Mach Industries Appoints Anand Gopalan as Chief Autonomy and Systems Officer

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., April 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Mach Industries, a defense manufacturing company that develops advanced unmanned systems, today announced the appointment of Anand Gopalan as Chief Autonomy and Systems Officer.

In this role, Gopalan will lead the company's Autonomy, Avionics, Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC), and Advanced AI organizations. He will be responsible for system-level architecture, autonomy strategy, sensor fusion, and the development of novel AI technologies optimized for contested, denied, and safety-critical operational environments.

"I'm excited to join Mach Industries at a time when autonomy, AI and advanced robotic systems are redefining the future of national security," said Anand Gopalan, Chief Autonomy and Systems Officer of Mach Industries. "The opportunity to build mission-critical technologies alongside an exceptional team with real-world impact is personally meaningful and deeply motivating."

"Anand brings deep expertise across autonomy, avionics, and system-level architecture," said Ethan Thornton, Founder and CEO of Mach Industries. "Having led the development of advanced technologies across the full hardware–software stack, his leadership will be key as Mach accelerates the development of next-generation unmanned systems and delivers resilient, mission-critical capabilities in complex operational environments."

Gopalan brings over two decades of experience building mission-critical systems across semiconductors, sensing, AI, and robotics. His expertise spans the full hardware–software stack, from analog and mixed-signal IC design and high-speed interconnects to perception, guidance, and autonomous decision-making systems.

Prior to joining Mach Industries, Gopalan served as CEO of Velodyne Lidar and Vayu Robotics, the latter of which he co-founded. He has also held senior engineering and product leadership roles at Avago, K-Micro, and Rambus, where he developed high-reliability semiconductor platforms for performance-critical applications.

About Mach Industries
Founded in 2023, Mach Industries is a defense manufacturing company headquartered in Huntington Beach, California. The company develops advanced unmanned systems and the manufacturing infrastructure to scale their production. By vertically integrating weapons, propulsion, and manufacturing, Mach delivers the speed, adaptability, and resilience required to preserve the allied edge in an increasingly contested world. For more information, please visit us at machindustries.com and follow us on LinkedIn and X.

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SOURCE Mach Industries