From Carnegie Mellon to Berkshire Grey

When I first joined Carnegie Mellon in 1982, a mentor (Allen Newell) said that he had simplified his intellectual life by avoiding entanglements with industry. I found that idea appealing, and followed that model for over 30 years. It wasn’t too difficult, because of my innate skepticism toward most visions of the next commercial robotics revolution. That all changed in the course of a two-hour meeting with Tom Wagner, when he laid out his vision of a robotic transformation of materials handling, and a company (Berkshire Grey) that could make it happen. Berkshire Grey emerged from stealth mode several months ago, so that I can now talk about Wagner’s vision, Berkshire Grey’s accomplishments, and the interaction of academia and industry.