# Rahul Kar

> Rahul Kar is the founder and CEO of Hammerhead AI, a Redwood City startup that uses reinforcement-learning control agents to squeeze stranded power out of AI data centers. After helping build and scale AutoGrid - the distributed-energy software pioneer acquired by Schneider Electric - Kar launched Hammerhead in November 2025 with a $10M seed round led by Buoyant Ventures. His thesis is blunt: the real bottleneck for AI is not chips or models, it is power, and most data centers run at 30-50% of their allocated capacity. Hammerhead's ORCA platform orchestrates power, cooling, and compute in real time to unlock roughly 30% more usable capacity without touching the grid.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at Hammerhead AI
- **Organizations:** Hammerhead AI, Inc., AutoGrid, U.S. Department of Energy (advisory/strategy), Schneider Electric (via AutoGrid acquisition)
- **Education:** Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- **Known for:** Founded and leads Hammerhead AI, raising a $10M seed round in November 2025, Helped build and scale AutoGrid, acquired by Schneider Electric, Part of a team that orchestrated roughly 8 GW (8,000 MW) of energy flexibility across more than 20 countries

## Career timeline

- **pre-2025** — Chief Operating Officer at AutoGrid, scaling Virtual Power Plant and grid flexibility solutions across 20+ countries
- **pre-2025** — Helped guide AutoGrid through its acquisition by Schneider Electric
- **pre-2025** — Contributed to technology strategy and innovation with the U.S. Department of Energy on sustainable energy management
- **2025** — Co-founded Hammerhead AI with Rajeev Singh (CTO) and team of AutoGrid alumni
- **2025-11** — Emerged from stealth with $10M seed round led by Buoyant Ventures; launched ORCA platform

## Achievements

- Founded and leads Hammerhead AI, raising a $10M seed round in November 2025
- Helped build and scale AutoGrid, acquired by Schneider Electric
- Part of a team that orchestrated roughly 8 GW (8,000 MW) of energy flexibility across more than 20 countries
- Built ORCA, a reinforcement-learning platform that unlocks ~30% additional data center capacity with no SLA impact
- Selected speaker at CERAWeek energy conference

## Latest updates

- **2025-11** — Hammerhead AI emerged from stealth with a $10M seed round led by Buoyant Ventures, with backing including SE Ventures and NVIDIA accelerator programs; launched the ORCA platform.

## Links

- Website: https://hammerheadco.ai
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulkar

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/rahul-kar
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-21