Doug Field Named President of Mind Robotics

The former Ford and Tesla executive will oversee the scaling of industrial robots in factory environments.

Updated on Oct. 13, 2026 in Robotics

Bold vector editorial illustration of an industrial robotic arm in a factory assembly line, representing automated manufacturing scale. — Doug Field has been appointed president of Mind Robotics to oversee the scaling of autonomous industrial manufacturing systems. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Doug Field has joined the robotics startup Mind Robotics as president, following his departure from Ford in April 2026. The company, which spun out of Rivian in 2025, has secured more than $1 billion in total funding.

Why it matters

Mind Robotics focuses on the development of purpose-built robots powered by foundation models designed to automate industrial manufacturing at scale. The company leverages Rivian factories as a testing ground for training and deploying these autonomous systems.

Mind Robotics has raised over $1 billion to develop industrial automation hardware. Rivian maintains a one-third equity stake in the startup and serves as its inaugural customer.

The players

Doug Field

The new president of Mind Robotics and former executive who led Apple's Project Titan and served as senior vice president of engineering at Tesla.

Mind Robotics

A startup spun out of Rivian in 2025 that develops industrial robots using foundation models for large-scale manufacturing automation.

Rivian

An electric vehicle manufacturer that maintains a one-third stake in Mind Robotics and serves as the startup's first customer for robotics technology.

The details

Mind Robotics develops purpose-built hardware controlled by foundation models — AI systems trained on massive datasets to handle generalized tasks. These robots are integrated into Rivian factories, which act as a live environment to train models on complex manufacturing processes at high volumes. This setup allows the company to observe how models perform in high-stakes production settings before scaling to other industrial tasks.

Mind Robotics spun out of Rivian in 2025.
Doug Field left Ford in April 2026.
Rivian reported its stake in the startup on June 30, 2026.
The hiring of Doug Field was announced at Disrupt 2026 on October 13, 2026.

The Tech Race

Mind Robotics is competing to define the integration of foundation models into heavy industrial manufacturing. It follows a path where developers are increasingly moving beyond warehouse logistics and into complex, high-volume production assembly.

The startup is currently focused on internal deployments within Rivian factories, meaning the technology is not yet available for general industrial use. Success here could influence the adoption of foundation-model-driven automation across the broader U.S. manufacturing sector.

The takeaway

Mind Robotics is attempting to prove that foundation models can manage the variability of a high-volume factory line. Watch for future performance disclosures regarding the company's ability to transition from its initial Rivian partnership to broader manufacturing clients.