To fundamentally alter the cost of human existence.

In college, Zach studied computer science, mathematics, and physics, and Danny studied architecture and business. In 2011, they met at a housing cooperative in Bloomington, Indiana and began asking each other: why is it so expensive to put a roof over someone's head?

They dug into the problem — literally. Working with an architect, they discovered earthen construction: homes built from local clay, a method thousands of years old, producing walls that are stronger, more thermally massive, and cheaper than anything in a modern supply chain. The catch? Nobody had figured out how to build them at scale - they’ve been hand made for millenia. They knew AI and robotics would eventually get there. So they split up to build the skills they'd need.

Zach went deep on AI — optimizing physics simulations at CERN, leading deep learning research at Nervana (acquired by Intel), and publishing in top robotics conferences. Danny went into construction and stayed close to the clay — founding Earth Lab at Indiana University to study earthen materials, then building tiny homes through his company Carpenter Owl, including a commission for Angie's List co-founder Bill Oesterle. In between, they co-founded a cohousing community in Bloomington and worked with the city to create an entirely new zoning category for it.

In 2018, Zach built a prototype AI-driven mini-excavator and called Danny with the news - that AI and robotics tech was ready. Danny left his architecture program at IU after Terran received a $256K NSF SBIR grant, and Terran Robotics was born.

Today, the company operates out of its lab in Bloomington and Proto-Town near Austin, Texas — where our robots are now building the company’s first paid-build.