About
Navid Aghasadeghi is Founder and CEO of Shiraz AI. He previously worked as a Senior Staff Robotics Engineer at Boston Dynamics, contributing to Spot's transition from R&D to commercial deployment and leading industrial manipulation, and earlier served as a Principal Robotics Engineer at Rethink Robotics developing controls for the Sawyer robot; he also founded the AI consumer app GenZArt and holds a PhD in ECE from UIUC.
Founder & CEO at Shiraz AIYC S26
Intro paths
YC
Navid went through Y Combinator (Summer 2026) — any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.
GP
Their group partner at YC was Jon Xu, General Partner at Y Combinator — the partner who ran Shiraz AI's batch and knows the company first-hand. YC profile ↗
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In turn, Navid can intro founders to Shiraz AI's investors below.
Shiraz AI's investors · 1
Co-founders at Shiraz AI
MM
Mojtaba MozaffarFounder
Experience
- Shiraz AICo-Founder & CEOcurrent2026 — presentBoston, Massachusetts, United States
- Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyAI Studiocurrent2025 — present
- GenZArtFounder & CEO2024 — 2025Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- Boston DynamicsSenior Staff Roboticist2018 — 2024Greater Boston
- Rethink RoboticsPrincipal Robotics Engineer2018Greater Boston
- Rethink RoboticsSenior Robotics Engineer2015 — 2018Greater Boston
- University of Illinois - Coordinated Science LaboratoryResearch Assistant2008 — 2015
- Rehabilitation Institute of ChicagoResearch Fellow2012Greater Chicago Area
- Rehabilitation Institute of ChicagoResearch Fellow2011Greater Chicago Area
- SchlumbergerResearch and Development Intern2008Greater Paris Metropolitan Region
- SchlumbergerResearch and Development Intern2007Greater Houston
- SchlumbergerResearch and Development Intern2006Greater Houston
Skills & more
Machine Learning25C++25Robotics16Matlab32Optimization14Algorithms16Programming11Neuroscience3Control Theory3Stochastic Processes2Stochastic Control1Dynamical Systems2
+8 more
System IdentificationProstheticsRehabilitationCLaTeXSimulationsR&DMathematical ModelingFrom Navid's professional profile.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Navid Aghasadeghi?
- Navid Aghasadeghi is Founder and CEO of Shiraz AI. He previously worked as a Senior Staff Robotics Engineer at Boston Dynamics, contributing to Spot's transition from R&D to commercial deployment and leading industrial manipulation, and earlier served as a Principal Robotics Engineer at Rethink Robotics developing controls for the Sawyer robot; he also founded the AI consumer app GenZArt and holds a PhD in ECE from UIUC.
- Where does Navid Aghasadeghi work?
- Navid Aghasadeghi is Founder & CEO of Shiraz AI.
- What companies did Navid Aghasadeghi found?
- Navid Aghasadeghi founded Shiraz AI.
- Where did Navid Aghasadeghi go to school?
- Navid Aghasadeghi studied at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Electrical and Computer Engineering); University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Master of Science (MS), Electrical and Computer Engineering); The University of Texas at Austin (Bachelor of Science (BS), Electrical and Computer Engineering).
Same school
Also attended University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign539
Max LevchinCo-founder of PayPal; founder, chairman & CEO of Affirm; partner at SciFi VCLuke NosekCo-founder of PayPal; co-founder of GigafundSundeep PeechuGeneral Partner at Felicis VenturesDeep NisharInvestment Team at General CatalystPrashant ShahPartner at Monta Vista CapitalNoorPartner at Clear Ventures
+ 533 more
Also attended The University of Texas at Austin558
Michael DellFounder & CEO of Dell TechnologiesViswa SankaranarayananVenture Partner at Monta Vista CapitalTodd KleinManaging Partner, Revolution Growth at RevolutionSapna MehtaInvestor at RevolutionAnish AggarwalInvestor at LightbankAndrew ScottSenior Finance Manager at Greycroft
+ 552 more
Shared employers
Also worked at Massachusetts Institute of Technology561
Aileen LeeFounder & Managing Partner of Cowboy VenturesMatt HuangCo-founder and Managing Partner at ParadigmMichael TruellCo-founder & CEO of CursorRaquel UrtasunFounder & CEO of WaabiColin WebbFounder & CEO of Avatar RoboticsDave JohnsonCo-founder & CEO of Dash Bio
+ 555 more
Also worked at Boston Dynamics5
Also worked at Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago2
Also worked at Schlumberger106
Reed HastingsCo-founder of NetflixDario AmodeiCo-founder & CEO of AnthropicDeji SasegbonVP, Platform & Portfolio Operations at EchoVC PartnersSaurabh K. MittalChairman, CEO and Founder at Mission HoldingsSiva KolappaGeneral Partner at Data TechConnor CooleyVenture Partner at Electric Feel Ventures Llc
+ 100 more