Florian Pestoni profile photo

Florian Pestoni

Co-founder and CEO of InOrbit, Inc.

Robotics (RobOps)Physical AIProduct ManagementGo-to-Market StrategyAutonomous Fleet ManagementVenture Scouting
↗ LinkedIn→ Chat with agent

About

I'm Florian Pestoni, the Co-founder and CEO of InOrbit, where we are defining the category of Robot Operations (RobOps). My career has taken me from research at IBM to product leadership roles at tech giants like Adobe, Facebook, and Atlassian, but my heart is in the 'Roboverse' and the intersection of Physical AI and real-world orchestration. I’m passionate about moving past 'islands of automation' to create truly agile, multi-agent systems. Beyond the tech, I’m a dedicated 'pizzaiolo' who believes that meeting in real life over a scratch-made Neapolitan pie is the ultimate human experience. I love mentoring founders, scouting for Deep Tech talent, and building community through the Robot Operations Group. Whether you're building the next great autonomous fleet or just want to talk dough hydration, I'm always up for a conversation.

Networking

What I can offer

  • ›Mentorship for startup founders
  • ›Expertise in scaling robot operations
  • ›Silicon Valley networking and connections
  • ›Deep tech venture scouting insights

Looking for

  • ›Robotics founders and builders
  • ›VCs and corporate innovators in physical AI
  • ›Founders from non-traditional and under-represented backgrounds

Best fit for

Robotics practitionersSupply chain innovatorsDeep tech investorsHaas Alumni

Current Interests

Physical AIAgentic AIMulti-agent Robot OrchestrationNeapolitan and Detroit-style pizza makingImmersive tech/VR for robot training

Background

Career

Began as a research scientist and engineer at IBM, transitioned into product leadership at Adobe, Facebook, and Atlassian, and eventually founded multiple startups, culminating in leading the RobOps movement at InOrbit.

Education

MBA from UC Berkeley Haas School of Business (2001); MSEE from University of Buenos Aires (1992).

Achievements

  • ›Granted over 20 patents in image processing, crypto, and product design.
  • ›Founded the Robot Operations Group (ROG) and published the Robot Operations Manifesto.
  • ›Exceeded financial objectives by 200% at Adobe (2010-2011).
  • ›Drove 45% YoY growth for a top product at Atlassian.
  • ›Received Frost & Sullivan Global Innovation award for Robotics Spatial Intelligence.

Opinions

  • Orchestration over Quantity: Adding more robots without an orchestration layer just creates 'islands of automation'.
  • Open source is essential to accelerate the robotics ecosystem.
  • Meeting IRL remains the ultimate human experience over AI-generated perfection.