July 28, 2026

He Built the Defense Humanoid Robots Now Fighting in Ukraine | Ep. 302 | Pt. 1

He Built the Defense Humanoid Robots Now Fighting in Ukraine | Ep. 302 | Pt. 1

Former Marine Corps officer, Harvard Business School graduate, and entrepreneur Mike LeBlanc spent 13 years in the Marine Corps, including back-to-back deployments advising Afghan forces, service with First Recon, a joint special operations task force in Bahrain, and a Pentagon role evaluating emerging military technology. After leaving active service, he founded Cobalt Robotics and later co-founded Foundation Future Industries. In this episode, we dig into his early days advising Afghan forces, including a green-on-blue attack just 30 days into his deployment after an Afghan soldier saw news coverage surrounding the “Innocence of Muslims” film. We then shift into his work building humanoid robots and why he believes they could eventually replace American troops in some of the battlefield’s most dangerous roles.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices