Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe is betting on EVs, robots, and autonomy all at once — he’ll explain why at Disrupt 2026
Building a company is hard. But building one that also designs, manufactures, and delivers hardware at scale, from a factory floor, with supply chain concerns
Building a company is hard. But building one that also designs, manufactures, and delivers hardware at scale, from a factory floor, with supply chain concerns galore is another order of difficulty. And Rivian’s CEO RJ Scaringe is speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 to detail that journey and the lessons it’s bestowed. Rivian sits at the intersection of AI, software, robotics, manufacturing, and transportation. And Scaringe has spent the better part of two decades proving that intersection isn’t just survivable. He also thinks it’s about to become much more crowded. Scaringe’s Disrupt Stage session is just one of many big conversations happening at Disrupt this year, running October 13-15 at San Francisco’s Moscone Center.
Check out the programming that’s been announced so far here, and if you don’t already have a ticket, lock in yours before our next price increase on August 22. What Scaringe brings to the Disrupt Stage Rivian has begun rolling out the R2, the roughly $58,000 SUV that Scaringe is counting on to do what the pricier R1T and R1S didn’t: expand Rivian beyond the niche market. He’s called it “maybe the most important thing we’ve launched to date” amid slowing demand for costlier EVs and mounting competitive pressure, especially from lower-cost Chinese EV manufacturers. At the same time, Scaringe has been expanding beyond vehicles. He’s laid out a roadmap to full Level 4 autonomy by 2028, and he’s building out Rivian’s own charging network with ambitions to become one of the largest in the U.S. Scaringe also founded Mind Robotics, a humanoid robotics company that’s raised $900 million this year alone, which he runs as executive chair and acting CEO, with Rivian as a large shareholder and launch customer.
With the goal of turning Rivian’s factory floor in Normal, Illinois, into a proving ground for more ingrained human and robotic coexistence on the assembly line, Scaringe sees an opportunity to directly address an anticipated shortage in human labor. And exclusively at Disrupt 2026, you’ll get to watch Scaringe detail how all of these investments fit together, and what he’s learned about building in the physical world and then bringing AI into the fold, while many AI companies try to accomplish the inverse. To hear it in person and join the 10,000+ founders, investors, and technologists heading to San Francisco for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 on October 13-15, grab your ticket today to make sure you get the best available price.
The BriefWire