About
Alex Dobbin
Physical AI, robotics, and spatial computing. Eight years of applied work across the built environment and physical industries. From early concept through live deployment. Based in New York.
Arc
I work in physical AI, robotics, and spatial computing. The path here ran through architecture and fabrication first.
I studied economics at Bowdoin College in Maine, with a minor in visual arts and a year split between Copenhagen and Cambridge studying architecture and how buildings actually get built. Architecture pulled me toward design that has to physically exist; fabrication pulled me toward making it.
I joined SHoP Architects in New York in 2018, in the Fab Lab. Three years there learning the craft of getting design intent to behave in physical space: 3D printing, CNC, photogrammetry, AR tooling for construction teams. I designed SHoP's Detail Design Library across 1,800 drawings, lifting documentation productivity by 12 percent. When COVID came, I repurposed the print farm to produce 100,000 face masks for NYC hospitals. The fabrication years taught me that most of the technology problem is actually a workflow problem, and most of the workflow problem is human.
That insight is what carried me into physical AI. Robots and AR systems live in the same gap as buildings: a designed intent, an environment that doesn't fully cooperate, and a team of people who have to actually use the thing.
I joined Slalom in 2021 as part of the founding team for the Physical AI lab. We built the lab itself first, then the work that runs through it: a multi-year applied R&D effort for a global airline in active outdoor operations; a 24/7 autonomous inspection robot at Hitachi's Industry 4.0 rail factory, with Ericsson; humanoid pilots in simulation for a Japanese industrial conglomerate; a five-year emergency-management technology roadmap for a US utility. The technology keeps changing; the gap between research and reality is what I keep working in.
I live in New York. I'm Swedish-American and ski when the snow allows.
Experience
Slalom · New York · 2021–present
Senior Consultant, Physical AI · 2025–present
Project lead on Slalom's largest Physical AI work and the technical partnerships behind it. Recent: a multi-year applied R&D effort for a global airline, and humanoid simulation and solution ownership for a global industrial conglomerate (Isaac Lab and Gemini Robotics). Represents the firm at CES, Mobile World Congress, Google Next, and AWE, across 30+ global markets.
Consultant, Physical AI · 2022–2025
Built and shipped applied robotics and physical AI work across the built environment and physical industries. Highlights: a 24/7 autonomous inspection robot for Hitachi, lab R&D to production floor; an airport perception system for an international carrier; a five-year emergency-management roadmap for a US utility.
Associate Consultant · 2021–2022
Founding team for Slalom's Physical AI practice. Built the early technical infrastructure, R&D work, and design system that supported the practice's first client engagements.
SHoP Architects · New York · 2018–2021
Designer, Fabrication Labs and Spatial Computing · 2019–2021
Promoted to Designer with broader ownership across the group's mission: bridging design intent and physical reality for large-scale commercial and civic projects. Led design of a real-time 3D/BIM visualization tool. Built a photogrammetry pipeline for remote construction QA. Operated a cloud-based 3D printing farm that, during COVID-19, produced and donated 100,000 protective face masks to NYC hospitals. Owned the Detail Library across 1,800+ drawings, lifting documentation productivity by 12%.
Junior Designer, Fabrication Labs and Spatial Computing · 2018–2019
Joined the Fab Lab building hands-on fluency in 3D workflows and fabrication tooling: 3D printing, CNC milling, laser cutting, and the full digital modeling toolkit, in service of 25+ concurrent commercial and civic projects.
Education
- Bowdoin College
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BA, Economics. Minor, Visual Arts.
Varsity football. Club alpine skiing.
- Harvard University, Graduate School of Design
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Design Discovery. Computational design and spatial systems.
- Danish Institute for Study Abroad
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Architecture studio. Detailing and sustainability in Scandinavian architecture.
Selected skills
Physical AI & robotics
- AMR deployment
- Humanoid locomanipulation
- Sim-to-real
- NVIDIA Isaac Lab
- NVIDIA Isaac Sim
- Google Gemini Robotics
- Sensor fusion
- Edge & cloud inference
- Multi-robot coordination
AI / ML
- Agentic systems
- Applied LLMs
- Multimodal models
- Object detection
- Multi-object tracking
- Defect detection
- Human-in-the-loop
Spatial computing & AR/VR
- AR field deployment
- Photogrammetry
- Reality capture
- 3D digital twins
- Unity
- Unreal Engine
Computational design
- Rhino
- Grasshopper
- V-Ray
- Blender
- AutoCAD
- Revit
Digital fabrication
- Multi-platform 3D printing
- CNC milling
- Laser cutting
- Woodworking
- Metalworking
- Rapid prototyping
Strategy & ownership
- Enterprise GTM
- Hyperscaler partnerships
- Five-year roadmaps
- Executive briefings
- Concept to production