In this episode of Becoming Radical, Michael Gaizutis chats with David Mindell, a technologist, historian, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Humatics. David’s career has taken him from deep-sea robotics to MIT research and groundbreaking industrial innovation, and he’s got some fascinating insights on how precision navigation, human–robot collaboration, and bold investment choices are shaping the future of work.
David takes us through some incredible stories, from exploring the Titanic with underwater robots to launching Humatics and his new venture firm, Unless. During the conversation, he shares the real challenges and opportunities of scaling robotics and AI in the industrial world. He talks about why autonomy isn’t the silver bullet everyone thinks it is, why collaboration matters more than ever, and why young founders should focus less on flashy products and more on process innovations that actually change how society works.
They also dive into why industrial tech adoption lags behind software, why “maintenance and repair” is surprisingly full of innovation potential, and what it really means to build ethical, human-centered AI and robotics that empower rather than replace people.
If you’re a technologist, founder, or leader trying to navigate the next industrial revolution, this episode will challenge the way you think about innovation and show why it’s industry, not just apps, that’s going to define the future.
Key Takeaways
-Autonomy is a myth: successful robots always collaborate with people and infrastructure.
-Manufacturing and industrial work are powerful drivers of social change.
-Process innovation is just as transformative as product innovation, often more so.
In This Episode
[00:26] Introduction David Mindell
[01:08] Humatics and spatial intelligence
[06:05] Origins and inspiration for Humatics
[11:17] Rethinking autonomy and human-machine teaming
[13:15] Real-world constraints and Waymo example
[14:26] Collaborative robotics in industry
[30:22] Process innovation vs. product innovation
[31:34] Advice for young technologists
[32:23] Manufacturing as social change
[33:14] Where to find David Mindell and closing
Our Guest
David Mindell is a technologist, historian, entrepreneur, and professor at MIT. He is co-founder and chairman of Humatics, a pioneer in high-precision navigation systems for robots and industrial environments, and co-founder of Unless, a venture firm investing in companies transforming U.S. industry. His latest book, The New Lunar Society, explores how industry, ethics, and innovation intersect to shape the next industrial revolution.
Notable Quotes
[03:34] “Less than 1% of venture capital in this country goes into industrial companies... we're all in a place where actually both parties in Washington agree we need to revitalize US Industry for a number of different reasons.” — David Mindell
[04:10] “We're not going to address climate change without making a whole lot of new stuff. And we need to, you know, reinvest in the systems that we have.” — David Mindell
[11:50] “Every robot is made by people, right? So there's human intention built into the architecture, built into the software, built into which sensors are chosen depending on the task and the environment.” — David Mindell
[14:32] “How do we not think about robots as replacements for workers, but think of them as complements to workers?” — David Mindell
[24:02 “The statistics are that when founders step aside voluntarily, the companies overall do much better than when the founders are forced out.” — David Mindell
[27:44] “I'm prepared for the idea that there is a moment when all of a sudden it'll seem like robots start popping up everywhere. Like we'll cross some usability threshold and then it'll kind of break free.” — David Mindell
[28:29] “I do hope that you see a much more kind of fluid collaboration of robots and human environments instead of the kind of awkward, clunky things we see today. But that's hard.” — David Mindell
[30:37] “We're very good in this country at product innovation. We've really dropped the ball on process innovation and that's really where the important stuff happens.”— David Mindell
Resources and Links
David Mindell
LinkedIn- / david-mindell-09025a23
Unless - https://www.unless.co/
Humatics - https://humatics.com/
Book: The New Lunar Society: An Enlightenment Guide to the Next Industrial Revolution - https://www.amazon.com/New-Lunar-Soci...
Michael Gaizutis
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mgaizutis...
Website - https://rno1.com/
Becoming Radical
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/beco...
Instagram - / becomingradical
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...
Twitter -https://x.com/BecomingRad
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