David Paratore

Chief Executive Officer Berkshire Grey

Last Reviewed: September 28, 2026

Executive Summary

David (Dave) Paratore is Chief Executive Officer of Berkshire Grey, the Bedford, Massachusetts maker of AI-enabled robotic systems for picking, sortation and trailer unloading in warehouses. He joined in February 2025, taking over from founder Tom Wagner, who remains chairman. Berkshire Grey has been a wholly owned subsidiary of SoftBank Group since a 2023 take-private. Paratore is an operator with an engineering background who has spent most of his career in hardware-heavy technology businesses. He managed at Pratt & Whitney for a decade, ran business units at American Superconductor and became its president, and led the advanced-steel developer NanoSteel as President and CEO for more than a decade. He is also an adjunct professor in Brown University’s School of Engineering.

Career Highlights

• Chief Executive Officer of Berkshire Grey since February 2025, succeeding founder Tom Wagner.
• Leads a company that, by its own account, has more than 350 employees and more than 700 granted patents, and counts FedEx and Walmart among its customers.
• President and CEO of The NanoSteel Company in Providence, Rhode Island, signing its SEC offering filings in that role from 2009 to 2020.
• At American Superconductor from 2000 to 2005, rising from vice president of strategic business development through two business-unit general manager roles to President and Chief Operating Officer in February 2004.
• Held management positions at Pratt & Whitney, then a division of United Technologies, from 1990 to 2000.
• Adjunct Professor, School of Engineering, Brown University.

Professional Journey

Paratore studied mechanical engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and later earned a Master of Business at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He spent 1990 to 2000 in management positions at Pratt & Whitney, the aircraft-engine maker, then a division of United Technologies. Berkshire Grey describes that work as spanning quality assurance, customer support, production and engine overhaul. In 2000 he was briefly an account executive at GROWTTH Consulting, an operations management consultancy.

He joined American Superconductor (AMSC) in November 2000 as vice president, strategic business development. He ran the company’s new Integrated Electronics business in Milwaukee until November 2001. He then led the SuperMachines business unit as vice president and general manager. In June 2003 he became senior vice president and general manager of the AMSC Wires business unit. In February 2004 he was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer. Co-founder Gregory Yurek remained chairman and CEO. He left AMSC in June 2005.

He next led The NanoSteel Company, a Providence developer of advanced steel alloys. Its SEC Form D filings name him as President and CEO and a director from 2009 through 2020. Berkshire Grey’s account of his career also includes CEO roles at companies in fusion, water conservation and carbon capture. Brown University’s faculty page describes him, before the Berkshire Grey appointment, as CEO of Greyter Water Systems, a Toronto company making water reuse systems. The same page credits him with raising more than $100 million in venture and strategic capital, and with negotiating partnerships and licensing agreements in the US, Europe and Japan.

Berkshire Grey announced his appointment as CEO on 6 February 2025. Tom Wagner founded the company. It became public in July 2021 by merging with Revolution Acceleration Acquisition Corp, a SPAC whose SEC registration it took over. SoftBank Group took it private in July 2023. In the letter announcing Paratore’s arrival, Wagner signed as “Founder and Chairman, Former CEO” and described a business “in a transition phase” after “banner quarters in terms of orders and revenue”. Under Paratore the company has pitched its systems as “physical AI”. In June 2026 it opened a Customer Innovation Center in Haarlem, near Amsterdam, to serve Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Announcing it, Paratore said that “Physical AI is ultimately measured by performance in the real world.”

Education

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Master of Business