, where he helped build Alexa and later worked on Amazon’s foundation model strategy through the Nova model family. Before Amazon, he spent nearly 14 years at Raytheon BBN Technologies leading machine-learning research and applying it to government and commercial use cases.
That background fits the problem Boston Dynamics is trying to solve. The company’s robots have long been known for mechanical capability, including Spot’s legged mobility and Atlas demonstrations of balance and whole-body control. Commercializing those systems at a broader scale requires a different layer of capability, including task understanding, perception, planning, human supervision, fleet management, and the ability to turn robot behavior into a repeatable product.
Boston Dynamics is indicating that the next phase of robotics competition will depend heavily on AI systems that make capable hardware useful in everyday operations. For robots like Spot, Stretch, and Atlas, the commercial value comes from completing work reliably in facilities, warehouses, plants, and other environments where conditions vary and mistakes carry operational or safety costs.
The leadership change also follows a succession period. Former CEO Robert Playter stepped down in February, with CFO Amanda McMaster serving as interim CEO. The outlet also noted that Prasad is Boston Dynamics’ third CEO after founder Marc Raibert and Playter.
