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Artificial intelligence

Diligent Robotics Bolsters Leadership with Former Cruise Executives

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Diligent Robotics, a pioneering company in socially-intelligent AI-native humanoid robots, has announced the addition of two former Cruise executives to its leadership team. Rashed Haq, former VP of AI and Robotics at Cruise, joins as Chief Technology Officer (CTO), while Todd Brugger, former COO of Cruise, assumes the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO). Both executives bring expertise in deploying production AI at scale and scaling commercial go-to-market expertise in autonomous vehicles and AI. They will play a crucial role in fueling the company's growth as it expands beyond its initial application in U.S. hospital logistics.

Key Takeaways:

  • Rashed Haq, former VP of AI and Robotics at Cruise, joins Diligent Robotics as Chief Technology Officer (CTO), bringing expertise in building autonomy for self-driving vehicles and scaling AI at scale.
  • Todd Brugger, former COO of Cruise, joins as Chief Operating Officer (COO), focusing on delivering and scaling the full lifecycle of the business, from building and deploying robots to commercial strategy.
  • Diligent Robotics' flagship humanoid robot, Moxi, has been deployed in over 30 hospitals across the U.S., achieving over one million deliveries and saving hospital staff nearly 600,000 hours.
  • The company has adopted by major U.S. hospitals and healthcare systems, including Providence Health and Cedars-Sinai.
  • Rashed Haq believes that Diligent's traction in critical environments like hospitals is a clear proof point for product-market fit, while Todd Brugger sees the company's focus on execution over R&D as a key differentiator.
  • The company's tech stack draws on core technologies like multi-modal perception, predicting human behaviors, real-time planning under uncertainty, and more, making it a next frontier in autonomy.

Statistics:

  • Vehicles driven by Cruise: over 5 million miles (fully driverless, 5+ cities)
  • Cars on the road operated by Cruise: over 500+
  • Hospitals deploying Diligent Robotics' Moxi: over 30
  • Deliveries made by Moxi: over 1 million
  • Time saved by hospital staff: nearly 600,000 hours

Sources:

  • Source 1: Diligent Robotics news release
  • Source 2: Andrea Thomaz, CEO and Co-Founder of Diligent Robotics interview

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