#292 Brett Adcock - Shawn Ryan Meets a Humanoid Robot

March 30, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Brett Adcock, founder and CEO of Figure AI, discusses his approach to building general-purpose humanoid robots alongside ventures in eVTOL aircraft, school weapon detection, and a new AI hardware lab. Drawing from self-funding early stages and first-principles learning, he emphasizes tackling ambitious problems where outcomes scale non-linearly with effort.

Operating Principles from Farm to Frontier Tech

Adcock credits his third-generation farming background for instilling an entrepreneurial mindset: control your destiny by running your own business and putting in the work. He started with software like Vetery, an AI recruiting marketplace sold for about $110 million after five years of near-failure and debt. This taught him to choose "harder things that are easier"—ventures with massive addressable markets like humanoid robots, where difficulty is 3-5x but potential is millions-fold due to better talent, capital, and TAM attraction.

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What you'll learn

1 (01:05) **Intro and Guest Background** - Shawn introduces Brett Adcock's entrepreneurial history from Vetery to Figure AI
2 (04:02) **Patreon Safety Question** - Addresses AI hallucination risks in physical robotics and safeguards
3 (09:48) **AI Bubble Skepticism** - Brett dismisses AI as bubble, predicts massive productivity from embodied AI
4 (11:50) **Future of Human Work** - Robots handle busywork like dishes/laundry, freeing humans for creativity/family
5 (17:34) **Early Life and Farm Roots** - Grew up in 700-person Illinois town, third-gen farmer turned entrepreneur
6 (22:24) **Vetery Founding and Exit** - Built AI talent marketplace fixing broken recruiting; sold for ~$110M
7 (27:35) **Archer Aviation Origins** - Post-Vetery, self-taught eVTOL for urban air mobility

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Show Notes

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 with the goal of reshaping 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, with the goal of improving public safety without invasive screening.

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