Sanctuary AI appointed former MDA CEO Daniel Friedmann as its new leader. The robotics startup will focus on scaling existing humanoid tech instead of proving it out, after raising $140 million from investors.
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Sanctuary AI has a new leader and a revised strategy. The Vancouver-based robotics startup named board chair Daniel Friedmann as CEO, replacing interim CEO James Wells, who announced his departure this week.
Friedmann spent more than 20 years at MDA, including engineering the Canadarm2. More recently he chaired and then led Carbon Engineering, a direct-air capture company that sold to Occidental Petroleum in 2023. Occidental now owns that business.
Wells wrote on LinkedIn that his departure coincides with a “new strategy” – Sanctuary will focus on scaling its existing humanoid robot technology rather than proving the concept. “I’m optimistic about where the field is headed, excited about Sanctuary’s future, and convinced that some of the most interesting problems are still ahead. Even after nearly [eight] years, it still feels early,” he said.
The leadership change follows a period of executive turnover. Co-founder Geordie Rose was reportedly ousted in November 2024, months after fellow co-founder Suzanne Gildert left. After Rose's departure, the company laid off about 30 people, including its chief marketing officer.
Sanctuary has raised more than $140 million from investors, not counting an undisclosed investment in May from the venture arm of Japan’s Zeon Corporation. The company's roadmap now targets industrial-grade robot hands, autonomous item shuttling, and “preparing for a future with industrial humanoids.” Those products have drawn attention from flashy Silicon Valley plays like the NEO Home Robot.
Friedmann brings experience scaling complex hardware from space robotics to carbon capture. Sanctuary sell a general-purpose robot for repetitive industrial tasks. The challenge now is turning demos into deployed contracts in a sector where few have delivered recurring revenue. The next phase will test whether the shift from proof-of-concept to scale works in practice.
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