Team

With nearly two decades of expertise in pioneering AI and autonomy algorithms across diverse robotic platforms, Dr. Ali Agha is leading Field AI's strategic vision and product development. Prior to Field AI, during his distinguished 7-year tenure at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Dr. Agha was Principal Investigator for some of the nation's most high-profile and cutting-edge projects in autonomy, including the DARPA Subterranean Challenge, DARPA RACER (Self-driving off-road cars), NASA’s Autonomous Mars Cave Exploration, and Coordinated Autonomy for Prototype Mars Helicopter-Rover. Dr. Agha led the CoSTAR team (JPL-MIT-Caltech-KAIST-LTU), which won the Urban phase of 2020 DARPA Challenge focused on exploring unknown complex urban environments. Prior to JPL, Dr. Agha was a researcher at MIT and Qualcomm, where he played a pivotal role in launching and establishing Qualcomm's Autonomy Division.

With over a decade of autonomous robotics and machine learning experience, Dr. Shayegan Omidshafiei is leading Field AI’s AI and Science efforts. His focus is building Field Foundation Models™ alongside broader cutting-edge AI/ML models that can adapt to unforeseen challenges in real-world deployment. Dr. Omidshafiei has a rare background that combines field robotics with the most cutting edge AI advancements. Prior to Field AI, he was a leading Research Scientist at Google and DeepMind for over 5 years, focused on training and evaluation of large-scale AI models, co-leading several major research efforts on single and multi-agent deep reinforcement learning and sequential decision-making. Dr. Omidshafiei earned his PhD and SM from MIT, where he originally met and worked closely with Dr. Agha for years, specializing in robotics and autonomous systems.

Dr. David Fan is leading innovation and cutting edge technology at Field AI. Dr. Fan has a long history in developing autonomous robotic systems. He was the chief technologist and chief engineer for several DARPA SubT Challenge and DARPA RACER programs; with a deep legacy in developing autonomous robotic systems, he is a leading authority and well-rounded technologist in bringing these technologies to the commercial sector. Prior to Field AI, Dr. Fan was with NIWC as a research engineer on autonomy and with NASA-JPL as a research fellow, where he worked closely with Dr. Agha for years. Dr. Fan earned his PhD from Georgia Tech, where he focused on marrying machine learning and classical techniques to enable safe and robust solutions to real-world robotics problems.

Sebastian Scherer is the Director of Fieldable Embodied AI at Field AI and Associate Research Professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute. A globally-renowned expert, his groundbreaking research has redefined what is possible in deployable AI, with a focus on creating safe, adaptive systems for embodied intelligence in uncertain and dynamic environments. Dr. Scherer’s pioneering research has driven major advancements in field robotics, from autonomous landing systems to obstacle avoidance and mobility, influencing both academic and industry standards. His groundbreaking work continues to shape the future of AI by enabling scalable, high-performance systems capable of safely navigating real-world challenges.

Dr. Eric Krotkov leads strategy and business development at Offroad Autonomy, Inc., a division of Field AI specializing in the federal sector. As former Chief Science Officer at Toyota Research Institute, DARPA Program Manager, and a professor at Carnegie Mellon, he has been a driving force in autonomous robotics for decades. Dr. Krotkov is renowned as the "grandfather" of the PackBot and Talon robots, a leader for the three DARPA Grand Challenges in mobility, and the Chief Judge for the DARPA Robotics Challenge.

Dr. Shehryar Khattak is a highly experienced robotics researcher specializing in autonomous systems and multi-robot coordination. At NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), he served as Principal Investigator for the Multi-robot Autonomous Intelligent Search and Rescue project, advancing robotics for disaster response. He was the perception lead for JPL’s team in the DARPA RACER project and for Team CERBERUS, winners of the prestigious DARPA Subterranean Challenge. As Senior Research Scientist at Field AI, his work focuses on enabling robots to navigate and collaborate in complex, uncertain environments, pushing the boundaries of autonomy for applications in search and rescue and planetary robotics.