Vecna Appoints AI Luminary Daniela Rus as Director

Vecna Robotics today announced the appointment of Daniela Rus to its board of directors. Rus is currently the director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She also serves on the board of MassRobotics alongside Vecna Robotics’ CEO, Daniel Theobald.

Vecna Robotics has invested more into its AI strategy, software products and future during the last year. The company recently appointed Denis Lussault to oversee its autonomy division. The company has also steadily improved the capabilities of its AI orchestration engine Pivotal™, which integrates with existing warehouse management systems to maximize human and robot collaboration and increase productivity.

The addition of Rus to the Vecna board of directors is a signal that Vecna desires to become an AI leader and innovator in the autonomous mobile robot market. From her various roles in both industry and academia, Rus is able to track the evolution of AI as a technology. Her influence on the future of Vecna will directly impact the pace of their innovation. Vecna CEO Daniel Theobald works closely with regional organizations like MassRobotics to promote and celebrate the north-east region.

“We share Daniela’s vision that machines provide invaluable support to human workers,” said Daniel Theobald, founder and CEO, Vecna Robotics. “Her distinguished background in robotics and AI will be instrumental to our leadership team as we continue to deliver on our software vision and scale to meet the massive opportunity to serve our customers.”

Rus holds a doctorate in computer science from Cornell University and is a fellow of ACM, AAAI and IEEE. In 2017, she received the Engelberger Robotics Award from the Robotics Industries Association and was included in the Forbes “Incredible Women Advancing AI Research” list. In April 2020, the White House selected Rus to serve on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), a council that provides advice on topics critical to U.S. security and the economy, including policy recommendations on the future of work, American leadership in science and technology, and the support of U.S. research and development.