Industry Leadership Finalists

Brett Adcock, Founder & CEO, Figure

Brett Adcock has been building companies for 20 years and is now the founder and CEO of Figure, an AI robotics company developing a general-purpose humanoid. In the past year, he’s secured massive funding; pushed forward in robot performance; added real commercial customers; set up facilities to manufacture at scale; and declared a pivot toward owning more of the tech stack in-house. 

Burkhard Boeckem, CTO, Hexagon

Burkhard Boeckem is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Hexagon, where he leads the company’s innovation goals for a future shaped by autonomy, robotics, and spatial intelligence. Burkhard leads Hexagon’s technology evolution toward autonomous systems, integrating artificial intelligence, edge computing, LiDAR, and 5D digital twin capabilities into scalable technology platforms that support complex industrial ecosystems. Most recently, Burkhard started and set up the team that developed the company’s first humanoid robot, AEON, built for industry, launched in June 2025.

Dar Sleeper, Vice President of Product and Design, 1X

Dar Sleeper is the Vice President of Product and Design at 1X, where he is focused on building lead demand and brand presence in the Bay Area. He previously worked at Tesla as a Senior Product Manager, playing a key role in launching the Cybertruck campaign and driving lead demand for electric vehicles. 1X’s mission is to push the boundaries of AI and robotics to create a global abundance of labour through safe and intelligent humanoids. Dan’s combination of product knowledge, storytelling, and growth orientation make him a key figure in bridging 1X’s technical innovations with market impact. His recent work which has seen NEO being featured alongside influential figures such as IShowSpeed and Nick DiGiovanni. 

David Reger, Founder & CEO, NEURA Robotics

David Reger is the founder and CEO of NEURA Robotics, a company that designs and manufactures intelligent, cognitive robots in-house. He founded NEURA Robotics in 2019 with a mission to expand the capabilities of collaborative robots by equipping them with cognitive skills, enabling a new level of seamless interaction between humans and machines. Earlier this year, Reger outlined NEURA’s 5-year plan, aiming to deliver five million robots by 2030—for industry, services, and the home. “NEURA is doing for robotics what the iPhone did for smartphones.” 

Grace Brown, Founder & CEO, Andromeda Robotics

Grace Brown is the CEO and founder of Andromeda Robotics. She has been building robots since the age of 15, turning her hobby into a business in 2022 with the launch of Andromeda Robotics. The company is now deploying Abi, an empathetic companion robot, throughout residential aged care in Australia and beyond. In 2025, Andromeda closed a Series A funding round for AU$23 million, led by Forerunner, to help advance the next generation of Abi .

Jeff Cardenas, Co-Founder & CEO, Apptronik

Jeff Cardenas is the CEO and co-founder of Apptronik, a company dedicated to building robots that safely and efficiently work alongside humans. He has founded several start-ups and a non-profit, driven by a passion for entrepreneurship and a commitment to using technology to solve social issues and improve the world. Thanks to Jeff’s outstanding leadership, Apptronik raised a staggering $415 million in Series A funding at the beginning of 2025 to help drive the surging demand for next-generation, AI-powered humanoid robots.

Jérôme Monceaux, Co-Founder & CEO, Enchanted Tools

As CEO of Enchanted Tools, he’s steering the company to build humanoid, character-like robots such as Mirokaï with compelling designs, expressive personality, and useful interaction capabilities. The goal is to deploy these robots in healthcare, retail, hospitality, etc., to do tasks like logistical assistance, companionship, navigation, while ensuring safety, usability, and emotional appeal. He is also the founder of SPooN.ai and formerly served as Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer at Softbank Robotics Europe. Monceaux believes that technology can help solve humanity’s greatest challenges and bring a sense of wonder into everyday life.  

Jerry Pratt, CTO, Persona AI

Jerry Pratt is CTO and co-founder of Persona AI, a company aiming to bring humanoid robots into heavy industrial use (e.g. shipyards) via a robotics-as-a-service model. Under Jerry’s expertise he’s helped lead the company to raise $27M in pre-seed funding, has solidified partnerships (notably with HD Hyundai), and plans prototype delivery by ~2026 with deployment by 2027. Jerry is leading the technical side, hardware, AI control, robotics engineering, to make all of this possible. 

Peggy Johnson, CEO, Agility Robotics

Peggy Johnson is the CEO of Agility Robotics, bringing decades of technology leadership experience to the role. She previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Magic Leap, a spatial computing company building the next computing platform. Peggy has helped guide Agility Robotics’ humanoid, Digit, into real-world deployments with partners like Amazon and GXO and moving production toward mass manufacturing at the company’s Oregon “RoboFab” facility. 

Vijay Seelam, Founder & CEO, Svaya Robotics

Vijay Seelam is the founder and CEO of Svaya Robotics, where he draws on experience from previous roles at ZUTI Engineering Solutions Pvt. Ltd and Altair. He brings a robust skill set that spans Clinical Research, Pharmacy, Research, and Industrial Engineering. Svaya Robotics and Vijay’s vision “full-stack” robots that work with and around humans in any setup, connecting people, process and systems to make manufacturing more flexible, more productive and scalable.