Andra Keay is one of the most urgent voices in robotics today. As the Managing Director of Silicon Valley Robotics — a coalition that supports over 600 robotics startups and catalyses more than half of the world’s robotics investment — Keay is building the future of automation.
With a background in Human-Robot Culture, a self-coined lens that bridges communication theory and design, Andra Keay goes far beyond traditional views of “human-robot interaction.” She examines how robotics and AI quietly shape societal norms, influence gender roles, and entrench power structures.
As a startup strategist and investor, Keay has founded platforms like Robot Launch, Robot Garden, and Women in Robotics. She has mentored founders around the globe through initiatives like Circuit Launch and The Robotics Hub. She is also Vice President of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society’s Industrial Activities Board and the Deep Tech Lead for IEEE Entrepreneurship. Across these roles, Andra Keay champions accountability, transparency, and ethical design.
Andra Keay is especially incisive when talking about “augmented stupidity”. Which is the dangerous way automation amplifies human error, bias, or oversight and then absolves everyone of responsibility. She warns that AI and robotics aren’t just tools for productivity. They’re reflections of who we are, and without intentional design, they risk reinforcing the worst of us.
A Visiting Scholar at the CITRIS People and Robots Lab and a Singularity University Fellow, Andra Keay continues to advise public and private sector leaders on how to steer emerging tech toward social good. She is also a passionate advocate for a more diverse, equitable robotics workforce as a core source of innovation.
Whether she’s speaking on stage, mentoring a deep tech founder, or asking hard questions about gender, ethics, and responsibility in design, Andra Keay is reimagining what it means to build machines and societies that work for everyone.