Russell AI Labs Launches to Build and Back Next-Generation Intelligent Technologies

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PALO ALTO, Calif. & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 24, 2025--

Russell AI Labs, a new platform that backs and builds transformative AI and frontier technology companies, today announced its official launch and inaugural partnership with leading agentic AI company Emergence AI, with a focus on enterprise applications.

Russell AI Labs was created to advance and scale both hardware and software AI solutions for enterprises to autonomously solve complex problems. The company provides hands-on strategic and operational support to founders and management teams to accelerate their evolution from breakthrough technology developers to global businesses and product segment leaders.

Russell AI Labs was co-founded by advanced technology pioneer and serial entrepreneur Austin Russell, in partnership with industry veterans Markus Schaefer and Murtaza Ahmed. Schaefer currently serves as Chief Technology Officer and Member of the Board of Management at Mercedes-Benz Group AG and is the former Chief Operating Officer of Daimler AG. Ahmed is a seasoned investor, executive, and dealmaker who served as a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs before joining SoftBank, where he became a Partner in the $100 billion Vision Fund and Managing Partner of its $5 billion Latin America Fund. Together, Russell, Schaefer, and Ahmed bring decades of expertise across technology, operations, and capital markets. Their mission: to identify, partner with, and build enduring leaders in frontier industries. Schaefer will continue in his official roles at Mercedes-Benz Group AG until later this year.

Inaugural Partnership with Emergence AI

Emergence AI, the first company to join forces with Russell AI Labs, is a global pioneer in agentic AI solutions for enterprise. Emergence’s technology enables companies to deploy and coordinate networked constellations of AI agents to automate workflows and solve complex data problems, compressing tasks that previously required hundreds of man-hours into a matter of minutes. This ultimately results in improved execution, efficiency, margins, and growth for businesses.

To make AI enterprise-grade and production-ready, Emergence tackles two blockers: first, it converts “dark” enterprise data, which is often ~80% of information, into intelligence-ready formats via discovery, cleansing, and structuring; second, it deploys constellations of agents with built-in validation and explainability to ensure automated decisions are accurate, transparent, and auditable. Together, these enable trusted, governed, at-scale AI for mission-critical operations.

Emergence has attracted over $125 million of venture capital to fuel its breakthrough technology development since its launch last year and is now poised for its next phase of growth. As part of the partnership, Russell will assume the role of Executive Chairman of Emergence, helping to solidify the company’s position as an AI industry leader and commercially scale the technology. Russell AI Labs’ new $300 million stake reflects the scope of the partnership and the shared commitment to deliver value for enterprise clients. The relationship will help Emergence expand its global reach, expand its platform across industries, and define how agentic AI is deployed effectively across Fortune 500 enterprises.

“We’ve created a new kind of strategic and operating partner to help AI industry leaders realize their commercial and technical ambitions,” said Austin Russell, Founder of Russell AI Labs. “We’re able to leverage our collective experience pioneering frontier technologies and businesses to collaborate with founders and help them scale successfully. I’m thrilled to be working alongside Satya Nitta and the entire Emergence AI team to drive their next phase of growth, and for me personally, a transition from automating cars to automating enterprises.”

“After three decades of technical and operational leadership at Daimler, I wanted my next chapter to be about shaping the frontier of intelligent technologies,” said Markus Schaefer, Co-Founder of Russell AI Labs. “Joining Austin and team embodies that evolution, from software-defined vehicles to software-defined enterprises. At Mercedes and F1, you win with speed, technical talent, and execution - and that’s how we intend to win with Emergence AI and beyond.”

"At Russell AI Labs, we are deploying a truly bespoke approach that combines strategic capital with deep operational expertise to help breakthrough companies reach their full potential," said Murtaza Ahmed, Co-Founder of Russell AI Labs. "Emergence AI has risen to the forefront of its industry through its transformative agentic AI technology that is reshaping entire enterprises, and we’re excited to support their next chapter of growth."

“Reliable AI starts with reliable data,” said Satya Nitta, CEO of Emergence AI. “There is no point in having the most advanced reasoning systems if your starting point is wrong. By making the troves of unstructured data 'intelligence-ready', we are working to become a ubiquitous ramp for the autonomous enterprise. More than that, we are not actually here to replace system integrators, but to help them with the slowest step in any transformation: data readiness. Our partnership with Russell AI Labs will help us accelerate commercialization and bring us to even greater heights as we scale.”

Austin Russell Biography

Austin Russell is a prolific American innovator and serial entrepreneur, starting from his first patent at age 12 and first company at 17.

He is the founder of Luminar Technologies, creating the business after winning a Thiel Fellowship and leaving Stanford University to develop advanced laser, semiconductor, and AI software technologies and bring them to market. Under his visionary leadership, Luminar became the leading global provider of automotive LiDAR and associated software, working with over 50 commercial partners and top-tier brands such as Volvo, NVIDIA, Caterpillar, and Nissan. The company became public in 2020.

Russell has been recognized by publications ranging from MIT Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35 to the Philanthropy 50 as a top charity donor globally. He continues to be an influential figure in the fields of photonics, artificial intelligence, mobility, entrepreneurship, and finance.

Markus Schaefer Biography

Markus Schaefer is a Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG and Chief Technology Officer, Development & Procurement, where he is responsible for global R&D Engineering of all products and technologies at Mercedes-Benz. In addition, he spearheads procurement for the whole group. Prior to this role, he served as COO of Daimler AG from 2020 to 2024. Markus also chairs Mercedes-Benz’s Formula 1 team and the Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains Ltd., bridging cutting-edge motorsport innovation into mainstream automotive engineering.

Schaefer is globally recognized for his leadership at the intersection of technology, operations, and strategy – bringing profound expertise in scaling complex global supply chains, driving operational excellence, and aligning engineering innovation with board-level governance and ESG imperatives. During his 30-year tenure with Daimler and Mercedes-Benz, Schaefer led the company’s digital transformation, electrification strategy, and transition toward software-defined vehicles. He oversees tens of billions in annual procurement spend, driving supplier resilience through the global semiconductor shortage, and spearheaded the company’s carbon-neutrality roadmap, including supplier sustainability audits.

Murtaza Ahmed Biography

Murtaza Ahmed brings two decades of experience as a senior dealmaker, investor, and adviser on globally complex businesses in advanced technology and emerging markets verticals.

Ahmed began his career at Deutsche Bank before rapidly rising to become Managing Director at Goldman Sachs in 2015. He was subsequently recruited by SoftBank to directly oversee its $5 billion Latin American Fund and as a Partner in its historic $100 billion Vision Fund.

Most recently, Ahmed founded his own platform, Chiltern Street Capital, prior to co-founding Russell AI Labs. He remains passionate for charitable endeavors, having served as a board member at EMPower for over a decade to champion youth empowerment in emerging markets.

About Russell AI Labs

Russell AI Labs was founded by Austin Russell, Markus Schaefer, and Murtaza Ahmed to build and back the next generation of transformative AI and frontier technology companies. For more information, please visit: www.russellailabs.com.

About Emergence AI

Emergence AI is the world’s leading platform built for CEOs and business leaders seeking AI deployments that go beyond experiment to drive enterprise transformation. By orchestrating networks of AI agents that automate complex workflows across functions, Emergence helps leadership teams cut costs, accelerate growth, and compete more effectively.

Emergence has been at the frontier of agentic AI from day one. It pioneered recursive intelligence, set state-of-the-art benchmarks in long-term memory and web-browsing agents, and revived cognitive architectures to build deterministic AI systems.

The Emergence team comes from the world’s leading AI labs and technology teams, including IBM Research, Google DeepMind, The Allen Institute for AI, Amazon, and Meta. Emergence is headquartered in New York, with offices in California, Spain, and India. Learn more at https://www.emergence.ai/.

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KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA CALIFORNIA NEW YORK

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SOURCE: Russell AI Labs

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PUB: 09/24/2025 03:30 AM/DISC: 09/24/2025 03:29 AM

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