Engineered FOR Resilience

A first-of-its-kind deep tech conference for ag robotics and the physical AI stack. For teams building rugged, field-ready systems that perform in real farm environments.

WHAT IS RUGGEDIZE

Watch 2026 Sessions

MOMENTS CAPTURED FROM RUGGEDIZE 2026

What is Ruggedize?

Where engineering meets the field

Ruggedize brings together the engineers, founders, and technical teams building robotics and AI systems that must survive the realities of active farmland.

This isn't a trade show for polished marketing demos. It's a technical gathering focused on the hard problems: dust, heat, vibration, biological variability, and the relentless demand for real ROI.

In our 1st year

0

Attendees

0

engineering the real world

Deep dives into the specific technical challenges of deploying physical AI in unstructured agriculture environments

Perception & sensing

Operation in dust, variable light , and biological noise that breaks conventional computer vision

Testing & validation

Simulation and validation methodologies tied directly to real-world field performance.

Autonomous operations

Continuous in-field operation without human intervention across unpredictable terrain.

Reliability & engineering

Failure modes, recovery protocols, and building systems that survive thousands of field hours.

System integration

Hardware, Software, and firmware working as one cohesive platform in the field

ROI-driven design

Serviceability, economics, and design decisions that make sense in real production environments.

2026 Speakers

ROBOTICS & PHYSICAL AI PRACTITIONERS

Industry leader, engineers, and founders pushing the boundaries of agricultural robotics.

Interested in Speaking at Ruggedize 2027?

Contact Us

Paige Bailey

AI Developer Relations Lead, Google DeepMind

Matthew Potter

Director, Engineering - Robotics & Mobility Technology, John Deere

Paul Mikesell

Founder & CEO, Carbon Robotics

Danny Bernstein

CEO, Reservoir

Jorge Heraud

CEO, TerraBlaster

Gabe Sibley

Founder & CEO, Verdant Robotics

Dr. Stavros Vougioukas

Professor, PhD , UC Davis

Ben Palone

Sr. Director of Automation & Commercialization, WGA

Tim Bucher

CEO, Agtonomy

Katherine Hecht

Forward Deployed Engineer, Google Cloud

Tyler Niday

Founder & CEO, Bonsai Robotics

John Macdonald

Head of AI, Bonsai Robotics

Ali Murtaza

Smart Machines and IoT Lead, AWS

Steven Mirsky

Director of Digital Agriculture, USDA

Bill Turechek

Vice President of Research, California Strawberry Commission

Dr. Bo Liu

Professor, Cal Poly

Charles Wu

Founder & CEO, Orchard AI

Colin Hurd

CEO, MACH

Les Karpas

Inception Global Head of Physical AI, NVIDIA

Nolan Paul

CEO, Yamaha Agriculture

Audience and Structure

The program includes concise opening remarks, dense technical sessions, and paired field demonstrations with extended Q&A. Every element is designed for practitioners building systems that must perform reliably and pencil economically in real agriculture.