Nikita Rudin, Flexion CEO on Reinforcement Learning for Humanoids

Nikita Rudin, Flexion CEO on Reinforcement Learning for Humanoids

Nikita Rudin is the Co-Founder and CEO of Flexion Robotics, where he is building humanoid robots powered by large-scale simulation and reinforcement learning. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~This episode is brought to you by Nebius — the ultimate cloud for AI innovators.Nebius provides AI infrastructure you can count on, combining reliability and speed with flexibility and engineering support unmatched by hyperscalers.AI leaders like Meta, Shopify, and Higgsfield already partner with Nebius to run their AI workloads. Plus, venture-backed startups can save up to $150,000 on compute costs when they apply for access. Visit nebius.com or nebius.com/startups to learn more~~~~~~~~~~~~~He previously spent more than four years at NVIDIA, helping advance high-performance physics simulation and AI training systems for robotics. Nikita earned his PhD from ETH Zurich, where his research focused on deep reinforcement learning for legged robots and contributed to some of the field's most influential academic work. Combining deep expertise in robotics, simulation, and AI, he is focused on making humanoid robots smarter, more capable, and commercially deployable in real-world environments.Topics * How Flexion Robotics scales simulation and RL training for agile humanoid robots at production scale * Lessons from NVIDIA on building AI infrastructure for robotics * The path from robotic demos to commercially valuable humanoid workers #Robotics [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/robotics] #Humanoids [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/humanoids] #AI [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/ai] #ReinforcementLearning [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/reinforcementlearning] #EmbodiedAI [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/embodiedai]

Josh Araujo, Forterra CEO on Scaling Autonomous Defense Systems

Josh Araujo is the CEO of Forterra, where he leads the company’s mission to deploy autonomous ground vehicle technology at scale.~~~~~~~~~~~~~This episode is brought to you by Nebius — the ultimate cloud for AI innovators.Nebius provides AI infrastructure you can count on, combining reliability and speed with flexibility and engineering support unmatched by hyperscalers.AI leaders like Meta, Shopify, and Higgsfield already partner with Nebius to run their AI workloads. Plus, venture-backed startups can save up to $150,000 on compute costs when they apply for access. Visit nebius.com or nebius.com/startups to learn more~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Since joining in 2021, he helped lead Forterra’s growth from Series A through Series C while developing its Autonomy-as-a-Service business model and serving as COO before becoming CEO. Prior to Forterra, Josh was CFO of OGT Engineering & Construction and spent nearly a decade on Wall Street at Jefferies and Lazard, advising aerospace, defense, and industrial companies on M&A and capital markets transactions. Before entering finance, he served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. His career spans military leadership, investment banking, operations, and executive management, giving him a unique perspective on scaling mission-driven technology companies.Topics * Leadership Lessons Across Military Service, Finance, and Autonomous systems * How Forterra successfully scaled from its Series A in 2021 to its Series C in 2025 * From Prototype to Deployment: Building Culture and Alignment in Defense Tech #DefenseTech [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/defensetech] #Autonomy [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/autonomy] #Robotics [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/robotics] #Leadership [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/leadership] #Startups [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/startups]

Kevin Peterson, Bedrock Robotics CTO on Embodied AI and Autonomy

Kevin Peterson is the Co-Founder and CTO of Bedrock Robotics, where he is building advanced embodied AI systems to transform how robots operate in the physical world. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~This episode is brought to you by Nebius — the ultimate cloud for AI innovators.Nebius provides AI infrastructure you can count on, combining reliability and speed with flexibility and engineering support unmatched by hyperscalers.AI leaders like Meta, Shopify, and Higgsfield already partner with Nebius to run their AI workloads. Plus, venture-backed startups can save up to $150,000 on compute costs when they apply for access. Visit nebius.com or nebius.com/startups to learn more~~~~~~~~~~~~~Previously, he led perception for Waymo Via’s autonomous trucking division, working on large-scale real-world autonomy systems for logistics. Before that, he served as an Autonomy Architect at Caterpillar following its acquisition of Marble, a robotics company he co-founded and led as CEO, focused on automating goods movement in industrial environments. Earlier in his career, Kevin was CTO at Astrobotic, where he led engineering for lunar landers and spacecraft systems developed for NASA missions. He holds an MS from Carnegie Mellon University and has spent his career building perception, control, and autonomy systems across self-driving vehicles, robotics, and space exploration.Topics * How Bedrock Robotics combines deep Embodied AI with safety for real-world autonomy * Lessons from Waymo on perception at scale in autonomous trucking * Designing robotics systems for industrial automation and logistics #Autonomy [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/autonomy] #EmbodiedAI [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/embodiedai] #SelfDrivingCars [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/selfdrivingcars] #SpaceTech [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/spacetech] #DeepTech [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/deeptech]

Rasmus Holst, Zensai CEO on Human Success Operating Model

Rasmus Holst is the CEO of Zensai, the Human Success platform helping organizations improve learning, performance, and employee engagement in the age of AI. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~This episode is brought to you by Nebius — the ultimate cloud for AI innovators.Nebius provides AI infrastructure you can count on, combining reliability and speed with flexibility and engineering support unmatched by hyperscalers.AI leaders like Meta, Shopify, and Higgsfield already partner with Nebius to run their AI workloads. Plus, venture-backed startups can save up to $150,000 on compute costs when they apply for access. Visit nebius.com or nebius.com/startups to learn more~~~~~~~~~~~~~Since becoming CEO in 2022, he has led the company's transformation from LMS365 into Zensai, growing revenue from roughly $14 million ARR to more than $30 million, completing multiple acquisitions, launching the Human Success category, and scaling the business toward the $100 million milestone. Prior to Zensai, Rasmus served as CRO at Wire, where he led the company's enterprise go-to-market expansion from zero to hundreds of customers, and previously held COO, GM, strategy, and product leadership roles across Huddle, Syniverse, MACH, and Oracle. Over a global career spanning Europe and the United States, he has helped build and scale technology businesses across SaaS, communications, enterprise software, and workforce technology.Topics * How Zensai Human Success replaces traditional HR with learning and performance at AI scale * Scaling Zensai from 14 million to 30 million ARR through three acquisitions and category creation * Leadership lessons from operating across countries and Silicon Valley #Leadership [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/leadership] #FutureOfWork [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/futureofwork] #HumanSuccess [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/humansuccess] #Startups [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/startups] #EnterpriseSoftware [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/enterprisesoftware]

Ben Cera, Polsia Founder on Autonomous AI Companies

Ben Cera is the Founder of Polsia, an autonomous AI platform designed to run companies around the clock by planning, building, and promoting products with minimal human involvement. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~This episode is brought to you by Nebius — the ultimate cloud for AI innovators.Nebius provides AI infrastructure you can count on, combining reliability and speed with flexibility and engineering support unmatched by hyperscalers.AI leaders like Meta, Shopify, and Higgsfield already partner with Nebius to run their AI workloads. Plus, venture-backed startups can save up to $150,000 on compute costs when they apply for access. Visit nebius.com or nebius.com/startups to learn more~~~~~~~~~~~~~Before Polsia, he was Employee #2 at CloudKitchens, where he co-founded Future Foods alongside Travis Kalanick and helped scale the business across product, operations, strategy, and market expansion. Earlier, Ben co-founded Hutch, a venture-backed 3D rendering and interior design startup backed by Founders Fund and Zillow, and founded multiple consumer technology companies spanning social, location, and mobile products. With a background that spans entrepreneurship, engineering, product development, and quantitative finance, Ben is focused on pushing the boundaries of autonomous AI systems capable of building and operating businesses at scale.Topics * How Polsia runs 8700+ plus companies autonomously with one founder and zero employees * Lessons from scaling Future Foods at CloudKitchens with Travis Kalanick * From Hutch 17 million raised to AI agents: 20 year founder journey to autonomous companies #Startups [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/startups] #Automation [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/automation] #Entrepreneurship [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/entrepreneurship] #FutureOfWork [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/futureofwork] #SaaS [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/saas]