GoKawiilDoug Field named president of Rivian spinoff Mind Robotics
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe announced at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 that Doug Field, formerly Ford's EV chief and a veteran of Tesla, Apple and Segway, has joined Mind Robotics as president. Field will oversee product, engineering and operations at the industrial AI and robotics startup, which Rivian founded a year ago and has raised over $1 billion for from investors including Accel, Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, and Volkswagen and Salesforce's venture arms.
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Bringing in an executive with Field's manufacturing and engineering pedigree suggests Mind Robotics is preparing to move beyond early-stage development into a larger operational phase. Using Rivian's own factories as a testing ground for its robots could give the startup a practical edge in training foundation models on real industrial tasks, though whether that approach outpaces humanoid-robot rivals like Tesla remains unproven.
- Doug Field, ex-Ford EV chief, is now president of Rivian's Mind Robotics venture.
- Mind Robotics has raised more than $1 billion from major VC and corporate investors.
- The startup uses Rivian's factories as a live testing ground, differentiating its approach from humanoid robot developers.
Source: techcrunch.com — Kirsten Korosec, 2026-10-13
Published there as: “Rivian’s startup Mind Robotics hires former Ford EV chief Doug Field”
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