Jeff Cardenas

Jeff Cardenas is the co-founder and CEO of Apptronik, a human-centered robotics company building AI-powered humanoid robots to transform industries. A serial entrepreneur, he is dedicated to commercializing cutting-edge robotics and bringing humanoid technology into the real world. Jeff specializes in technology commercialization and product development. Before co-founding Apptronik in 2016 with Dr. Nick Paine and Dr. Luis Sentis, he worked at the Global Commercialization Group at UT Austin’s IC² Institute, where he helped innovators worldwide transition breakthrough research into market-ready solutions. Under Jeff’s leadership, Apptronik is creating the world’s most advanced and capable humanoid robots, designed to work alongside humans in meaningful and transformative ways. The company collaborates with global innovators like Google DeepMind, NVIDIA and Mercedes-Benz to advance humanoid robotics from research settings to practical, real-world applications. Jeff holds a BS in Business and an MS in Technology Commercialization from UT Austin. Passionate about entrepreneurship and tech-driven social impact, he believes robotics can address global challenges and improve lives.