Boston Dynamics names former Amazon executive Rohit Prasad as new CEO

It’s been nearly nine months since Robert Playter, former CEO of Boston Dynamics, resigned. The company today appointed Rohit Prasad as its new CEO, effective from tomorrow. Prasad will replace chief financial officer Amanda McMaster, who served as interim CEO after Playter left in February.

Prior to joining Boston Dynamics, Prasad was senior vice president and chief scientist for Alexa and general AI at Amazon. Boston Dynamics said Prasad’s appointment accelerates its physical AI strategy by combining robotics with advanced AI capabilities to commercialize intelligent machines at scale.

“Boston Dynamics is uniquely positioned to advance physical AI through its world-class expertise in robotics,” Prasad said. “I am honored to join the company at such a pivotal time for the industry. By bringing together advanced AI and robotics, we can build intelligent systems that create significant value in real-world environments, expand the reach of robotics across industries, and shape the next era of physical AI.”

Prasad said he plans to produce intelligent robotic systems that improve safety, productivity and operational efficiency in real-world industrial and commercial environments. Subject to the relevant approval process, Prasad is also expected to join the company’s Board of Directors.

He is Boston Dynamics’ third CEO ever. Prior to Playter, founder Marc Raibert served as CEO from the company’s inception in 1992 until 2020.

Prasad has experience in artificial intelligence and robotics

During Prasad’s 12 years at Amazon, he helped transform Alexa from its earliest days into a pioneering consumer AI service at scale. Now people use Alexa in hundreds of millions of households around the world. Most recently, he led the development of the Amazon Nova family of foundation templates used by enterprises.

Prior to Amazon, Prasad spent nearly 14 years at Raytheon BBN Technologies. There, he conducted research on machine learning and its real-world application for U.S. government and commercial use.

“Boston Dynamics’ industry-leading robotics, Rohit’s proven ability to transform AI into products on a global scale, and Hyundai Motor Group’s modern manufacturing, logistics and mobility capabilities provide us with a solid foundation to build and scale physical AI,” said Jaehoon Chang, vice president of Hyundai and chairman of the board of directors of Boston Dynamics. “We are thrilled to welcome Rohit to lead the company into this exciting new era of real-world physical AI.”

Hyundai acquired a controlling stake in the company from SoftBank Group in 2021.

Boston Dynamics shares updates on Atlas, Spot

It’s been a busy time for the Boston Dynamics team. Last week he revealed the new hand for the humanoid Atlas. The company said it built the four-fingered hand, which has no little finger, for high-fidelity simulation to enable sim-to-real (RL) reinforcement learning.

A week earlier, Boston Dynamics opened its Robotics Metaplant Application Center (RMAC) at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America. The facility in Georgia is a training center for the integration of Atlas into parent company Hyundai’s automotive manufacturing operations.

Additionally, the company introduced Spot 5.2, the latest update to its quadrupedal robot platform. The new version allows Spot to use agent workflows that reason between systems. Orbit AIVI, now powered by Google Gemini, extends this further by increasing the types of inspections Spot can perform.

Boston Dynamics also makes the Stretch trailer-unloading robot and plans to spend $100 million to expand its facilities in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Editor’s Note: Brendan Schulman, vice president of policy and government relations at Boston Dynamics, will participate in a panel on “Reshoring With Robots: A Policy Discussion” at RoboBusiness 2026, taking place October 20-21 in Santa Clara, California. Register now to participate.