Diligent Robotics is strengthening its leadership team as it prepares to scale its fleet of hospital and pharmacy-assisting humanoid robots.
The Austin-based startup announced Thursday that it has appointed Rashed Haq as CTO and Todd Brugger as COO—both formerly of Cruise, GM’s autonomous vehicle unit that shut down earlier this year. Haq led AI and robotics at Cruise, while Brugger served as COO.
CEO and co-founder Andrea Thomaz told TechCrunch the timing was right for the hires, as the company has deployed around 100 Moxi robots and is now shifting its focus to expansion.
Strategic Slowdown Paves the Way for Scalable Growth
“Over the past two to three years, we’ve intentionally grown at a slower pace to refine our operations and prepare for large-scale growth,” said Thomaz. “Now, we’re positioning ourselves to scale significantly by the end of this year and into next.”
Thomaz first connected with Haq and was impressed by his strong AI background and his hands-on experience applying advanced algorithms in real-world settings at Cruise.
During those early discussions, a mutual contact introduced her to Brugger. His track record of helping Cruise grow from zero to hundreds of vehicles made him a natural fit for Diligent’s next phase, she explained.
“Todd and Rashed were a great team at Cruise,” Thomaz said. “Things really began to fall into place. We needed someone to take the lead on operations, and Todd’s background was exactly what we were looking for. The timing couldn’t have been better.”
A Natural Next Step for Haq and Brugger
Both Haq and Brugger told TechCrunch that joining Diligent felt like a natural progression. The robotics company was already deploying technology similar to what they built at Cruise. Haq noted that autonomous vehicles are essentially mobile robots, just under a different label.
“Some companies generate what I call ‘vibe revenue’—initial interest that quickly fades,” Haq said. “But with Diligent, the robots are used daily and have become vital to their customers.” That makes the product stickier and more sustainable. There’s a lot that excites us about this company.
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Brugger shared that he was attracted to Diligent in part because it faced many of the same operational challenges and priorities as Cruise.
Familiar Operational Framework Draws Brugger to Diligent
“There’s a kind of priority structure—a pyramid—that we used, and I believe it applies here as well,” Brugger said. “At the foundation is safety, which is absolutely essential. From there, you focus on improving reliability. After that, you work on refining product-market fit, which often means expanding what the robots can do or how useful they are. That framework feels very familiar. The approach to deployments is also strikingly similar.”
Diligent was launched in 2017 by Thomaz and Vivian Chu. Its Moxi robots are now in use across more than 25 healthcare systems. The company has raised over $90 million in venture capital from investors such as Tiger Global, True Ventures, and Canaan Partners, among others.
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