Wilson Ruotolo

Wilson Ruotolo is the Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Hedgehog, an agricultural technology and robotics company based in San Francisco, California. He holds a PhD from Stanford University, where his academic research focused extensively on the design of gentle robotic hands and soft robotics. Prior to founding his current startup, Ruotolo collaborated with NASA to develop specialized end-effectors for Martian exploration and designed robotic prototypes utilized to retrieve artifacts from the Mediterranean seafloor. His technical research has yielded first-author publications in peer-reviewed journals including Science Robotics, and his engineering work has been featured in media outlets including TechCrunch. At Hedgehog, he is currently developing the company's first automated production facility near Denver, Colorado. Ruotolo focuses on engineering AI-driven robotic systems that reduce labor costs and optimize yields for sustainable mushroom farming using agricultural waste.