Robotic Autonomy & Embodied AI Pioneer; CEO & Co-Founder of FieldAI; Former NASA JPL Principal Investigator
Ali Agha Biography
Dr. Ali Agha is a leader in robotic autonomy and embodied artificial intelligence. As co-founder and CEO of FieldAI, Agha oversees the development of advanced embodied AI and robotic autonomy technologies for complex, unstructured, and off-road environments. With nearly two decades of experience in autonomy projects, Agha has built a career at the intersection of artificial intelligence research and real-world deployment in the robotics industry.
Before founding FieldAI, Agha began his career as a researcher at Qualcomm Research, where he launched the company's efforts in robotic autonomy by developing the first autonomy architectures for autonomous drones. His academic background includes a doctorate in computer science and engineering with a focus on robotics from Texas A&M University and postdoctoral studies in robotics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He later joined NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where his work achieved national and international recognition.
During his seven-year tenure at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Agha served as principal investigator for high-profile projects in autonomy, including the DARPA Subterranean Challenge, DARPA RACER (self-driving off-road cars), NASA's Autonomous Mars Cave Exploration, and Coordinated Autonomy for Prototype Mars Helicopter-Rover. He led Team CoSTAR and the development of the NeBula autonomy solution, with his team placing first worldwide at the DARPA Challenge for autonomous urban-structure exploration using a team of legged, wheeled, and flying robots. Over his career, Agha has managed hundreds of millions in federal grants, industry, and institutional funding as both principal investigator and co-investigator.
FieldAI was founded by Ali Agha, Shayegan Omidshafiei (president and chief scientist), and David Fan (CTO), with the goal of bringing proven technology from extreme environments to commercial markets. FieldAI develops autonomous robots and embodied AI systems for industries such as construction, energy, mining, and logistics. Its Field Foundation Models incorporate context and safety awareness into unknown conditions, enabling robots to navigate dynamic and unpredictable environments without maps, GPS, or predefined trajectories. Agha has spoken at major industry events such as RoboBusiness, discussing how a physics-first foundation model for embodied intelligence addresses autonomy challenges. Unlike conventional vision or language models adapted for robotics, Field Foundation Models are designed specifically to handle uncertainty, risk, and the physical constraints of real-world environments.
Under Agha's leadership, FieldAI has become a globally recognized company in physical AI. FieldAI has been recognized by Fast Company as one of the Top 10 most innovative AI companies, alongside Google and Anthropic. FieldAI raised a $314 million Series A at a $2 billion valuation and has grown to over 180 employees across engineering, sales, and growth functions. Agha has developed a new class of foundation models for embodied intelligence that enable scalable, context-aware, and generalizable behavior in complex settings, and is recognized internationally for contributions to embodied intelligence, resilience in autonomy, and field-deployable robotic systems.
Contact a speaker booking agent to check availability on Ali Agha and other top speakers and celebrities.
-
How do I book Ali Agha to speak at my event?
Our experienced booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure speakers like Ali Agha for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment since 2002. Click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page to check availability for Ali Agha, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to discuss your upcoming event. One of our experienced agents will be happy to help you get speaking fee information and check availability for Ali Agha or any other speaker of your choice. -
What are the speaker fees for Ali Agha
Speaking fees for Ali Agha, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. The estimated fees to book Ali Agha are available upon request for live events and available upon request for virtual events. For the most current speaking fee to hire Ali Agha, click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak directly with an experienced booking agent. -
What topics does Ali Agha speak about?
Ali Agha is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Artificial Intelligence, Engineering, Entrepreneurship, Executive Leadership, Futurism, Research & Exploration, Robotics -
Where does Ali Agha travel from?
Ali Agha generally travels from Mission Viejo, CA, USA, but can be booked for private corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. For more details, please contact an AAE Booking agent. -
Who is Ali Agha’s agent?
AAE Speakers Bureau has successfully booked keynote speakers like Ali Agha for clients worldwide since 2002. As a full-service speaker booking agency, we have access to virtually any speaker or celebrity in the world. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. Please click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page including the details of your event, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book Ali Agha for your next private or corporate function. -
What is a full-service speaker booking agency?
AAE Speakers Bureau is a full-service speaker booking agency, meaning we can completely manage the speaker’s or celebrity’s engagement with your organization from the time of booking your speaker through the event’s completion. We provide all of the services you need to host Ali Agha or any other speaker of your choice, including offer negotiation, contractual assistance, accounting and billing, and event speaker travel and logistics services. When you book a speaker with us, we manage the process of hosting a speaker for you as an extension of your team. Our goal is to give our clients peace of mind and a best-in-class service experience when booking a speaker with us. -
Why is AAE Speakers Bureau different from other booking agencies?
If you’re looking for the best, unbiased speaker recommendations, paired with a top-notch customer service experience, you’re in the right place. At AAE Speakers Bureau, we exclusively represent the interests of our clients - professional organizations, companies, universities, and associations. We intentionally do not represent the speakers we feature or book. That is so we can present our clients with the broadest and best performing set of speaker options in the market today, and we can make these recommendations without any obligation to promote a specific speaker over another. This is why when our agents suggest a speaker for your event, you can be assured that they are of the highest quality with a history of proven success with our other clients.
Ali Agha is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics. The estimated speaking fee range to book Ali Agha for your event is available upon request. Ali Agha generally travels from Mission Viejo, CA, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Alex Wiltschko, Ilya Sutskever, Nasrin Mostafazadeh, Anirudh Joshi and David Stout. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Ali Agha for an upcoming live or virtual event.
This website is a resource for event professionals and strives to provide the most comprehensive catalog of thought leaders and industry experts to consider for speaking engagements. A listing or profile on this website does not imply an agency affiliation or endorsement by the talent.
All American Entertainment (AAE) exclusively represents the interests of talent buyers, and does not claim to be the agency or management for any speaker or artist on this site. AAE is a talent booking agency for paid events only. We do not handle requests for donation of time or media requests for interviews, and cannot provide celebrity contact information.
If you are the talent and wish to request a profile update or removal from our online directory, please submit a profile request form.








