Brett Adcock is a technology entrepreneur focused on building companies in robotics, artificial intelligence, and aerospace.
Born and raised on a third-generation farm in central Illinois, he developed an early fascination with technology and building systems from the ground up.
After attending the University of Florida, he set out to tackle ambitious, capital-intensive industries to reshape transportation, labor, and human-machine collaboration.
At 26, Adcock founded Vettery, an AI-powered talent marketplace that matched thousands of companies with highly qualified candidates.
The company scaled rapidly and was acquired in 2018 for $110 million by The Adecco Group, the world’s largest recruiting firm.
In 2018, he founded Archer Aviation to develop electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft aimed at transforming urban air mobility.
During his time leading the company, Adcock helped architect, engineer, and flight-test five generations of aircraft, vertically integrating key technologies including flight software, electric motors, actuation systems, and battery systems.
Archer secured a $1.5 billion partnership with United Airlines and positioned itself at the forefront of next-generation aviation.
In 2022, Adcock founded Figure, where he serves as Founder & CEO.
Figure is building general-purpose humanoid robots designed to address global labor shortages and work alongside humans in manufacturing, logistics, warehousing, retail, and the home.
Backed by leading investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, the company has raised billions in venture capital and is focused on deploying embodied AI systems at scale.
He is also the founder of Cover (2023–present), an AI security company developing non-intrusive scanners in partnership with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The technology is designed to passively detect concealed weapons in crowded environments, aiming to improve public safety without invasive screening.
Chapters
00:00 Welcome and Intro
03:03 Safety and Trust in Humanoids
08:48 AI Bubble and Abundance
16:34 Small Town Roots and Early Hustles
27:20 Archer Aviation and Flying Cars
36:43 All In on Archer
38:25 Building the Flying Robot
45:39 Sky Lanes Future Cities
49:59 Uber for Air Taxis
52:37 Humanoids Origin Story
01:01:19 Self-Funding Figure AI
01:35:11 Figure 3 Robot Tour
01:57:08 Solving General Robotics
02:00:43 Robot Teamwork and Self-Repair
02:03:45 Manufacturing Back in America
02:11:30 Cover School Safety Tech
02:43:18 Robot Risk Big Question
02:48:44 Advice For Founders
