Rivian Startup Mind Robotics Hires Former Ford EV Chief Doug Field
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Key Takeaways
- Doug Field joins Mind Robotics as president, taking charge of day-to-day product, engineering, and operations.
- The startup has amassed over $1 billion in backing from major venture firms and corporate partners.
- Mind Robotics focuses on purpose-built industrial robots running foundation models rather than humanoid designs.
- Rivian acts as the venture's first customer and provides a live manufacturing environment for model training.
The landscape of industrial manufacturing and robotics is undergoing a profound transformation, marked by high-profile executive appointments and massive financial backing. Mind Robotics, an industrial AI and robotics venture created last year by Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe, has officially announced the hiring of former Ford EV chief Doug Field as its new president. The announcement, made during the TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 conference in San Francisco, signals a major scaling phase for the startup as it transitions from its early foundation into operational deployment.
Doug Field is one of the most prominent engineering and operational leaders in the modern automotive and technology sectors. His illustrious career includes guiding electric vehicle and technology strategies at Ford for five years, leading Apple's secretive and now-canceled autonomous car initiative known as Project Titan, and serving as the senior vice president of engineering at Tesla. At Tesla, Field famously oversaw the challenging development of the Model 3, navigating the arduous manufacturing phase often referred to as production hell. Furthermore, his career history includes serving as employee No. 1 at Segway.
At Mind Robotics, Field will take charge of the day-to-day aspects of the business, encompassing product development, engineering, and operations. While RJ Scaringe will remain involved with the venture, Field's hands-on leadership will guide the company's core technological trajectory. Mind Robotics has already secured over $1 billion in backing from prominent venture capital firms including Accel, Andreessen Horowitz, Eclipse, and Kleiner Perkins, alongside corporate venture arms from Volkswagen and Salesforce. Regulatory filings from June 2026 show that Rivian holds a 32.1% ownership stake in the enterprise.
The strategic vision of Mind Robotics diverges from the popular trend of humanoid robots pursued by companies like Tesla. Instead of mimicking human biomechanics, Mind Robotics is developing a full stack of purpose-built industrial robots powered by foundation models designed to automate manufacturing tasks at scale. A crucial advantage for the startup is its partnership with Rivian, which serves as a live, high-volume manufacturing environment for training models and deploying robotic systems. Rivian acts as the venture's very first customer.
The collaboration between Scaringe and Field originated from a casual phone call in which Scaringe sought recommendations for leadership. The conversation quickly evolved into a deep alignment regarding the mission of the business and the philosophical approach to deploying robotics into society and the economy. As Mind Robotics prepares to scale, the combination of Field's manufacturing pedigree and Scaringe's overarching vision places the startup in a unique position to influence the future of industrial automation.
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