Doug Field, the former Tesla and Apple executive who helmed Ford Motor's electric-vehicle development until earlier this year, has a new gig: getting more advanced robots into factories.
Field was named president of Mind Robotics, the industrial physical AI startup that spun out of automaker Rivian.
Field will oversee product, engineering, operations and more at a company that aims to put "human-like" machines in factories in the coming years. The startup aims to deploy the robots first in Rivian factories, company officials said.
Field is widely regarded as one of the top engineers in the automotive and technology convergence. He led development of Tesla's Model 3 and then Apple's now-defunct car project before being lured to Ford in 2021 to oversee its EV and digital efforts. One Field project, a $30,000 electric pickup meant to compete with China's low-cost EVs, is due out next year.
"I used to say this all the time, but I'd love to have someone like Doug" at Mind Robotics, said the startup's chief executive, RJ Scaringe, who is also chief executive of Rivian. "Then it became a question of, could I get the actual Doug?"
Field left Ford in April for unspecified reasons.
Scaringe said Mind Robotics has raised a little over $1 billion since spinning out of Rivian in 2025. Scaringe said its first product will be an intelligent robot "capable of many tasks" meant for a wide range of industries.
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