Marita Cheng
Marita Cheng helps organizations unlock the future of AI and robotics innovation. A Forbes Top 50 Women in Tech honouree and three-time tech founder, Marita has delivered over 400 keynotes on AI strategy, robotics leadership, and diversity in STEM across 14 countries.
Los Angeles, United States
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Marita Cheng built three global technology ventures before turning 30, each using robotics and artificial intelligence to solve problems that affect real people's lives.
Named by Forbes as one of the World's Top 50 Women in Tech and a Forbes 30 Under 30 honouree, Marita is the founder and CEO of Aubot, whose telepresence robot Teleport enables people with disabilities to attend work or school remotely. While at Singularity University, she co-founded Aipoly, an AI app downloaded over 500,000 times that uses neural networks to help blind users identify objects in real time. Her earlier venture, Robogals, grew from a dorm-room initiative to 4,000 volunteers across 13 countries, teaching more than 140,000 girls robotics without formal funding or institutional backing.
Marita's three ventures each required solving the same challenge: moving a technology from working prototype to real-world deployment at scale. She brings that practitioner's lens to every conversation about where AI and robotics are headed. With over 400 keynote speeches delivered across 14 countries, Marita is skilled at translating complex AI and robotics trends into clear, practical insight.
Audiences leave with a grounded view of what AI can realistically deliver today, how to close the gap between pilot and scale, and what the next wave of physical AI means for their industry.
For organizations seeking a technology speaker who has built and shipped real products, Marita's combination of engineering depth and commercial track record is difficult to replicate.
Marita has built and scaled three AI and robotics ventures with measurable global reach. For organizations working through automation strategy, future of work planning, or innovation leadership, she offers a grounded, commercial perspective on where robotics and AI are headed.
Topics, Sessions And Talks
Robots are already operating in factories, hospitals, warehouses, and workplaces — most people just don't see them. Marita Cheng draws on her experience founding Aubot to cut through the noise and give audiences an honest account of where robotics actually stands. She covers the systems already creating measurable impact, the technical and commercial barriers that have slowed progress, and how advances in AI are reshaping what is now possible. A grounded, practitioner-led perspective on the road from specialised tools to general-purpose systems.
AI is no longer confined to software. It is navigating streets, operating in warehouses, and interacting with the physical world in ways that are beginning to reshape entire industries. Marita Cheng co-founded Aipoly — a neural network application that won CES Best of Innovation two years running — before founding Aubot, where AI meets hardware at production scale. She walks audiences through what is genuinely working in physical AI today, what is coming next, and how organisations can think clearly about the moment machines move from observing to actively doing.
From government housing in Cairns to Forbes Top 50 Women in Tech — Marita Cheng's story is one of consistent, deliberate action in the face of structural disadvantage. She founded Robogals at 19 with no budget, grew it to 4,000 volunteers across 13 countries, co-founded an AI company that reached half a million users, and built a robotics business now deployed in hospitals and workplaces nationwide. An honest account of what it actually takes to build something from nothing, told without the usual inspirational gloss.
Marita Cheng has scaled three separate ventures — Robogals, Aipoly, and Aubot — using the same repeatable approach. She shares the practical frameworks that drove each: 3-Month Goals to build momentum, Accountability Buddies to maintain it, the Wall of Change to track progress, and the Uncomfortable Zone concept that explains why most projects stall before they gain traction. For leadership and entrepreneurship audiences, this is a session grounded in real execution experience across multiple industries and geographies.
Leading a paid team is one challenge. Leading 4,000 unpaid volunteers across five countries — people who can walk away at any moment — is another entirely. That was the reality Marita Cheng navigated as founding CEO of Robogals. She shares what she learned about building motivation, maintaining alignment, and sustaining momentum without formal authority, salary structures, or direct reporting lines. The lessons translate directly to matrix organisations, cross-functional teams, and any leadership context where influence matters more than hierarchy.
Looking for a custom keynote or workshop designed around your company’s goals and culture? The expert will create a tailored, interactive session that aligns with your objectives, values, and strategic priorities. From leadership and innovation to wellbeing and collaboration, each experience is built from the ground up to deliver measurable impact and lasting change.
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