Ep 64 | Degrees and Job Doesn't Matter - What Matters Is Being True (w/ Haixuan Xavier Tao)
I talked to Haixuan Xavier Tao, founder of 1ms.ai and maintainer of Dora-rs, a Rust framework linking AI and robotics for modular, cloud-first systems.Haixuan shares his personal journey growing up in a Chinese immigrant family in France, the sense of duty that shaped his career path, and how he went from BCG and BNP Paribas to writing Rust for fun. We talk about his father's entrepreneurial story, why he walked away from corporate prestige, and how open-source became his outlet to give back.Also, we get into the limits of current LLMs in robotics, why cloud infrastructure is key for future robot-AI systems, and how Dora is building bridges between hardware-heavy China and software-driven Europe... without VC funding and without ego.Inspiring and refreshingly honest. Give it a listen!
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Ep 63 | At the Start, Fundamental Knowledge Matters Most (w/ Dmitrii Rudnitckii)
In Episode #63, I talk with Dmitrii Rudnitckii, VP and former CTO at Humanoid, with 25+ years in automation, encryption, computer vision, and robotics:We cover his journey from automating ships in the late 90s to building autonomous factories and now leading one of the most ambitious humanoid robot projects in the UK.Dmitrii shares insights about studying computer science in Russia, the importance of deep fundamentals over quick wins, the challenges of moving into leadership, and why soft skills are harder to learn than coding.We also talk about Humanoid’s mission, their wheel-based and legged robot models, and the pragmatic road to commercialisation.We went deep into deep tech, from early system design to what founders often miss when scaling robotics companies. I learned a lot. You might too.
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Ep 62 | Physical AI Has a Data Problem (w/ Pedro Milcent)
Episode #62 of Building Deep Tech!With Pedro Milcent, Co-Founder of Deplace AI; data collection & curation for robotics and physical AI:In this episode, I chat with Pedro Milcent, a French-Brazilian founder building something new in the world of robotics and AI. Pedro’s story starts unconventionally, as he finished high school at 14, went straight to law school, then pivoted to business, earning a full-ride scholarship to USC before diving into the startup world.Pedro’s first startup, Payby, tackled payments in Brazilian restaurants. Now, he’s co-founded Deplace AI, a company solving one of the hardest problems in robotics: large-scale, low-cost data collection for physical AI. Think human demonstrations, imitation grippers, motion capture, and making it all accessible.We talk about building a team with deep expertise, landing their first client just months in, and what Pedro sees coming next for physical AI in Europe and beyond. He’s got bold views and clear insights, hope you enjoy the episode as much as I did recording it.
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Ep 61 | Bad feedback is the most important feedback (w/ Nicolas Rabault)
In this episode, I talk with Nicolas Rabault, former CTO and Co-Founder of Pollen Robotics, recently acquired by Hugging Face:Nicolas had a rocky start. He struggled in school and took an unconventional path into engineering, driven by a deep obsession with hacking, building, and making things move.He shares the story behind Pollen: how a small research team in Bordeaux built one of the most beloved open-source robotics platforms, and why openness and modularity were at the core of their vision.After Pollen, Nicolas founded Luos, an open-source framework that makes hardware as agile as software. Though technically powerful, Luos struggled to find a business model, and we explore what he learned from that experience, and why he's now working on a stealth-mode startup building an AI-driven industrial robot ecosystem.This conversation is packed with insight for founders, engineers, and anyone who cares about open systems, deep tech, and what it takes to build (and rebuild) in robotics.
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Ep 60 | Once You Know What You Want to Do, Life Gets Easier (w/ Eris Sako)
In this episode, I talk with Eris Dhionis Sako, Co-Founder & CEO of Duatic AG, a robotics startup based in Zurich:Eris shares his journey from growing up in Albania and studying in Greece, to becoming a leading robotics engineer at ETH Zurich.Over the past 8+ years, he’s designed actuators, robotic arms, and more at the Robotic Systems Lab. Now, he’s taking that experience into entrepreneurship with Duatic, helping teams worldwide build better robots.We talked about his early days, what shaped him, who inspired him, and the mindset behind hardware startups. (And what’s next as he gears up for Automatica25 in Munich 🤫)It’s a founder story full of grit, sharp insights, and a real love for building things that move!
Deep Tech Founders Podcast!
We'll talk with founders and innovators about their journey into deep tech, their work, and what they've learned along the way.
I work for a robotic software company with a background in mechanical & aerospace engineering, but this is a people's podcast. If you know about robotics, great, if you don't, just as good, lay back and enjoy listening!
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