Mind Robotics Names Former Ford EV Chief Doug Field President
Field will lead product, engineering and operations at the industrial robotics startup founded by Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe.
Mind Robotics has appointed Doug Field, Ford’s former electric-vehicle and software leader, as president. The startup, founded by Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe, is developing AI-powered robots for industrial work. The appointment was announced at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco, according to TechCrunch.
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Field takes charge of daily operations
Scaringe will remain involved with Mind Robotics, while Field will manage its day-to-day work across product, engineering and operations, TechCrunch reported. The Verge described Scaringe as the startup’s acting CEO and chair. Both outlets say Field’s role is to lead the company as it works toward deploying robots in factories.
Field left Ford in April after five years working on its electric-vehicle and technology strategies, according to TechCrunch. Earlier, he worked on Apple’s Project Titan vehicle effort and held a senior engineering role at Tesla, where he helped oversee development of the Model 3. The Verge also noted an earlier stint leading Mac hardware engineering at Apple.
A factory-based robotics plan
Mind Robotics was founded in 2025 and has raised more than $1 billion, the outlets reported. TechCrunch named Accel, Andreessen Horowitz, Eclipse and Kleiner Perkins among its backers, alongside the venture arms of Volkswagen and Salesforce.
The company aims to build robots and the AI systems that power them for manufacturing tasks. Rivian will be its first customer, and its factories will provide an environment for training, testing and deploying the technology, according to the reports. The Verge said Mind Robotics has not publicly shown a robot. TechCrunch reported that Scaringe does not intend for its machines to replicate all the biomechanics of a person; The Verge said the company has not confirmed whether its design will be humanoid.
The businesses are connected but separate. The Verge issued a correction specifying that Mind Robotics is a Rivian partner, not a spinoff. TechCrunch reported that Rivian held about one-third of the startup as of June 30, 2026.
What it means for tech hiring
The appointment puts an executive with experience at major US vehicle and technology companies in charge of a robotics venture that is still building its team. The Verge reported that Mind Robotics had 32 open positions at the time of its report. Its access to Rivian factories gives prospective employees a setting in which to develop and test industrial robots, though the reports do not establish when the company will deploy them at scale.
Sources
This story was compiled by AI from the reports below. Read the originals for the full details.