In this episode of Machine Minds, we explore what it really takes to build the human infrastructure behind the coming wave of robots. CEO and co-founder Richard Petrazzini joins Greg to unpack how “robotic workforce enablement” can make or break uptime, customer trust, and the long-term success of robotics deployments—especially as robots leave cages, connect to the cloud, and move into human environments.

In this episode of Machine Minds, we look at what really happens when hardware innovation meets business strategy in robotics. Director of Business Development Milt Walker joins Greg to unpack how manufacturers, startups, and ecosystem players can scale robotics responsibly—without getting stuck in proof-of-concept purgatory or pretending they’re “just” software companies. From functional safety to workforce gaps and reshoring, Milt explores the forces reshaping how robots get built, deployed, and trusted in the real world.

What does it take to guide a robotics startup from a napkin sketch to a $775 million exit? Oliver Mitchell, a venture capital partner at FF Venture Capital and author of "A Startup Field Guide in the Age of Robotics and AI" returns to Machine Minds to share hard-won lessons from the trenches of deep tech investing. From the dramatic rise and fall of Webvan to the triumph of Kiva Systems (now Amazon Robotics), Oliver reveals why product-market fit isn't found in the lab - it's discovered in relentless customer conversations. We explore the pivotal mistakes founders make, why pivoting isn't failure but strategy, and how the right cap table can be the difference between scaling and stalling out.

Construction is one of the world’s most complex, risk-filled, and operationally fragmented industries — and also one of the last to benefit from automation. At Raise Robotics, CTO Rishabh Aggarwal is helping change that.

From capturing diesel soot to turn into ink, to designing CubeSats at NASA, to building autonomous harvesting robots in ag-tech, Rishabh’s journey has always been about one thing: building real technology that solves real problems.

From satellite missions and drone startups to international development work in Haiti, Peter Haas has carved one of the most unconventional and globally minded paths in robotics. Today, he’s combining decades of experience across academia, entrepreneurship, government, and humanitarian work to answer a pivotal question:

From retrofitting automation into existing warehouses to redefining how fast robotics can be deployed, SIMPL Automation is pioneering a more flexible, less disruptive path toward warehouse transformation.

In this episode, Ayman Labib, co-founder and CEO of SIMPL Automation, shares how his 25+ years in manufacturing and integration led him to build a company that’s challenging the traditional timelines, costs, and risks of warehouse automation.