Prasad Akella

Dr. Prasad Akella is an engineer, executive, and entrepreneur. Building on the core belief that technology has to empower people—not replace them as has been the orthodoxy for maximizing productivity since Frederick Taylor—he has created billion dollar markets by envisioning and commercializing deep tech products in three very different areas: robotics (cobots as lead @ General Motors), business social networks (as co-founder & VP @ Spoke), and computer vision/AI/video analytics (as founder, CEO & chairman @ Drishti).

Prasad has been a founder, CEO, and executive at large companies (GM, SAP, TR) and small, and has served on the boards of Optessa (acquired by Eyelit/Banneker) and Drishti (acquired by Apple) and as an advisor to Invest India, Govt. of India. Today, Dr. Akella serves as an advisor to robotics, additive manufacturing, computer vision, and AI companies and is an operating partner at ReX Capital.

Dr. Akella and his work have been recognized with a number of awards over the years including the IEEE/International Federation of Robotics’ Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Robotics and Automation (IERA) Award, National Association of Manufacturers’ Manufacturing Leadership Award, CBInsights’ AI100 List, Forbes’s AI50 List, World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneer, GM’s “Boss” Kettering Award, ASME’s Best Paper Award, IEEE’s Anton Philips Award, 4 National Science Foundation grants and IIT’s HAL Award. He holds 15 US patents in social networks, brand fraud detection, AI/computer vision/video, and manufacturing.

Prasad is a Fellow of the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) and of the SME (Society of Manufacturing Engineers). He holds a PhD in Robotics from Stanford University (Edgar Meakin Fellow), an MBA from the University of Michigan’s Ross Business School (High Distinction, Beta Gamma Sigma), and a BS from the Indian Institute of Technology (HAL Award).

News

Prasad's work has been featured in...