Autonomous mobile robots: Five takeaways from a conversation with Saurabh Chandra at Ati Motors
Notes from conversations with entrepreneurs, investors, industry leaders, and other stakeholders building India's deep tech and climate tech ecosystems
In this week’s episode of In Conversation, Saurabh Chandra, co-founder and CEO of Ati Motors in Bengaluru, talks about how autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) are set to completely change factories, warehouses and an increasing number of other environments.
Backed by investors including MFV Partners, Exfinity Ventures, NGP Capital and Blume Ventures, Ati is shipping its AMRs to some of the biggest manufacturing names in India, Southeast Asia and the US.
Chandra talks about Ati’s own family of robots, named Sherpa, some early engineering decisions that have stood the company in good stead, and how Ati can go from shipping hundreds of robots to thousands, and more. We also briefly touched upon lessons from building a deep tech robotics company out of India.
Here are my five top takeaways from the conversation.
“Don’t take even a screw for granted. This is really one of the places where for want of a nail, the kingdom can be lost.”
Early engineering decision to avoid teleoperation from the start
Ati Motors made a deliberate early engineering choice to design its robots for full autonomy without any dependency on a teleoperator — a person remotely controlling or assisting the robot during exceptions or tough situations. While it was initially tempting to include teleoperation as a safety net for handling edge cases, the engineering team argued that this would become a crutch, making it harder to ever achieve true, robust autonomy.
This decision led to a longer initial development phase, as the team had to ensure the robots could handle all real-world scenarios independently. However, this approach ultimately paid off by forcing the team to build a more reliable and resilient system, setting Ati Motors apart.
Ati’s full-stack approach: comprehensive in-house development and integration
Ati’s full-stack approach means the company develops every critical aspect of its AMRs in-house — from navigation and localization algorithms to vehicle design, perception modules, and fleet management software, although some individual specialized components such as sensors aren’t made in India and have to be imported.
By owning the tech stack, Ati ensures its robots are purpose-built for challenging factory conditions, can be quickly adapted to new customer needs, and deliver robust, reliable performance with little dependence on external infrastructure or third-party systems.
Lessons from building Ati out of Bengaluru and India
A key lesson from building Ati Motors out of Bangalore and India is the tremendous advantage of tapping the city’s multidisciplinary talent pool and its robust, under-appreciated manufacturing ecosystem – well before the city came to be known for its IT services prowess.
Chandra highlights that Bengaluru offers access to both technical expertise and a strong base of manufacturing customers, enabling rapid product iteration and real-world feedback that even locations like California cannot match.
The rich local supply chains from India’s electric vehicle (EV) industry provide unique cost and innovation benefits, as Ati can co-develop and customize key components with local partners — an advantage rare outside of a few global markets.
Top priority: scale from shipping hundreds of robots to thousands
One of Ati’s top priorities today is to scale its operations so it can meet the growing demand for its robots and move from shipping hundreds of units to thousands.
This means accelerating deployment, expanding manufacturing capacity, and streamlining processes to handle much higher volumes efficiently. The company is also focused on improving tooling and support for its partners, enabling them to deploy and manage robots more independently, which is essential for rapid global expansion and for reaching new customers across North America, Southeast Asia, and potentially Europe and Japan.
By prioritising scalable operations and robust partner enablement, Ati aims to solidify its leadership in industrial automation and make its robotic solutions accessible to a far broader range of businesses worldwide.
Chandra’s advice to aspiring deep tech entrepreneurs in India
Aspiring deep tech entrepreneurs, especially in the hardware space in India, should be prepared for the immense complexity and challenges involved, Chandra says. For example, how does one crack the issue of quality and efficiency at the same time at low production volumes.
He notes that hardware ventures require a wide range of expertise and that, at early stages, both founders and vendors may lack experience, making it harder to achieve desired outcomes.
Chandra cautions against underestimating any detail — even the smallest component can be critical to success. He suggests that, while it is important to be ambitious, entrepreneurs should also recognize the value of getting specific parts right.
“Don’t take even a screw for granted,” he says. “This is really one of the places where for want of a nail, the kingdom can be lost.”
In Conversation
In-depth conversations with entrepreneurs, investors, industry leaders, and other stakeholders building India’s deep tech and climate tech ecosystems.
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