How Karén Khachikyan, EMBA 27, built Robin the Robot to combat loneliness in healthcare facilities

Karén Khachikyan, EMBA 27, knew he was on to something when he introduced his first robot, Charlie, to school kids in his native Armenia. “The kids loved it,” said Khachikyan, cofounder and CEO of robotics company Expper Technologies. “They were running after it and calling it Charlie.”

Eight years later, Khachikyan has expanded his startup’s robot footprint across the U.S. with his latest creation, Robin the Robot, a socially intelligent robot deployed in more than 30 pediatric and geriatric healthcare facilities.

Robin’s mission is to combat loneliness and fear among children and the elderly patients through play, interactive games, and music—all while helping to support overworked healthcare teams. Designed with the personality of a 7-year-old and a cartoon face, Robin is programmed with the help of feedback from its users and artificial intelligence. 

We recently talked with Khachikyan about his journey building Robin, his plans for Robin’s AI-powered future, and how the executive MBA program at Haas is helping him better manage his company’s growth and strategic decisions.

What inspired you to create Robin?

After completing my PhD in electrical engineering, I was working at the chip design company Synopsys, where I first came across the idea of social robots. MIT Professor Cynthia Breazeal created this robot called Kismet and then started a company called Jibo. Her approach differed from robots designed to work independently of people in dangerous environments like space and mining. Her idea was: What if robots can work with people and be social, be friends, be in education? 

That was an inspiration for me, along with movies like “Wall-E” and “Chappie” that felt connected to my childhood. 

I grew up in a single-parent household, and I experienced loneliness a lot. My dream was to have a pet like a dog, so I thought it was such a great thing to have a robot that could be a friend, so I started working on that.

Why do you think kids respond so deeply to Robin?

Robin’s main goal is to be present with children and support them in any way that they need to be supported so that presence is very unique. It’s also Robin’s personality. Robin is very funny. She never never judges, and kids also get to teach Robin certain things. In environments like hospitals, it’s very empowering because usually they’re often told what to do. But with Robin, they have this friend who teaches them, but they can also contribute to Robin’s learning. So it’s a really interesting relationship.

How long did it take to build a prototype?

My first robot was a side project, and I called it Charlie. The robot wasn’t super intelligent. It was wheels with a name and a face. I thought about where it could be used before deciding that it could be a cool educational robot for kids. I have two little sisters in Armenia who brought a brochure home from school about an after-school robotics program. I got in touch with the school and told them about Charlie, and we ended up selling them five robots. 

How did you transition to building Robin?

Eight years ago, we went to a hospital and pitched the idea, and they got excited. Our first version of Robin focused on being a friend to kids in a stressful environment. We were designing different tools and different methods to reduce stress, and the toolkit grew quickly. We tested Robin in a hospital in Armenia, and four years ago, I moved to LA, where we had started a study with UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital. 

How do you balance the use of LLMs versus humans controlling Robin’s functionality?

The only reason that we haven’t deployed full LLMs is because they hallucinate. In a complex relationship when a child or elderly person interacts with a robot, there’s so much more that goes into that engagement. That’s why we have humans. We use AI today to empower our team to make robots more effective, more productive, and to get better at recognizing certain patterns to suggest different activities to patients. But the humans are in control. 

What brought you to the Berkeley Haas MBA program?

Running a startup requires both practical and academic experience, and I had never studied business. When I was working at Synopsis, the main tool that we were using to design chips was called SPICE, which simulates circuit operation to verify a design before manufacturing. SPICE was designed at UC Berkeley. So I knew of Berkeley and decided to apply to Haas. I applied to one school.

When I’m in class, I’m learning about what I was doing wrong before. If I hear a great idea, I can start doing it. For example, we’re launching a pilot with one of our customers to provide full prevention plans for nursing homes. Before, I would have just jumped in and built some kind of a pilot. But in my Data & Decisions course, I am learning that I need to approach this in a different way. We need an expert in data science to help us to design the pilot, and now we are approaching this opportunity differently. I also learned a lot about new ways to approach pricing for Robin in my economics class.

What’s next for Robin?

We’ve also realized that there’s a huge problem in geriatric care of loneliness and isolation, even more pressing than in pediatrics. When kids are hospitalized, they usually have family with them. But older adults are often lonely in these facilities. We are working on help with cognitive functioning, stimulating activities, and memory games and puzzles for our robots that will target cognitive work. If a person is experiencing depression or any negative emotional condition, Robin will focus on emotional support, trying to encourage them, cheer them up, maybe play their favorite music, or create these routines that they are engaging in together to increase positive emotions. So that programming is different and an area that we will be focusing on going forward.

Haas News: How is it juggling the executive MBA program as a startup CEO?

The program is very intense, but I love the emphasis on community and building relationships. The program office and all the staff are trying to help strengthen those relationships. I’m just enjoying that they emphasize that it’s not just about being successful or making money but serving and being a compassionate leader.