Rivian has appointed Doug Field as the president of Mind Robotics, its secretive robotics spinoff. The move brings a high-profile executive with deep experience in electric vehicles and autonomous driving to the startup, which is working to build robots for industrial use.
Field joins Mind Robotics at a time when physical AI is drawing significant attention from major manufacturers. The startup, founded by Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe in 2025, has raised more than $1 billion in financing. While the company has not publicly demonstrated its robots, it states that its machines are designed with the dexterity and physical reasoning required for complex factory work.
Doug Field’s Executive Background
Field brings a resume that spans some of the most prominent names in the tech and automotive industries. He served as a vice president of special projects at Apple, where he led the company’s Project Titan, an effort to develop an autonomous electric car. Before that, he was the chief vehicle engineer at Tesla, where he helped oversee the production of the Model 3 sedan.
His career path includes a return to Apple in 2018 after leaving Tesla, followed by a move to Ford in 2021. At Ford, he ran the electric vehicle and software division until earlier this year. His appointment signals Rivian’s intent to treat its robotics division with the same strategic importance as its core vehicle business.
Integration with Rivian’s Manufacturing
Mind Robotics is not operating in isolation. The company is leveraging AI training data from Rivian and will initially test its robots in the automaker’s factories. Rivian owns equity in Mind Robotics and is set to be its first customer. This close integration allows the startup to refine its technology in a real-world, high-volume manufacturing environment from day one.
Scaringe, who serves as the acting CEO and chair of Mind Robotics, emphasized the importance of keeping the companies separate while maintaining their operational link. He noted that he wants to avoid the model used by Tesla, which has attempted to combine its vehicle and robotics efforts more tightly.
“Doug is a remarkable leader with a track record of delivering new technologies in successful products,” Scaringe said in a statement. “He has an incredible ability to foster great teams that take on big, complex ideas and deliver products that reset expectations. That’s exactly what Mind needs as we deploy robots into real factories and beyond.”
Field expressed enthusiasm for the challenge of integrating AI and robotics. He described the effort as one of the most difficult engineering challenges of our time. He highlighted Mind Robotics’ unique advantage in being able to deploy and learn inside a real factory immediately.
“I’m thrilled to join RJ in building a team, culture, and technology that will redefine what we can make in America,” Field said.
The robotics sector is currently experiencing a surge in interest, with companies like Tesla and Hyundai also pursuing humanoid robots for warehouse and factory tasks. However, experts note that while making a robot act like a human is a significant technical hurdle, scaling that technology for practical, daily work remains a major challenge. Mind Robotics has not confirmed whether its designs are humanoid or based on a different architecture.
The startup is currently expanding its workforce, with 32 open positions listed. As Rivian continues to scale its vehicle production, the success of Mind Robotics will likely depend on its ability to deliver reliable, versatile robots that can handle the demands of modern manufacturing.
Source: The Verge
