Machine Minds

Greg Toroosian
  • 5.0 (12)
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Machine Minds - the minds behind the machines! This is the show where we dive deep into the intricate worlds of robotics, AI, and Hard Tech. In each episode, we bring you intimate conversations with the founders, investors, and trailblazers who are at the heart of these tech revolutions. We dig into their journeys, the challenges they've overcome, and the breakthroughs that are shaping our future. Join us as we explore how these machine minds are transforming the way we live, work, and understand our world. 

  1. The Missing Infrastructure Holding Robotics Back with Adrian Macneil

    1D AGO

    The Missing Infrastructure Holding Robotics Back with Adrian Macneil

    Robotics does not stall because the ideas are bad. It stalls because the underlying infrastructure is missing. Adrian Macneil, co founder and CEO of Foxglove, has spent his career inside the systems that power some of the most ambitious autonomous technologies in the world, and he believes the next leap in robotics will not come from a single breakthrough robot, but from making robotics development radically easier for everyone. Adrian’s path spans early work in payments and crypto, a formative chapter at Coinbase, and several pivotal years at Cruise during the early rise of self driving cars. At Cruise, he saw firsthand how much bespoke infrastructure was required to build, debug, and scale autonomy and how every leading AV company was quietly reinventing the same internal tooling. That realization became the foundation for Foxglove: a data and visualization platform designed to give robotics teams the same off the shelf leverage that software startups take for granted. In this conversation, Greg and Adrian unpack: Adrian’s journey from early programming curiosity to building infrastructure at Coinbase and Cruise, and why autonomous vehicles made the value of robotics instantly tangibleWhy robotics development is dominated by custom tooling, siloed data formats, and painful debugging workflows, and how that slows the entire industryThe origin of Foxglove and its mission to provide a shared data platform for robotics and physical AI, from logging and visualization to debugging and analysisWhat makes robotics data fundamentally different, including multimodal sensors, massive data volumes, limited bandwidth, and edge-first constraintsThe creation of MCAP as an open data format, and why interoperability is a prerequisite for robotics to scale beyond a handful of well funded teamsHow Foxglove acts as a single pane of glass for understanding robot behavior across simulations, incidents, and real world deploymentsWhy robotics startups face “death by a thousand paper cuts,” from hardware and autonomy to go to market, pricing, and reliability expectationsLessons from fundraising in a non consensus market, and why finding investors who already believe your thesis matters more than convincing skepticsThe parallels between today’s humanoid robotics hype and the early days of self driving cars, including the long tail of real world deploymentWhat Foxglove looks for when hiring, and why proactive ownership is the mindset Adrian would clone across the entire companyA ten year vision where starting a robotics company feels more like starting a SaaS company, with off the shelf infrastructure enabling founders to focus on real customer problemsIf you care about the future of robotics, autonomy, and physical AI, and want to understand what actually needs to change for the industry to scale, this episode is a grounded and deeply informed look at the infrastructure beneath the hype. Learn more about Foxglove: https://foxglove.dev Connect with Adrian Macneil on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrianmacneil Connect with Greg Toroosian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregtoroosian

    48 min
  2. Designing the Human Side of Robotics with Shakir Dzheyranov

    JAN 7

    Designing the Human Side of Robotics with Shakir Dzheyranov

    Robotics doesn’t fail in the field because of hardware alone—it fails when humans can’t understand, trust, or effectively work with the systems they’re given. Shakir Dzheyranov, founder and CEO of HelloRobo, has built his company around that reality. With a background spanning visual arts, motion design, and product leadership at brands like Nike, Shakir brings a rare design-first lens to robotics and automation. After years in traditional design and marketing, he made a deliberate pivot into product design—drawn by the ability to tie design decisions directly to real user problems, business outcomes, and measurable impact. That shift ultimately led him to robotics, where he saw a massive gap between technical capability and human usability. HelloRobo now operates as a specialized product design partner for robotics and automation companies, helping them build market-ready interfaces for robot operations, fleet management, and human–machine collaboration. Rather than chasing flashy MVPs or over-designed “vision concepts,” Shakir and his team focus on interfaces that can actually ship, scale, and be adopted by operators in the real world. In this conversation, Greg and Shakir dive into: Shakir’s journey from art direction and brand design to building a robotics-focused product design firmWhy robotics companies struggle with UX—and why established design patterns often don’t exist yetThe decision to narrow HelloRobo’s focus exclusively to robotics and automationHow contributing to Open Robotics helped establish credibility before commercial tractionWhat makes UX in robotics fundamentally different from consumer softwareDesigning operator interfaces and fleet management systems for complex, safety-critical environmentsLessons from working with Bedrock Robotics, including designing new interaction patterns from scratchWhy talking directly to operators beats copying existing UI patternsThe three traits HelloRobo looks for when hiring designers: product thinking, visual clarity, and the ability to embrace chaosHow design teams can stay grounded in business metrics instead of aesthetics aloneThe difference between MVPs, overbuilt “vision” products, and what Shakir calls market-ready softwareWhy onboarding and education are still missing pieces in most robotics productsBuilding culture in a creative, distributed team—and why HelloRobo is opening its first New York officeFounder lessons on risk, playfulness, and learning to build without over-controlling outcomesWhat excites Shakir most about the future of robotics: mobility, prosthetics, and technologies that extend human capabilityFor founders building robotic systems, leaders scaling hardware companies, or anyone thinking about how humans actually interact with autonomous machines, this episode is a reminder that great robotics isn’t just engineered—it’s designed. Learn more about HelloRobo: https://hellorobo.co Connect with Shakir Dzheyranov on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shakir-works Connect with Greg Toroosian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregtoroosian

    52 min
  3. The Missing Architecture Behind Autonomous AI with Jacob Buckman

    12/31/2025

    The Missing Architecture Behind Autonomous AI with Jacob Buckman

    In this episode of Machine Minds, we step beyond today’s transformer-dominated AI landscape and into a deeper conversation about what’s missing on the path to truly autonomous, long-horizon intelligence. Jacob Buckman, co-founder and CEO of Manifest AI, joins Greg to explore why current AI systems struggle with long-term reasoning, persistent memory, and extended task execution—and what it will take to unlock the next paradigm. Jacob’s journey into AI began early, fueled by science fiction, programming, and a fascination with building systems that could do meaningful work autonomously. From studying and conducting research at Carnegie Mellon to working at Google Brain, he watched deep learning unify once-fragmented AI subfields—vision, language, speech—under a single scalable framework. That unification shaped his conviction that the next breakthrough wouldn’t come from incremental tuning, but from rethinking a fundamental architectural bottleneck. At Manifest AI, Jacob and his team are tackling what they believe is the missing piece: scalable long-context intelligence. Their work centers on replacing transformer attention with a new family of architectures called retention models, designed to compress and retain relevant information over time—rather than repeatedly replaying massive histories. The goal: AI systems that can reason, learn, and work continuously over hours, days, or longer. In this conversation, Greg and Jacob explore: Jacob’s path from aspiring scientist to AI researcher and founder—and why curiosity plus first principles thinking matter more than trendsWhy today’s large language models excel at short tasks but break down over long horizonsThe core limitation of transformer attention—and why “attention is all you need” may no longer holdHow retention architectures unify the strengths of transformers and recurrent neural networksWhat it means for an AI system to compress knowledge instead of endlessly appending memoryWhy long-term reasoning, iterative problem solving, and true autonomy require architectural change—not orchestration hacksThe misconception that agent orchestration can substitute for unified, persistent intelligenceHow long-context models could reshape agents from short-lived “consultants” into persistent, personalized collaboratorsThe technical challenge of translating theoretical breakthroughs into high-performance GPU kernelsWhy Manifest AI is open source—and how their work aims to move the entire field forwardLessons from unifying AI subfields, the “bitter lesson” of scale, and avoiding ad-hoc solutions that won’t lastJacob’s view on cost, intelligence density, and why better architectures will increase—not reduce—investment in AIAdvice for founders and researchers: focus relentlessly on the single bottleneck that matters mostIf you’re building AI systems, researching foundations of intelligence, or trying to understand what comes after today’s models, this episode offers a rare, deeply reasoned look at where the field may be heading—and why architectural simplicity could unlock far more than brute force scale. Learn more about Manifest AI: https://manifestai.com Explore the open-source retention models: pip install retention Connect with Jacob Buckman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobbuckman Connect with Greg Toroosian on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregtoroosian

    51 min
  4. Fixing the Last Manual Step in Modern Logistics with Chris Smith

    12/24/2025

    Fixing the Last Manual Step in Modern Logistics with Chris Smith

    In this episode of Machine Minds, we dive into one of the most overlooked choke points in logistics: the loading dock. Chris Smith, founder and CEO of Slip Robotics, joins Greg to unpack why loading and unloading trucks remains one of the most manual, time-consuming processes in modern supply chains—and how Slip is transforming it with autonomous, high-payload mobile robots. Chris brings a rare blend of firsthand operator insight and deep robotics experience. From continuous improvement roles at Cummins, to factory-scale automation at Tesla, to building heavy-payload robots at a previous startup, his career repeatedly exposed the same inefficiency: trucks spending hours being loaded and unloaded for trips that last minutes. Slip Robotics was born from the realization that this problem wasn’t unsolved because it was hard—it was unsolved because no one had redesigned the workflow end-to-end. Slip’s solution is deceptively simple: a large, flat autonomous robot that becomes the staging lane, drives directly into trailers, stays with the freight during transport, and unloads autonomously on the other side. The result is five-minute loads, five-minute unloads, reduced labor, faster throughput, and dramatically improved dock utilization—without modifying trailers or docks. In this conversation, Greg and Chris explore: Chris’s path from risk-averse engineer to founder—and why betting on yourself can be the most rational riskThe real-world pain that inspired Slip Robotics, observed firsthand across manufacturing, warehousing, and factory logisticsWhy docks function as the “physical API” of logistics—and how Slip leverages that instead of fighting itThe technical challenges of moving 12,000-pound payloads up dock levelers and trailer slopesWhy Slip’s robots generate massive ROI despite moving only ~5% of the timeEarly customer deployments, including automotive OEMs cutting lead times in half within weeksHow close, on-site collaboration with early customers shaped a scalable, commercial productWhy Slip operates on a Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) model—and how it aligns incentives around uptime and performanceHiring for early-stage robotics startups: why the first 20–30 people must be both specialists and adaptableSlip’s core cultural principles, including “rapidly deploying elegantly simple solutions” and delivering disproportionate value to stakeholdersWhere logistics automation is headed—and why dock efficiency may be the biggest unlock in transportation networksChris’s take on general-purpose robots vs. highly specialized form factors, and where humanoids may (or may not) fitIf you’re building robots, deploying automation, or thinking about how physical systems actually scale in real-world environments, this episode offers a clear-eyed look at how simplicity, speed, and workflow-first thinking can unlock massive value. Learn more about Slip Robotics: https://sliprobotics.com Connect with Chris Smith on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-r-smith Connect with Greg Toroosian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregtoroosian

    48 min
  5. Unlocking Healthcare Efficiency with Physical Intelligence Solutions with Nicholas Kirsch

    12/17/2025

    Unlocking Healthcare Efficiency with Physical Intelligence Solutions with Nicholas Kirsch

    In this episode of Machine Minds, we look at how physical intelligence—the fusion of robotics, automation, and software—can reshape one of society’s most strained systems: healthcare. Director of Software Engineering Nicholas Kirsch joins Greg to break down why hospital pharmacies are essentially “mini warehouses,” how automation is already quietly at work behind the scenes, and what it will take to reach the vision of a fully autonomous pharmacy. Nicholas brings a rare dual perspective: a mechanical engineer turned software leader who spent years in Pittsburgh’s startup ecosystem building mobile manipulation systems, AMRs, and government-funded robotics programs before shifting into healthcare tech. His experience—from garage-stage startups to acquisitions and rebrands—gives him a clear lens on what it takes to scale robots from impressive demos to mission-critical reliability. At Omnicell, he now helps drive software for medication-picking systems, IV-compounding robots, and the next wave of automation designed to return pharmacists and clinicians to the work they trained for: caring for patients. In this conversation, Greg and Nicholas explore: Why hospital pharmacies operate like 24/7 logistics centers—and why automation is overdueThe long, largely unseen history of medication-picking robots (30 years and counting)What the autonomous pharmacy roadmap looks like, and why most hospitals are still at level 1 or 2The hard truth about robotics in healthcare: reliability isn’t a target, it’s a requirementHow systems like Omnicell’s IV compounding and XR2 picking platforms reduce waste, increase traceability, and free clinicians from manual laborLessons from Nicholas’s journey through multiple robotics companies, acquisitions, and pivots—and how software talent evolves within physical systemsWhat he looks for when hiring software engineers in mission-critical environments, including curiosity, culture fit, and growth mindset over rigid credentialsThe promise (and limits) of AI in physical automation, and why general physical intelligence will unlock far more than humanoidsFor anyone building automation in regulated environments—or simply trying to understand how robotics can meaningfully improve patient care—this episode offers a grounded, insightful look at the future of healthcare efficiency. Connect with Nicholas on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholaskirsch Connect with Greg on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregtoroosian

    53 min
  6. Building the Future of Robotic Workforce Enablement with Richard Petrazzini

    12/10/2025

    Building the Future of Robotic Workforce Enablement with Richard Petrazzini

    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. Richard brings an unusually layered background to robotics: he’s a third-generation biochemist who grew up watching labs evolve from manual rabbit and frog testing to fully automated, 10,000-test-per-day facilities. That firsthand view of how healthcare automated over decades now informs how he thinks about robotics support, standards, and scale. After building one of Argentina’s largest labs and co-founding a successful software company, he spent two years doing nothing but researching robotics before launching Robotic Crew, a nearshore “human in the loop” partner for robot fleets. In this conversation, Greg and Richard get into: Why robotics is entering its “lab automation moment” – and what other industries can learn from decades of healthcare and manufacturing automationHow Robotic Crew supports pioneers deploying robots in uncharted territory, from first unit to scaled fleetsThe logic of nearshore support for robots: Latin American talent, daylight operations, and why robotics can’t be treated like asynchronous software outsourcing“Robotears,” tiered support (Tier 1–3 and beyond), and how to build career paths for people who keep robots productive in the fieldThe trade-offs founders face around uptime, ownership of incident data, and when to bring in a partner for supportWhat it feels like when a startup hits real momentum—not hype—and why Richard believes robotics companies will run out of engineers long before they run out of demandA real-world case study improving response and resolution times for autonomous robot kitchens, and what that reveals about process, telemetry, and customer success in roboticsIf you’re deploying robots, building them, or thinking about how to support a growing fleet without burning out your core team, this episode is a deep dive into the future of robotic workforce enablement—and the humans who will keep that future running. Connect with Richard on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rpetrazzini Connect with Greg on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregtoroosian/

    44 min
  7. Bridging Hardware Innovation and Business Strategy in Robotics with Milt Walker

    12/03/2025

    Bridging Hardware Innovation and Business Strategy in Robotics with Milt Walker

    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. Milt brings a rare blend of hands-on engineering, ecosystem building, and strategic thinking. From early days fixing XT and 386 machines in a small-town computer shop, through field roles and leadership at Intel and Sick, to helping seed the Atlanta robotics community with RoboGeorgia, he’s consistently sat at the intersection of technology and partnerships. Now at Next Cobot, he focuses on giving robot builders the safety-critical and control platforms they need so they can innovate faster on what makes their systems unique. In this conversation, Greg and Milt explore: Why “alignment” is Milt’s non-negotiable in partnerships—and how it changes the BD conversationThe shift from customization to configuration as a path to real scalabilityHow mid-market manufacturers and smaller warehouses can approach automation differently from the top 10% of global playersThe growing importance of safety platforms and standards as humanoids and advanced AI move closer to the factory floorWhat it actually looks like to build bridges between Taiwan and US robotics ecosystemsMilt’s moonshot fascination with nano-robotics and “bottom-up” fabricationPractical career advice for engineers and technical leaders who want to move into business development and strategy roles in roboticsIf you’re building robots, selling them, or betting your operations on them, this episode will sharpen how you think about partners, platforms, and the long game of automation. Connect with Milt Walker on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwalkeriii/ Connect with Greg Toroosian on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregtoroosian/ Chapters: 2:34 Essential Technology 3:31 Early Career Insights 4:42 Robotics Passion 7:38 Business Development Path 9:58 Atlanta's Robotics Ecosystem 12:37 Joining NexCobot 15:19 Partnership Strategies 16:14 Market Opportunities 18:33 Barriers to Adoption 21:35 Finding the Right Partners 24:15 Successful Collaborations 27:07 Customization vs. Scalability 30:44 Technological Trends 37:07 Standards and Regulations 45:41 Moonshot Ideas 47:06 Advice for Aspiring Professionals 49:21 Reflections on Career Growth

    50 min
  8. Building Deep Tech Ventures Through Strategic Capital with Oliver Mitchell

    11/28/2025

    Building Deep Tech Ventures Through Strategic Capital with Oliver Mitchell

    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. Highlights: The Webvan lesson: How a $800M IPO collapsed because marketing never asked customers what they actually wanted... and how Kiva Systems learned from that failure to build the robots that became Amazon Robotics.The 500-customer rule: Why Oliver insists founders speak to hundreds of potential customers before building, and how CIV Robotics pivoted from drones to terrestrial robots by listening to construction giants like Bechtel.Five rules for automation startups: High utilization, 99.9% reliability, clear payback periods, defensible IP, and knowing your low-hanging fruit—Oliver breaks down what separates successful hardware companies from the graveyard.Culture as a competitive moat: Drawing from Netflix's "keeper test" and Pixar's collaborative creative process, Oliver explains why hiring one superstar beats five mediocre players - and why arrogance has no place in a startup.Cap table strategy: Why raising at an inflated valuation can doom your next round, how to price for competitive interest, and when to choose government grants, corporate VCs, or traditional funds.Defense tech is heating up: Oliver's new focus on Israeli technologies emerging from elite military units, the Golden Dome initiative, and why Apptronik's humanoid robots are built contract-first for shipbuilding - not household chores.Oliver's book "A Startup Field Guide in the Age of Robotics and AI" is available on Amazon or at routledge.com (20% off with discount code 25ESA3 - valid 1 July 2025 - 31 December 2025) Connect with Oliver Mitchell on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliverbmitchell/ Connect with Greg on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregtoroosian/

    50 min
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About

Machine Minds - the minds behind the machines! This is the show where we dive deep into the intricate worlds of robotics, AI, and Hard Tech. In each episode, we bring you intimate conversations with the founders, investors, and trailblazers who are at the heart of these tech revolutions. We dig into their journeys, the challenges they've overcome, and the breakthroughs that are shaping our future. Join us as we explore how these machine minds are transforming the way we live, work, and understand our world. 

Information

  • Creator
    Greg Toroosian
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    121
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Machine Minds
  • Show Website
    Machine Minds

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