# Persona AI developing industrial humanoid

- Show: [The Robot Report Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast)
- Published: 2025-05-30
- Length: 1h 33m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2025-05-30-persona-ai-developing-industrial-humanoid
- Listen: https://soundcloud.com/robot-report-podcast/persona-ai-developing-industrial-humanoid

## Summary

Nick Radford, CEO and co-founder of Persona AI, discusses his new venture with Jerry Pratt to build industrial humanoids for heavy industry, leveraging their experience from NASA and Nauticus. The hosts analyze Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot's advanced perception and failure recovery capabilities, contrasting them with Unitree's controversial humanoid boxing demos and Ubtech's ambitious $20,000 home robot pricing. Radford explains Persona AI's focus on commercialization, specifically targeting welding in shipbuilding with HD Hyundai, and highlights the critical challenges of training data and economic viability in the nascent humanoid market.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2025-05-30-persona-ai-developing-industrial-humanoid#t=0) Introduction and Show Updates
- [2:45](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2025-05-30-persona-ai-developing-industrial-humanoid#t=165) Boston Dynamics Atlas Perception and Recovery
- [17:08](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2025-05-30-persona-ai-developing-industrial-humanoid#t=1028) Unitree Boxing Demos and Industry PR
- [29:17](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2025-05-30-persona-ai-developing-industrial-humanoid#t=1757) Ubtech $20,000 Home Robot Pricing
- [42:20](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2025-05-30-persona-ai-developing-industrial-humanoid#t=2540) Persona AI Founding and Market Timing
- [57:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2025-05-30-persona-ai-developing-industrial-humanoid#t=3425) Persona AI Product Strategy and HD Hyundai Partnership
- [1:05:27](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2025-05-30-persona-ai-developing-industrial-humanoid#t=3927) Training Data, ROI, and Commercialization Challenges
- [1:21:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2025-05-30-persona-ai-developing-industrial-humanoid#t=4915) Texas as a Robotics Hub and Conclusion

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Robotics & autonomy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/robotics-and-autonomy)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Manufacturing partners & offshoring](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/manufacturing-partners)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Persona AI (company)
- Boston Dynamics (company)
- Atlas (product)
- Unitree (company)
- Ubtech (company)
- HD Hyundai (company)
- NASA (company)
- Nauticus (company)
- General Motors (company)
- RoboGlove (product)
- SDP/SI (company)
- Figure (company)
- Jerry Pratt (other)
- Nick Radford (other)
- IHMC (company)
- DARPA Robotics Challenge (other)
- Unitree G1 (product)
- Reflex Robotics (company)
- Sanctuary AI (company)
- Booster Robotics (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Ep. 11: What’s Next for Humanoids? Lessons from Tokyo | The Robo Success Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robo-success-podcast/2026-06-23-ep-11-whats-next-for-humanoids-lessons-from-tokyo-the-robo-success-podcast) (The Robo Success Podcast)
- [264: Inside Automated: Asking the Right Questions about Robotics and AI with Brian Heater, Managing Editor at A3 and Host of the Automated Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-12-02-264-inside-automated-asking-the-right-questions-about-robotics-and-ai-with-brian) (Manufacturing Happy Hour)
- [203: Humanoid Robots: Industrial Applications, Safety, and Going Beyond the Hype to Solve Real Problems Featuring Agility Robotics' Melonee Wise](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2024-09-17-203-humanoid-robots-industrial-applications-safety-and-going-beyond-the-hype-to) (Manufacturing Happy Hour)
- [$2B for No Product, Robots Under $3K & Australia's Massive Miss](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/built-2-scale/2025-06-27-2b-for-no-product-robots-under-3k-australias-massive-miss) (Built 2 Scale)
- [The Elon vs Sam FEUD Explodes + GPT-5 First Look & Remote Construction Robots](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/built-2-scale/2025-08-14-the-elon-vs-sam-feud-explodes-gpt-5-first-look-remote-construction-robots) (Built 2 Scale)

## Citing this page

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