A Robotic Reunion

As the sun sets over San Francisco Bay, a small robot whirs up a steep city sidewalk, carrying a pizza to a customer.  

This scene, once the stuff of science fiction, is now reality thanks to companies like Robot.com (formerly Kiwibot), a robotics delivery startup. It also is a primary focus of Carlos Oliveros Forero (MEM '25), who is now strategic projects manager at the company.  

The Colombian-born engineer works directly with the CEO on product management and financial matters.  

“It’s really varied work, depending on the top priorities of the company,” Oliveros said.

This will be Oliveros’s second stop at the company. He worked as an operations and maintenance engineer in 2022 while still based in Colombia. Since then, he's earned two master's degrees — one in finance from the Universidad de Los Andes School of Management and one from Northwestern's Master of Engineering Management (MEM) program.  

Oliveros was drawn back to Robot.com because of the company's latest technological innovations and growth. 

“They are doing something that's really interesting right now,” he said. “It's physical AI, not just AI that you chat with, but actual robots that you can assign jobs to. As we transition to a more AI-driven age, we really want to make products that are useful for real life.” 

The company was founded in 2017 with the objective to develop autonomous robots for food delivery to students on campus. It has since expanded its operations to multiple US cities and other international markets.  

Now that he's back at the company, Oliveros sees his professional growth — thanks to the MEM program. 

“What makes MEM stand out is the combination of engineering and management skills,” he said. “The program had a huge focus on the product side, with many classes like product management and marketing that were really valuable.” 

Oliveros particularly appreciated the multicultural aspect of the MEM program. The experiences from people around the world brought a wide variety of perspectives into the classroom and to the program’s projects, he said. 

His own educational experience in the program extended beyond the classroom. He participated in VentureCat, Northwestern’s annual student startup competition. His team reached the semifinals after creating a company that simplifies emissions tracking for small- and medium-sized businesses.  

Oliveros is excited to now apply lessons learned in MEM and through VentureCat to his new role at Robot.com. He plans to combine his product management experience with his financial knowledge to tackle the diverse challenges that come with the evolving field of physical AI. 

To do that successfully, Oliveros will need to apply one of the most important skill sets he learned at MEM: the importance of interacting with customers.  

“If you don’t talk to your customers, you’ll never truly understand their needs,” he said. “Great product managers bridge the gap between insight and execution — turning real conversations into products that create real impact.”