Rivian's Mind Robotics Hires Doug Field as President

Doug Field, the engineer who led Tesla’s Model 3 program and later Ford’s EV division, has been appointed president of Mind Robotics, an industrial robotics startup spun out of Rivian.

What Happened

Mind Robotics, launched by Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe, announced that Field will oversee product, engineering, and operations. The hire comes as the startup has raised more than $1 billion in under a year, including a $115 million seed round, a $500 million Series A, and a $400 million round led by Kleiner Perkins that reportedly valued the company at $3.4 billion. Field previously served as Tesla’s SVP of Engineering during the Model 3 launch and spent nearly five years at Ford as chief EV, digital and design officer before leaving in April.

Why It Matters

Field’s appointment places Mind Robotics in direct competition with Tesla’s Optimus program, which has faced delays and production challenges. While Tesla has publicly struggled to deploy Optimus robots for useful work, Mind Robotics is taking a quieter approach by leveraging Rivian as both a major shareholder and launch customer. This gives the startup access to Rivian’s Normal, Illinois plant—where the R2 is ramping up and Q3 deliveries hit 19,248 vehicles—for collecting training data and deploying robots in a live manufacturing environment. Field’s background in hardware industrialization is critical for transitioning robotic systems from lab prototypes to reliable factory floor operations.

The Bottom Line

Rivian has secured a heavyweight engineering leader to steer Mind Robotics, signaling a serious commitment to industrial automation backed by significant capital and a ready-made testing ground at Rivian’s manufacturing facilities.