Chef Robotics, a leading provider of physical artificial intelligence solutions for the food manufacturing industry, has announced the appointment of Nicolas De Keijser as its new Vice President of Sales. The strategic leadership addition comes at a pivotal moment for the company as it continues to expand its footprint across North America and Europe and accelerate the adoption of AI-powered robotic systems within food production environments.
The appointment reflects Chef Robotics’ commitment to scaling its commercial operations and strengthening relationships with enterprise food manufacturers seeking innovative solutions to address labor shortages, improve efficiency, and increase production consistency. As Vice President of Sales, De Keijser will oversee the company’s global sales strategy, lead customer acquisition efforts, and support the continued growth of Chef Robotics’ enterprise customer base.
Founded with the mission of bringing advanced robotics and artificial intelligence to food production, Chef Robotics has emerged as one of the fastest-growing companies in the food automation sector. The company develops AI-powered robotic systems capable of assembling food products with a level of precision and flexibility that has historically been difficult to achieve through automation.
Unlike traditional industrial robots designed for rigid and predictable manufacturing tasks, Chef’s systems leverage physical AI technology to handle the complexities associated with food ingredients, which often vary in shape, size, texture, and consistency. This capability allows food manufacturers to automate labor-intensive assembly processes while maintaining product quality and operational efficiency.
Since onboarding its first customer, Amy’s Kitchen, in 2022, Chef Robotics has experienced significant growth. The company has expanded its customer portfolio to include 15 mid-market and enterprise food manufacturers operating across North America and Europe. These organizations rely on Chef’s robotic solutions to streamline production workflows and address growing operational challenges in the food manufacturing sector.
Earlier this year, Chef Robotics reached a major industry milestone when it announced that its robotic systems had successfully completed more than 100 million food servings in live production environments. According to the company, this achievement surpasses the combined production output of all other food robotics companies operating in the sector.
Beyond the production milestone itself, the accomplishment has enabled Chef Robotics to build what it describes as the world’s largest real-world dataset of deformable material training data. Such datasets are particularly valuable in the development of physical AI systems because they help robotic platforms learn how to interact with dynamic, irregular, and constantly changing materials such as vegetables, proteins, grains, sauces, and other food ingredients.
The vast amount of operational data collected from real-world deployments provides a significant competitive advantage, allowing Chef Robotics to continuously refine its machine learning models and improve robot performance over time. As more manufacturers adopt the technology, the company expects its AI systems to become increasingly capable of handling a wider range of food production tasks.
De Keijser joins the company with extensive experience in robotics, automation, and enterprise technology sales. His background includes more than two decades of leadership across some of the most respected organizations in the industrial automation sector.
Most recently, he spent more than six years at Boston Dynamics, where he served as Senior Director of Sales. During his tenure, he played a key role in commercializing the company’s warehouse automation solutions and building a global sales organization capable of supporting customers across multiple regions and industries.
Boston Dynamics is widely recognized for its advanced robotic technologies, and De Keijser’s experience helping bring those innovations to market is expected to provide valuable insights as Chef Robotics expands its own commercial operations. His work involved developing customer relationships, establishing sales strategies, and leading teams responsible for introducing cutting-edge automation technologies to large-scale enterprises around the world.
Before joining Boston Dynamics, De Keijser spent 12 years with ABB, one of the world’s leading industrial automation and robotics companies. During his time there, he held various positions in sales, business development, and commercial leadership.
Among his accomplishments at ABB was the development of the company’s North American business for robotic assembly and testing applications. He also helped establish engineering and sales support teams in key innovation hubs, including Silicon Valley and Michigan, enabling ABB to better serve customers in rapidly evolving manufacturing sectors.
The combination of his experience at both ABB and Boston Dynamics has given De Keijser deep expertise in scaling robotics businesses, navigating complex enterprise sales cycles, and helping organizations implement transformative automation technologies.
Commenting on the appointment, Chef Robotics Founder and Chief Executive Officer Rajat Bhageria expressed confidence that De Keijser’s leadership will play an important role in the company’s next phase of growth.
“Nicolas brings deep experience scaling robotics businesses and working with enterprise customers around the world,” said Bhageria. “As demand for physical AI continues to grow across the food industry, his leadership will help us reach more customers and accelerate the adoption of robotics in food production.”
Bhageria noted that food manufacturers are increasingly looking for technologies that can improve productivity while addressing workforce challenges and rising operating costs. Physical AI systems are emerging as a critical solution for these needs, helping companies maintain production efficiency while improving consistency and scalability.
For his part, De Keijser expressed enthusiasm about joining Chef Robotics at a time when both the company and the broader physical AI market are experiencing significant momentum.
“I couldn’t be more excited to join Chef,” said De Keijser. “I’ve followed the company’s progress for several years now and believe it has reached an important stage of growth. Chef has demonstrated that physical AI can deliver measurable value in production environments, and I look forward to helping more food manufacturers deploy its technology at scale.”
The appointment comes amid growing interest in automation across the food manufacturing industry. Labor shortages, increasing consumer demand, supply chain pressures, and the need for greater operational efficiency are driving manufacturers to explore advanced robotics solutions capable of supporting production at scale.
As physical AI technologies continue to mature, companies like Chef Robotics are positioning themselves at the forefront of a new era in food manufacturing. By combining robotics, machine learning, and real-world operational data, the company aims to transform how food is assembled and produced, enabling manufacturers to achieve higher levels of productivity, flexibility, and consistency.
With Nicolas De Keijser now leading its sales organization, Chef Robotics is well-positioned to accelerate enterprise adoption, expand its market presence, and further establish itself as a leader in AI-powered food production automation.
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