Rivian spinoff Mind Robotics hires former Ford EV chief Doug Field
Doug Field, a veteran executive from Tesla, Apple, and Ford, has been named president of Mind Robotics, a Rivian spinoff. The startup is developing industrial AI and robotics for manufacturing, backed by over $1 billion in funding.
Why it matters
The hiring of a high-profile executive signals a significant push toward scaling industrial automation using foundation models in manufacturing.
Doug Field has worked on EVs at Ford and Tesla, the not-so-secret car project at Apple, and was employee No. 1 at Segway. Now, the executive is turning his attention to Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe’s latest project: Mind Robotics .
Field has been hired at president of Mind Robotics, an industrial AI and robotics venture that spun out of Rivian last year. The news, shared on stage at Disrupt 2026, is another sign that Mind Robotics is getting ready to scale up its early operations just one year after its founding.
Scaringe will still be involved with Mind Robotics, but the day-to-day aspects of the business, including product, engineering, and operations will be handled by Field.
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