Boston Dynamics appoints former Amazon exec Rohit Prasad as new CEO

Rohit Prasad is Boston Dynamics’ new CEO. | Source: Boston Dynamics

It’s been nearly nine months since Robert Playter, the former CEO of Boston Dynamics, stepped down. The company today named Rohit Prasad as its new CEO, effective tomorrow. Prasad will take over from Chief Financial Officer Amanda McMaster, who served as interim CEO after Playter left in February.

Prior to joining Boston Dynamics, Prasad served as senior vice president and head scientist for Alexa and artificial general intelligence at Amazon. Boston Dynamics said Prasad’s appointment accelerates its physical AI strategy by combining robotics with advancedAIcapabilities to commercialize intelligent machines at scale.

“Boston Dynamics is uniquely positioned to advance physical AI through its world-class robotics expertise,” stated Prasad. “I am honored to join the company at such a pivotal moment for the industry. 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 he plans to productize intelligent robotic systems that improve safety, productivity, and operational efficiency across real-world industrial and commercial environments. Subject to the relevant approval process, Prasad is also expected to join thecompany‘s Board of Directors.

He is Boston Dynamics’ third CEO ever. BeforePlayter, founder Marc Raibert served as CEO from the company’s creation in 1992 until2020.

Prasad has AI and robotics experience

During Prasad’s 12 years atAmazon, he helped build Alexa from its earliest days into a pioneering large-scale consumer AI service. Now, people are using Alexa in hundreds of millions of households worldwide. More recently, he led the development of the Amazon Nova foundation model family used by enterprises.

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

“Boston Dynamics’ industry-leading robotics, Rohit’s proven ability to turn AI into products at global scale, andHyundaiMotor Group’s modernmanufacturing,logistics, and mobility capabilities give us a powerful foundation to build and scale physical AI,” said Jaehoon Chang, the vice chair of Hyundai and chair of the board of directors at Boston Dynamics. “We are thrilled to welcome Rohit to lead the company into this exciting new era of real-world physical AI.”

Hyundaiacquireda controlling stake in the company from SoftBank Group in 2021.

Boston Dynamics shares updates on Atlas, Spot

It’s been a busy time for Boston Dynamics’ team. Last week, itunveiledthe newest hand for the Atlashumanoid. The company said it built the the four-fingered hand, which doesn’t have a pinky finger, for high-fidelity simulation to enable sim-to-real reinforcement learning (RL).

A week before, Boston Dynamicsopenedits Robotics Metaplant Application Center (RMAC) at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America. The Georgia facility is a training center for integrating Atlas into parent Hyundai’s automotive manufacturing operations.

In addition, the company has introducedSpot 5.2, the latest update to itsquadrupedrobot platform. The new release enables Spot to use agentic workflows that reason across systems. Orbit AIVI, now powered byGoogleGemini, extends this further by increasing the types of inspections Spot can perform.

Boston Dynamics also makes the Stretch trailer-unloadingrobot and plans to spend $100 millionexpandingits facilities in Waltham, Mass.

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” atRoboBusiness2026, which will be on Oct. 20 and 21 in Santa Clara, Calif.Register now to attend.