Boston Dynamics’ Robert Playter is stepping down as CEO after six years in the role and more than 30 years with the company, according to a staff memo he sent to employees on Tuesday.
Playter’s last day will be February 27, the memo said. Amanda McMaster, Boston Dynamics’ chief financial officer, will serve as interim CEO, while the company board searches for its next chief executive, Playter wrote.
In a statement to Business Insider, Boston Dynamics said Playter had guided the company from its early days of “hopping robots” to Spot, the quadruped robot.
“He transformed Boston Dynamics from a small research and development lab into a successful business that now proudly calls itself the global leader in mobile robotics,” the company said in the statement. “He will be sorely missed, but we hope he enjoys some well-deserved time off. Thanks, Rob.”
A spokesperson for Boston Dynamics said Playter will not play any advisory role and will be spending time off with his friends and family.
Playter’s retirement comes on the heels of Boston Dynamics’ unveiling of Atlas, a six-foot-tall humanoid robot, and in the midst of a global humanoid robot race.
Atlas has been advertised as the factory worker of the future. Hyundai, which owns a majority stake in Boston Dynamics, said it expected the robot to hit the factory floor by 2028, starting with simpler tasks.
“We’ve been doing this for a long time. But for us to be approaching a point where we’re really thinking about commercializing the humanoid, I don’t know that we expected that years ago,” Playter told Business Insider at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Playter first joined Boston Dynamics in 1994, shortly after pursuing a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
During his tenure, Playter saw the robotics startup change multiple hands. The company was first acquired by Google, then SoftBank, and most recently by Hyundai Motor Group.
Playter told Business Insider he was overseeing a team of nearly 1,100 people.
Read the memo Playter sent to staff on Tuesday:
Team, For more than 30 years, I have dedicated my life to building the world’s best robots alongside the world’s best team, and I could not be prouder of the company we have built together. Today I’m making the incredibly difficult decision to step down as CEO of Boston Dynamics. Amanda McMaster will serve as interim CEO, and our Board of Directors will be leading a search to find the company’s next leader. We will host an all-employee meeting later this week to celebrate our success and make the transition official. My last day with the company will be Feb. 27. I accepted the position of CEO in the fall of 2019 as the company stood at an inflection point. Our challenge was clear: transition from an innovation lab to a sustainable, scalable business while retaining the exceptional talent and culture that made our breakthroughs possible. I’m proud to say that we have navigated these changes well, culminating in the remarkable year we just experienced. We’ve achieved meaningful commercial milestones with Spot and Stretch, re-established Atlas’ leadership in a rapidly emerging industry and deepened our strategic partnership with Hyundai and Google DeepMind. Our success hinges on the same principle that guided this transition: we are building for the long term. The robotics market is at an early stage, and companies that combine technical excellence, commercial discipline, and patient capital are best positioned to capture what comes next. Boston Dynamics has all three. The company is in a strong position, poised for the next stage of growth. A new CEO will bring the experience and energy required for this next phase. Our existing leadership team is strong, capable, and united. They know what this business needs to achieve as we prepare to produce robots at mass scale, and I have full confidence that Amanda and the team will guide Boston Dynamics through this transition phase without missing a beat. Boston Dynamics has been the ride of a lifetime. What this place has become has exceeded anything I could have ever imagined all those years ago in our funky lab in the basement of the MIT Media Lab. We have created something truly special here, showing that greatness comes from talent, commitment and teamwork rather than superstar status. Many of you have heard me say that whether in sports or in business, all of my most rewarding experiences have come as a teammate. Leading this team has been the honor of my life. Thank you, Rob
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