Founder Spotlight Interview With Nicolaus Radford, CEO and Co-Founder of Persona AI
In this exclusive interview for Eqvista, Nicolaus Radford, co-founder and CEO of Persona AI, shares his perspective on shaping the future of humanoid robotics in industry. With an extensive background in robotics and notable leadership at NASA and Nauticus Robotics, Nicolaus focuses on bringing advanced humanoid robots out of the lab and into real-world industrial environments.
Nicolaus’s insights highlight the shift from theoretical promise to practical application as he guides Persona AI to address real labor challenges, leveraging both technical expertise and firsthand experience to advance the role of robots within the workforce.
Hello Nicolaus, Welcome to Founder Spotlight! You have an extensive background in robotics, including leadership roles at NASA and Nauticus Robotics. How did your experiences at NASA shape your vision for Persona AI?
Thank you. I’m glad to be here. At Persona, we’re developing something that not too long ago felt like pure science fiction: humanoid robots that can actually get to work with real commercial benefit for real industry application. This isn’t our first time pushing boundaries. Our engineers have experience deploying humanoid robots in space and under the sea, only this time, the frontier is a little closer to home. For us, the theme is the same, to deploy robots to solve real problems in tough places.
Persona AI aims to commercialize humanoid robots for industrial labor. What are the key technological breakthroughs that make this the right time for humanoid robotics?
We’re standing at the intersection of a few powerful trends: Compute is cheaper than ever; computer vision is essentially solved; and actuation and control combined with the latest in reinforcement learning is affording robots unprecedented humanlike motion. Add in large foundational models, better simulation, and a global labor crunch, and it’s no longer science fiction, it’s go time. We also benefit from some key intellectual property, including a robotic hand developed during my time at NASA. It’s still one of the most advanced in the world and gives us a serious edge as we bring humanoids into real-world environments. The promise of what humanoids could deliver has been hyped for decades, but the tech stack is finally ready to deliver.
In your view, how can humanoid robots best complement human workers rather than simply replace them?
Our goal isn’t to replace people, it’s to elevate their potential. That means putting robots where humans shouldn’t have to be. You’ve heard of the 3Ds – the dull, the dirty, and the dangerous, but we think there’s a 4th D – the declining. If we can fill the jobs nobody wants and take over the tasks that are unsafe, people can focus on what they do best. The creative, human stuff. The idea isn’t subtraction. It’s support.
Could you describe the types of industrial tasks and environments where you see Persona’s humanoids having the greatest impact?
We are targeting infrastructure and energy first. These sectors face steep labor challenges, and often the gnarliest environments. It is the Welding, grinding, painting, inspection, logistics, and general operations in shipyards, factories, refineries, plants, and construction sites we are targeting for our system. Brown fields that aren’t easily designed for traditional automation is where we think we’ll see a significant uptake of humanoid labor.
Beyond industrial labor, are there other applications or sectors where you believe Persona AI’s technology could be transformative?
It’s wide open. Eventually every industry will see a major change, but we are being intentional about our focus. If you try to do everything, you risk doing nothing well. The good news is our core architecture is built to expand. We’re planting a flag now, but the map gets a lot bigger.
What are the ethical considerations and societal impacts you think robotics leaders should prioritize as humanoid robots become more prevalent
Transparency is critical. People deserve to know what robots are capable of, what data they process, and what the rules are. If robots are going to participate in labor, we have to think carefully about who and what benefits. This is a once-in-a-century shift. We need to get it right.
Can you share your perspective on the convergence of AI, robotics, and automation in creating more resilient and versatile labor solutions?
The world is feeling pretty brittle right now. Supply chains, labor pools, and industrial systems are all under pressure. By pairing AI with the physical form, you get a system that can actually do something when a problem hits. Human-robot teams are the kind of resilience that is going to matter more and more.
What are the biggest technical challenges Persona AI faces in building robust, reprogrammable humanoid robots capable of real-time reasoning and action?
Oh, there’s a long list. Dynamic locomotion over rough terrain, dexterous hands with force feedback, battery life that lasts more than a lunch break, and robots that don’t weird people out. These are hard problems, but they’re not unsolvable. It comes down to integrating the pieces and iterating fast. What gives me confidence is that we’re a team that has real experience commercializing technologies and those lessons give us a unique view of how to go about this.
Persona AI recently closed a pre-seed round raising $27 million. What factors do you think contributed most to attracting such strong investor interest at this early stage?
It was actually closer to $30 Million! Two words: Credibility and timing. Our team has built, shipped, and deployed serious machines previously and our investors appreciated that. But more broadly, the market is waking up. The question isn’t ‘why a humanoid?’ anymore, the questions are now ‘how soon, how many, and who’s going to pull it off?’
What is your long-term vision for humanoid robotics in industry and society?
We want to build the most useful and capable humanoid robot worker in the world. That starts with getting one humanoid safely and effectively deployed in a real industrial job. Over time, it scales. Our long game is a future where humanoids are just part of the workforce, shoulder to shoulder with humans, helping us build, maintain, and safeguard the infrastructure of modern life.
How do you see the role of humanoid robots evolving over the next decade?
In the near term, humanoids will be specialists, deployed in specific, well-scoped tasks. As hardware improves and AI gets better, they will become more general. It’ll look a lot like the early days of computing. At first, you needed a PhD just to run a program. Now you carry one in your pocket. I think humanoids will follow that arc, but it starts with solving real-world problems today.
