Jan Czarnowski
Senior Research Lead at Boston Dynamics
About
I'm Jan Czarnowski, currently the Senior Research Lead at Boston Dynamics. My career has been dedicated to bridging the gap between exploratory research and real-world productization, from my PhD work on monocular SLAM at Imperial College to building the ML infrastructure for the Atlas robot from the ground up. I am deeply passionate about Spatial AI and developing generalist behavior models that allow robots to interact naturally with 3D environments. I believe that for research to be truly high-impact, it needs to be field-validated and built with strong engineering foundations. I'm always looking to connect with top-tier ML talent and researchers who are tired of working on simplified problems and want to help 'Make Robots Real.' Whether you're interested in the evolution of humanoid robotics or the technical challenges of ML data flywheels, I'm happy to share insights from the front lines of physical AI deployment.
Networking
What I can offer
- ›Insights into the intersection of high-level AI research and physical robotic deployment.
- ›Expertise in scaling ML research teams and organizational design.
- ›Technical mentorship in SLAM, LVMs, and robotics.
Looking for
- ›High-tier ML and robotics talent (Research Scientists, ML Platform Leads, and Interns)
- ›exploring mutual opportunities in robotics and AI
Best fit for
Current Interests
Background
Career
Began as an R&D Engineer at PIAP, transitioned to a PhD at Imperial College London, interned at NVIDIA, and rose through the ranks at Boston Dynamics from Senior Staff Research Scientist to Senior Research Lead.
Education
PhD in Computer Science from Imperial College London (2015–2020); Master’s Degree in Robotics from Warsaw University of Technology (2013–2015); Bachelor of Engineering in Automation Engineering and Robotics from Warsaw University of Technology (2009–2013).
Achievements
- ›Built the ML infrastructure for the Atlas robot from the ground up.
- ›Led the perception strategy for Atlas's industrial manipulation capabilities.
- ›Established a company-wide ML monorepo at Boston Dynamics.
- ›Delivered perception systems for high-profile public demos and field deployments.
Opinions
- Researchers must have the engineering skills to make bleeding-edge research 'really work' in the real world.
- Collaborative research is superior to working in isolation.
- Preference for solving complex, un-simplified problems over academic abstractions.
- Innovation requires a balance between exploratory research and execution.