Boston Dynamics names Rohit Prasad, who helped build Amazon’s Alexa, as CEO

Boston Dynamics has named Rohit Prasad chief executive from 7 October, the robot maker said in a statement on Tuesday. The company said he will speed up its Physical AI strategy. That plan combines its robots with advanced AI to sell intelligent machines at scale.

Prasad was senior vice president and head scientist for Alexa and artificial general intelligence at Amazon. In 12 years there, he helped build Alexa from its earliest days. More recently, he led the development of Amazon’s Nova foundation models, Boston Dynamics said. Before Amazon, he spent nearly 14 years at Raytheon BBN Technologies, leading machine-learning research.

He left Amazon at the end of 2025. He takes over from interim chief executive Amanda McMaster, the company’s chief financial officer, GeekWire said. Robert Playter retired as chief executive in February. Boston Dynamics expects Prasad to join its board, subject to approval.

“By bringing together advanced AI and robotics, we can build intelligent systems that create meaningful value in real-world environments,” said Prasad.

Changes at the top

Playter stepped down after six years as chief executive, Bloomberg reported. He was only the second person to hold the role in the company’s more than 30-year history. Several senior executives have left since then, including chief technology officer Aaron Saunders, according to Bloomberg.

Hyundai’s plans for Atlas

Hyundai Motor Group took majority ownership of Boston Dynamics in 2021. It is now moving to buy SoftBank’s remaining stake, Bloomberg reported.

Atlas is Boston Dynamics’ electric humanoid. Hyundai said earlier this year that it plans to use it at its plant in Georgia from 2028. It also plans capacity to build up to 30,000 humanoid robots a year. Hyundai has partnerships with Nvidia and Google DeepMind to develop Atlas. The robots are expected to start with simple tasks such as welding and logistics, and move to component assembly by 2030, according to Bloomberg.

Jaehoon Chang is vice chair of Hyundai Motor Group and chairs the Boston Dynamics board.

“We are thrilled to welcome Rohit to lead the company into this exciting new era of real-world Physical AI,” Chang said.

Boston Dynamics makes the quadruped robot Spot for industrial inspections. Its Stretch robot moves boxes for logistics and retail customers. Atlas is still in development.