Scaling Robotics

About Scaling Robotics

Conversations with robotics leaders in software, operations, supply chain, and more about their lessons from scaling fleets of robots. For robots to make an impact on humanity, we must scale to millions worldwide. However, very few teams have ever scaled their fleets of robots, and knowledge of best practices and pitfalls is siloed into a few teams that have achieved this feat. Scaling Robotics is an effort to democratize this knowledge to empower robotics fleets to scale bigger and faster.

Publisher

Miru

Category

technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

24 Nov 2025

Latest episode

1 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

14 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   1 Sept 2026

   How to Deploy Physical AI in Production | Jeff Mahler, Co-Founder + CTO @ Ambi | Scaling Robotics Episode 14

   In Episode 14, we're joined by Jeff Mahler, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Ambi Robotics, for logistics. Ambi builds AI-powered robots that sort and stack parcels as they move across logistics facilities. Jeff's team has deployed over 100 robots that have handled more than 150 million packages and 250,000+ operational hours in production, which is over 30 robot years of runtime. And they've done it with a team of just 40 people.Jeff is a skeptic of generalization in physical AI. He thinks the real hard problem is mastery; can we get a robot to do one thing fast, accurately, and reliably enough that a customer like Amazon or FedEx will actually pay for it?In this episode, we discuss what that takes to pull off. We cover the harnesses that wrap learned models into production systems, build data flywheels, and drive reliability in our robots.I loved this conversation because it's clear that Jeff has put in his 10,000 hours with production robots. I'm confident you'll learn something from this one.L𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒- Miru Blog (including episode transcripts): https://www.mirurobotics.com/blog- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1xr38bFEhk7MSf8UvmPUBo?si=761aeb03b4464fd1&nd=1&dlsi=fa48d636a0f74df6- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/scaling-robotics/id1857724488𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒00:00 Introduction01:40 Mastery Over Generalization06:15 Reliable Intelligence and the AI Harness14:23 Benefits of Physical AI in Production16:35 Achieving Mastery and the Data Flywheel23:16 Skill Transfer and the Ambi Skill Suite30:02 The Future of Skills and Industry Partnerships33:07 Deploying Robots in Production35:53 Building Testing Environments39:35 Modular Hardware42:04 Integrating with Other Systems45:30 Partnership with Pickle Robot47:19 What's Next for Ambi49:40 Rapid Fire

2. 

   13 Jul 2026

   The Make-or-Break Function in Robotics | Matthew Leitch: Senior Director of Product Ops @ Pickle Robot | Scaling Robotics Episode 13

   In Episode 13, we're joined by one of the most experienced operators in Physical AI for logistics, Matt Leitch, Director of Product Operations at Pickle Robot. Pickle builds green robots that reach into shipping containers and pull boxes off the stack and onto a conveyor. Matt's team has gotten a full deployment down to as little as six hours, from the robot hitting the dock to picking its first box. This job, container unloading, is one of the most grueling jobs in logistics. Warehouse workers endure extreme heat inside containers (well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit), heavy cargo, and high injury rates. We get into what he focuses on to keep the fleet humming: building product ops muscle, running a Robot Operations Center (ROC) that remotely commands the fleet, designing maintenance-ready hardware, and the change management it takes to make customers actually want the robots. Matt also shares a fun story about how a career that started as a helicopter pilot and "Battle Captain" in the US Military shaped the way he runs operations today. If you're building or scaling a robotics operations team, or you just want to know what it really takes to run robots in the real world, this one is for you!L𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒- Miru Blog (including episode transcripts): https://www.mirurobotics.com/blog- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1xr38bFEhk7MSf8UvmPUBo?si=761aeb03b4464fd1&nd=1&dlsi=fa48d636a0f74df6- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/scaling-robotics/id1857724488𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒(00:00:04) – Introduction(00:01:01) – Background and Scale of Deployments(00:01:55) – What Is Product Operations?(00:04:12) – Handling Robot Failures and the Robot Operations Center(00:07:06) – Partnering with Customers and Training(00:08:39) – Matt's Military Background and Operations Philosophy(00:10:45) – Building Scalable Processes(00:11:58) – Lessons from Ocado and Six River Systems(00:13:42) – Scaling from Startup to Enterprise(00:15:16) – Designing for Maintenance(00:18:18) – In-House vs. Third-Party Technicians(00:20:30) – Preventative Maintenance(00:22:21) – Operating at Enterprise Scale(00:23:19) – Customer Perception and Change Management(00:27:04) – Hiring for Product Operations(00:28:56) – Key Metrics for Product Operations(00:30:19) – Why Robotics?(00:31:35) – Closing and Call to Action

3. 

   25 Jun 2026

   Building a Generational Manufacturing Company | Ed Mehr, Founder & CEO @ Machina Labs

   In Episode 12, we speak with one of my favorite founders in robotics! Today, Edward Mehr, CEO and Founder of Machina Labs, joins us for Scaling Robotics.Machina builds RoboCraftsman, a 40-by-30-foot dual-arm robotic cell that forms sheet metal by pinching and incrementally deforming it, the way a potter shapes clay. The same cell drops its forming end effector to trim, scan, and soon heat treat and forge. They've deployed 19 robots and are working to scale this to many more, with factories being set up in the USA and the UAE.We discuss Machina's journey to get there: securing their first contracts with NASA and the Air Force, building a high-margin, semi-automated robotics business, and cultivating an engineering culture that continues to excel to this day. Ed also talks about his personal experiences that brought him to robotics and why he joined SpaceX as an early employee.If you're a robotics founder interested in how to build a team, fundraise, and create a great robotics business, this one is for you!L𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒- Miru Blog (including episode transcripts): https://www.mirurobotics.com/blog- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1xr38bFEhk7MSf8UvmPUBo?si=761aeb03b4464fd1&nd=1&dlsi=fa48d636a0f74df6- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/scaling-robotics/id1857724488𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒(00:00:04) – Introduction(00:03:00) – The Problem Machina Solves (00:06:15) – Fleet Scale and Factory Buildout(00:07:51) – Ed's Origin Story(00:13:10) – Lessons from SpaceX Culture(00:16:15) – Early Customers and Going to Market(00:18:56) – Staying Lean and Building with Humans in the Loop(00:23:20) – Culture: What Not to Copy from SpaceX(00:27:18) – Scaling: From R&D Shop to Factory Operator(00:30:49) – Bridging Engineering and the Factory Floor(00:33:15) – Telling the Story: Fundraising and Vision(00:36:55) – The Strategic Thread for Machina(00:42:03) – Operational Excellence: Learning from Toyota and SendCutSend(00:45:24) – Staying Lean with Resources(00:48:13) – Lightning Round(00:51:00) – Why Manufacturing and Robotics(00:53:22) – How to Help Machina Labs

4. 

   1 Jun 2026

   Unpacking Finance for Robotics Startups| Daniel Kirstein: Robotics CFO, Founder @ Holdfast Partners, Formerly @ Farmwise, Voyage | Scaling Robotics Episode 11

   In Episode 11, we speak with Daniel Kirstein, co-founder of Holdfast Partners, a consultancy that helps robotics and hard tech companies build their financial and commercial infrastructure. Before Holdfast, Daniel was Head of Finance at Voyage (the autonomous vehicle company acquired by Cruise) and CFO at FarmWise, an agtech company building autonomous weeding machines, where he also ran sales, procurement, and HR. He spent time at Google and TikTok before leaving last year to work full-time with robotics founders. He writes the Robotics CFO newsletter on Substack. Most robotics founders are technologists and don't have an intimate understanding of the financial considerations that affect their business. Software is more forgiving with these gaps, but hardware is ruthless. When CapEx and operational costs are high, it is crucial to understand every single financial lever that affects your business. Daniel has built the capital stack, pricing model, and working capital discipline at multiple robotics companies and now consults founders on doing the same. Daniel starts with the choice every robotics company faces: RaaS, hardware sales, or hardware-as-a-service. He has a clear framework for choosing a business model and understanding how that decision affects how you operate the company. At FarmWise, they chose RaaS, and running it well pushed FarmWise's field operations to a third (!!) of headcount. That same model opens a working capital gap, the cruelest way to fail, where success itself sinks you because orders grow faster than the cash to fill them. All of this feeds into the raise, and we end on what fundraising really takes for a hardware business. Enjoy this walkthrough of the financial machinery behind scaling a robotics fleet! L𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒 - Miru Blog (including episode transcripts): https://www.mirurobotics.com/blog - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1xr38bFEhk7MSf8UvmPUBo?si=761aeb03b4464fd1&nd=1&dlsi=fa48d636a0f74df6 - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/scaling-robotics/id1857724488 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00:04) – Introduction (00:03:32) – Joining Robotics as a Finance Leader (00:05:26) – Business Models in Robotics (00:07:40) – Choosing the Right Business Model (00:11:59) – Will RaaS Stick Around as Technology Matures? (00:16:21) – The Operational Realities of Running RaaS (00:18:37) – Working Capital and Cash Management (00:22:21) – Forecasting and Cash Planning for Early Stage Founders (00:25:18) – Why Debt Matters for Robotics Companies (00:29:55) – Common Pitfalls with Debt (00:31:56) – What Equipment Financiers Look For (00:33:54) – Raising Equity for Robotics Companies (00:37:09) – Show, Don't Just Tell (00:37:48) – What Investors Push Back on Most (00:40:46) – Advice for Founders Scaling Their First Fleet (00:42:02) – Why Robotics Is Worth It (00:43:25) – Closing and How to Connect

5. 

   4 May 2026

   Building World-Class Product in Robotics | Nick Akiona, Principal Engineer & Architect @ Aescape | Scaling Robotics Episode 9

6. 

   3 May 2026

   Field Ops is Criminally Underrated | Matthew Lee, Field Engineering @ Scythe Robotics + Aurora | Scaling Robotics Episode 10

   In Episode 10, we speak with Matthew Lee, who has spent the last decade running field operations and sustainment at three autonomy companies: Aurora (on-road autonomous trucks), Phantom Auto (teleoperated forklifts), and most recently Scythe Robotics (autonomous commercial lawnmowers, deployed across 20+ states). Before robotics, he spent two decades in automotive repair, working his way up from technician to service manager. I believe that field engineering is the most criminally underrated function in running and scaling a fleet of robots. Matthew has spent his whole career on that side of the problem, and has watched companies live or die (like Phantom Auto) based on how seriously they took it. We get into why sustainment is the function most robotics startups underinvest in, and how Phantom Auto's failure to iterate on hardware in the field helped sink the company. Why field ops works on a totally different timescale than engineering. And how to build a real support stack from tier one all the way up to your developers, including who you should hire for each tier and what data you need to surface when a customer calls in. There are also a few tidbits on how to run your software deployments and canary releases. Enjoy this one, it's a top to bottom analysis of how to run field ops from someone who's experienced the struggle first hand. 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒 - Miru Blog (including episode transcripts): https://www.mirurobotics.com/blog - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1xr38bFEhk7MSf8UvmPUBo?si=761aeb03b4464fd1&nd=1&dlsi=fa48d636a0f74df6 - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/scaling-robotics/id1857724488 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00:04) – Introduction (00:01:09) – Overview of Autonomy Use Cases (00:03:50) – What Is Field Ops in a Robotics Company (00:05:52) – Why Sustainment Is Critical (00:07:59) – Building a Support System from First Call to Resolution (00:14:05) – Tier Two Support and Escalation (00:20:11) – The Tier Two Agent Profile (00:24:52) – Feeding Field Data Back to Product and Engineering (00:30:49) – Canary Releases and Software Rollouts (00:34:22) – Networking Challenges in Field Deployments (00:38:41) – The John Henry Problem: Operator Adoption (00:42:49) – Advice for Scaling Your First Fleet (00:45:23) – Closing and Where to Find Matthew

7. 

   20 Apr 2026

   The Software Playbook for a 2,000 Robot Fleet | Cem Ersoz, Director of Robotics Software @ Simbe Robotics | Scaling Robotics Episode 8

   This Episode In Episode 8, we speak with Cem Ersoz, Director of Robotics Software at Simbe Robotics. Simbe builds Tally, an autonomous retail robot that scans millions of shelves per week, giving retailers real-time visibility into product availability, out-of-stocks, and shelf accuracy. With thousands of Tallys deployed across major retailers in more than 10 countries, operating daily alongside untrained store employees across grocery, club, farm supply, and home improvement, Simbe runs one of the largest commercial Physical AI fleets in the world.We discuss what actually changes when your fleet crosses key thresholds. At a certain scale, you can no longer SSH into a robot to fix it, and that forces a complete rethink of how you build. We get into the difference between 95% autonomous and truly autonomous, why improving 9s of reliability is so hard, and how Simbe ships software to thousands of robots they can never directly touch.Plus, why A/B testing a robot fleet isn't like optimizing a SaaS funnel. There are things that no dashboards can capture, such as whether people actually feel comfortable around a robot moving faster through the store. We also get into what a truly representative canary rollout looks like at this scale, and what Cem learned when hardware he had trusted for years finally failed on robot number 2,000.Timestamps(0:04 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMYiZANXlWI&t=4s)) Introduction (1:32 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMYiZANXlWI&t=92s)) Fleet Scale and Deployment (3:57 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMYiZANXlWI&t=237s)) Lessons from Operating Alongside Humans (6:56 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMYiZANXlWI&t=416s)) Building Software for Thousands of Robots (10:55 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMYiZANXlWI&t=655s)) Testing, Deployment, and Reliability (13:58 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMYiZANXlWI&t=838s)) A/B Testing in Robotics vs. SaaS (17:06 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMYiZANXlWI&t=1026s)) Supporting Legacy Hardware (22:20 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMYiZANXlWI&t=1340s)) AI Coding Tools in Robotics (25:28 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMYiZANXlWI&t=1528s)) Staged Rollouts and Canary Deployments (29:30 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMYiZANXlWI&t=1770s)) The Hundred Megabit Cable Story (34:10 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMYiZANXlWI&t=2050s)) Building Workarounds into Everything (36:11 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMYiZANXlWI&t=2171s)) Hardest Moments in Scaling (39:49 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMYiZANXlWI&t=2389s)) What Makes a Great Robotics Engineer (43:21 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMYiZANXlWI&t=2601s)) Closing Additional Resources Simbe is hiring (https://www.simberobotics.com/about/work-at-simbe) Brought to you by Miru (https://www.mirurobotics.com/), RobotOps Infra for Scaling Teams:

8. 

   6 Apr 2026

   The RaaS Playbook for 100+ Factories | Saman Farid, Co-founder & CEO @ Formic | Scaling Robotics Episode 7

   This Episode In Episode 7, we speak with Saman Farid, Co-founder and CEO of Formic (https://formic.co/). Formic is a Robots as a Service (RaaS) company that owns, deploys, and manages robot fleets inside U.S. manufacturing facilities, with robots actively running in production across more than 100 factories and on track to become the largest independent robot fleet in the country. Before founding Formic, Saman co-founded Comet Labs (https://cometlabs.io/), an AI-focused VC fund that backed 40+ robotics and automation companies, then joined Baidu Ventures (https://www.baidu-venture.com/about/) to help run their $600M global AI fund. He's sat on the boards of more than 30 robotics companies, and what he saw from that vantage point is what convinced him to stop investing and start building. We discuss how to align incentives with the RaaS model, how Formic built the three infrastructure pillars — software, operations, and financial — needed to make long-term RaaS, and why pre-deployment scoping is the most underrated part of a successful rollout. Plus, Saman's take on why so many robotics companies get trapped in proof-of-concept purgatory, and what American companies need to learn from China's robotics ecosystem, a question he's uniquely qualified to answer, having grown up in Beijing and spent years investing across both markets. Timestamps (0:06) Introduction (3:25) Why Robots as a Service (7:12) Building the Infrastructure for RaaS (13:26) The Deployment Playbook (18:16) The Importance of Pre-Work and Battle Scars (20:22) 24/7 Support and Monitoring (26:12) Advice for Scaling Your First Fleet (29:17) Why Companies Get Stuck in Proof of Concept Purgatory (33:57) Lessons from China's Robotics Ecosystem (37:52) Closing Advice

9. 

   16 Mar 2026

   Scaling Indoor-Outdoor Delivery Robots | Ritukar Vijay, CEO @ Ottonomy | Scaling Robotics Ep 6

   In Episode 6, we speak with Ritukar Vijay (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritukarvijay/), Co-founder and CEO of Ottonomy (https://ottonomy.io/). Ottonomy builds autonomous indoor-outdoor delivery robots for enterprises across healthcare, logistics, aerospace, and more. Before founding Ottonomy, Ritukar spent 16 years in autonomy, leading BMW's L4 self-driving program at Aptiv and building everything from defense UGVs to warehousing robots, with 57+ patents to his name. We discuss why robot ops is really customer ops and most teams get the framing wrong, how Ottonomy templatized infrastructure integrations like elevators and access doors to avoid the custom-engineering trap at every new site, and Ritukar's take that the industry overfits on the robot when the real scaling unlock is the orchestration layer that sits above it. Plus, why he thinks teleoperated robots will hit a wall at scale and full autonomy from day one is the only viable path for enterprise deployments. Timestamps (0:04) Introduction (1:20) What Ottonomy Does (2:53) Healthcare Use Cases (5:37) What Feels Different About Robotics Today (8:01) Educating Customers and the Buyer Process (10:05) Deployment Blockers and Infrastructure Integration (14:36) Shifting from Product Focus to Solution Focus (19:07) Scaling Operations and Robot Ops (23:14) Metrics and Tracking Performance (25:55) Incident Lifecycle and Resolution (27:39) Scaling the Human-to-Robot Ratio (29:50) Indoor-Outdoor Differentiation and Building for the Future (35:09) Advice for Founders and Closing

10. 

    2 Mar 2026

    Scaling Low-Cost, Solar-Powered Robots for Agriculture | Usman Khan, Founding Engineer @ Aigen | Scaling Robotics Episode 5

    In Episode 5, we speak with Usman Khan (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ukhan13/), Founding Engineer at Aigen (https://www.aigen.io/). Aigen builds solar-powered autonomous rovers for agriculture, starting with mechanical weeding. We discuss why hardware, not software, is the real bottleneck holding back reliable robotics, how Aigen designs to tight constraints from day one instead of falling into the "we'll optimize later" trap that prevents scaling, and Usman's contrarian take that most robotics teams should lower their frame rates. Plus, why he thinks physical AI won't have its ChatGPT moment in 2026, and what will actually bridge the gap instead. Timestamps (0:04) Introduction (0:47) What Aigen Does (3:18) What True Autonomy Really Means (5:59) Hardware Reliability Challenges (10:05) Designing for Reliability (12:43) Testing Practices (14:36) Going from R&D to Production (18:36) Model Deployment and Data Pipelines (23:26) Hot Takes on Data and Design Constraints (28:20) Why Physical AI Won't Have a ChatGPT Moment (32:06) VLAs, Knowledge Distillation, and Edge Compute (35:47) Advice for Scaling Your First Fleet Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Miru (https://www.mirurobotics.com/blog/www.mirurobotics.com): Fleet Management for Scaling Robotics Teams.

11. 

    22 Feb 2026

    Scaling Robotics Episode 4: Ashutosh Saxena (Founder, CEO @TorqueAGI)

    In Episode 4, we speak with Ashutosh Saxena, (https://www.linkedin.com/in/saxenaashutosh/) CEO and Founder of Torque AGI (https://www.torqueagi.com/). Torque builds robotic foundation models for Fortune 100 companies like John Deere (https://www.deere.com/en/autonomous/). Previously, Ashutosh took a company public and got his PhD under Andrew Ng (https://www.andrewng.org/) at Stanford. He's also our first guest with a Wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashutosh_Saxena)! We discuss the gap between demos and production autonomy, why physics-grounded AI reaches reliability faster than pure data approaches, and Ash's contrarian take on building generalist robots: deploy specific models first, let real robots collect edge cases, and iterate fast. Plus, why he thinks the industry is wrong about needing trillions of data points for learned models! Timestamps (00:00) Intro (00:48) About TorqueAGI (01:54) Demo vs. Production Autonomy (03:44) Reliability and Interpretability in Autonomy (06:48) Cross-Domain Learning (10:38) Milestones for Production (12:35) The Importance of Edge Inference (14:27) The Road to Generalist Robots (15:54) How to Collect Data (19:47) The Biggest Bottleneck Today (21:24) Closing

12. 

    9 Feb 2026

    Scaling Robotics Episode 3: Amit Moran (CTO @ Civ Robotics, Founder @ Indoor Robotics)

    In Episode 3, we speak with Amit Moran, former CTO of Civ Robotics (https://www.civrobotics.com/)(construction robots for solar) and co-founder of Indoor Robotics (https://dronemajor.net/brands/indoor-robotics) (autonomous indoor drones for security). We discuss what it actually takes to scale robot fleets from a CTO's perspective: designing for modularity, setting BOM targets from day one, building self-healing systems, and saving data you don't yet know you'll need. It's the kind of advice you only get from someone who's scaled fleets twice and learned the hard way. 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒(00:04) Intro(01:45) Experience at Indoor and Civ(02:57) Core principles for scaling(6:49) Hardware and Software Modularity(9:45) Infrastructure Rigor vs. Velocity(12:46) Reliability in Autonomy(14:11) Reliability & Fail-Safes(16:00) Self-Healing(18:49) Observability(24:04) BOM & Margins(29:56) Build vs. Buy(31:18) Closing

13. 

    12 Jan 2026

    Scaling Robotics Episode 2: Matan Yemini (Amazon Robotics, Prime Air, Airobotics)

    In episode 2, we speak with Matan Yemini, a seasoned operator with over a decade of experience in drones and industrial automation at teams such as Amazon Robotics/Prime Air and Airobotics. He is now the COO at Rebellion Defense. In this episode, we discuss pragmatic lessons from scaling fleets and delivering real ROI for robotics customers. The insights are often unglamorous, but they require attention to detail and a relentless focus on business value. 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (0:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNymqDG_5wU)) Intro (1:30 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNymqDG_5wU&t=90s)) Previous Experience (2:21 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNymqDG_5wU&t=141s)) Defining ROI in robotics (5:12 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNymqDG_5wU&t=312s)) Shortening payback cycles (7:18 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNymqDG_5wU&t=438s)) Resources for operators (8:35 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNymqDG_5wU&t=515s)) Inputs that define ROI (9:55 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNymqDG_5wU&t=595s)) Evaluating site readiness (12:07 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNymqDG_5wU&t=727s)) Early signs of a successful deployment (15:29 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNymqDG_5wU&t=929s)) Getting ground-truth data (18:10 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNymqDG_5wU&t=1090s)) Responding to downtime (20:41 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNymqDG_5wU&t=1241s)) Dealing with regulation (23:05 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNymqDG_5wU&t=1385s)) Responding to downtime (25:28 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNymqDG_5wU&t=1528s)) Closing This episode is brought to you by Miru, Config Management for Scaling Robotics Teams.

14. 

    24 Nov 2025

    Episode 1: Joshua Chaitin-Pollak (Kiva, 6 River, ATI)

    Joining us in Episode 1 is Joshua Chaitin-Pollak (https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuapollak/), an industry veteran in robotics. He was formerly: An early software engineer at Kiva Systems (https://spectrum.ieee.org/three-engineers-hundreds-of-robots-one-warehouse), which was later acquired by Amazon, and is now Amazon Robotics (https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/tag/robotics). They've now deployed over 1 million robots, making them the largest robot fleet in the world. Software lead at 6 River Systems (https://www.linkedin.com/company/6-river-systems), acquired by Shopify (https://www.shopify.com/), and now spun out to Ocado (https://ocadointelligentautomation.com/systems/omrs-ocado-mobile-robot-system). Software lead at Pickle Robot (https://www.picklerobot.com/) (Series B) He now leads Software at ATI (https://ati-inc.co/), a Series A tire-installation robotics company. And they're hiring (https://ati-inc.co/careers/)! In this episode, Josh talks about software operations lessons from scaling a fleet, how to stand up a TechOps team, and what he's focusing on starting from day 0 to make his fleet ready for scale. 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Intro (00:22) The biggest fleet Josh has scaled (01:49) How do you operate large fleets? (03:24) How to forecast when things start breaking (05:59) Best practices for software operations (07:27) Combating process theater (09:27) What is TechOps/RobotOps? (10:21) What backgrounds make strong TechOps hires? (11:51) The relationships between TechOps and other functions (13:25) Biggest bottleneck for software teams in robotics today 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐒 This episode is brought to you by Miru (www.mirurobotics.com), Config Management for Scaling Robotics Teams.

Contact Scaling Robotics

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.