headhunting firm for Robotics & AI
headhunting firm for Robotics & AI
Robotics
and AI talent
from the deep
We work globally across software, embedded, mechatronics, research, and manufacturing
Operating at the intersection of hard-to-define roles and below-the-radar candidates, we assist deep-tech teams building robots and autonomy systems – from Seed to Series D
Primary Focus
Leadership
(C-level & VP)
CEO / COO (early-stage ops & scale)
CTO / VP Engineering (org design, delivery)
Chief Scientist / Head of AI (model strategy)
VP / Head of Robot Learning (VLA, embodied AI)
VP / Head of Autonomy (planning, behaviors)
VP / Head of Hardware Engineering (ME, EE, actuators)
VP / Head of Manufacturing & Supply Chain (NPI, sourcing)
Head of Data Operations & Teleoperation (data quality)
Head / Director of Product (robotics)
Head / Director of Program / TPM (robotics)
Technical
(IC → Principal)
Foundation Models / VLA Research (embodied AI)
Reinforcement & Imitation Learning (sim-to-real)
Manipulation & Locomotion (whole-body)
Perception / Computer Vision / SLAM (sensor fusion)
Motion Planning, Controls & Autonomy (learned + classical)
Simulation & Sim-to-Real (Isaac Sim, MuJoCo)
Robot Platform, Middleware & Embedded (ROS 2, RTOS)
ML Infrastructure & Robot Data Platform (data pipelines)
Teleoperation & Data Collection (demo data)
Mechatronics / EE / Actuators / Sensors
Answer to life, universe,
and your hiring funnel
10
days to speak with qualified candidates
76%
of our searches close on the first 3 candidates
93%
of candidates placed by us weren’t actively looking for work
Anna Minets
Human in the loop Founder
/ System specs
“I built White Whale to redefine recruiting as precision matchmaking. On every search, we go in with an operator mindset, working from first principles to define what business problem the role needs to solve."
As chro grew a team from 47 to 720 people
Scaled 2 startups from zero to ipo
Built teams across 16 countries
Signals from the field
“Let us scale from 60 to 500. Insights were strategic and practical”
read more
Ilya Shmidt
Founder/Head of Operations
Ten 8 AI
During rapid growth, Anna helped shape HR and recruiting strategy that let us scale from 60 to 500. Her insights were strategic and practical. She worked closely with the team through fast-paced change — keeping us organized and high-performing. Outstanding professional with lasting impact.
“Let us scale from 60 to 500. Insights were strategic and practical”
read more
Ilya Shmidt
Founder/Head of Operations
Ten 8 AI
During rapid growth, Anna helped shape HR and recruiting strategy that let us scale from 60 to 500. Her insights were strategic and practical. She worked closely with the team through fast-paced change — keeping us organized and high-performing. Outstanding professional with lasting impact.
“Let us scale from 60 to 500. Insights were strategic and practical”
read more
Ilya Shmidt
Founder/Head of Operations
Ten 8 AI
During rapid growth, Anna helped shape HR and recruiting strategy that let us scale from 60 to 500. Her insights were strategic and practical. She worked closely with the team through fast-paced change — keeping us organized and high-performing. Outstanding professional with lasting impact.
1/ DECODE THE FOUNDER
Localize on your ground truth: vision, technical bar, team signal
2/ DEBUG THE ROLE
Strip the overspec'd JD to its real critical path and bottleneck
3/ ENGINEER TO CLOSE
Closed-loop control: motivation, roadmap, convergence
Three laws
of robotics
hiring
