Brian Hartzband, President of US Operations, GMEX Robotics – Interview Series

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Brian Hartzband, President of US Operations, GMEX Robotics, leads the company’s U.S. expansion, with a focus on building its commercial footprint, developing strategic partnerships, and bringing its physical AI and robotics platforms into real-world deployments. Prior to joining GMEX Robotics, Hartzband spent nearly four years at TEKsystems across technical recruiting and account management roles serving government and higher education clients.

He previously co-founded and helped lead Handcrafted 4 Home, where he drove U.S. market expansion and partnerships with major retailers and e-commerce platforms. Earlier in his career, Hartzband worked in wealth management at Merrill Lynch and UBS, where he advised high- and ultra-high-net-worth clients and helped build a substantial international client portfolio.

GMEX Robotics is a Nasdaq-listed physical AI and robotics company developing intelligent machines for commercial environments. Formerly known as Fitell Corporation, the company follows what it describes as a “Terminal + Brain” approach, combining purpose-built robotic hardware with adaptable AI capabilities rather than relying on a fully vertically integrated technology stack. Its first major commercialization focus is 2F Culinary AI, a commercial kitchen robotics platform that includes the Bon Vivant 3.0 and Max systems, which use sensors, AI-driven controls, and programmable workflows to automate food preparation.

GMEX has also identified transportation and logistics, industrial automation, and resource exploration as longer-term expansion areas. In March 2026, the company announced an AU$4.2 million agreement covering at least 50 intelligent kitchen robotics systems for an Australian hospitality group, followed by its first deployment order in May.

You recently joined GMEX Robotics as President of U.S. Operations after a career spanning financial services, entrepreneurship, technology recruiting, and enterprise relationships. What convinced you that physical AI and robotics represented the right next chapter, and what are your priorities as you build GMEX’s presence in the U.S.?

I saw the value in AI and robots, particularly around social intelligence, which is happening right now. I wanted to be contributing to it. What excites me about GMEX is the Terminal + Brain model. We’re not trying to do everything ourselves. We build hardware that’s reliable and practical, and we connect it to best-in-class AI.

That’s a completely different approach than how most robotics companies operate. Right now I’m talking to investors about what we’re actually building and establishing key partnerships in the U.S. This is the right moment for this.

GMEX describes its strategy as a “Terminal + Brain” ecosystem in which robotics hardware connects the physical world with an AI intelligence layer. Can you explain how this architecture works and what you believe differentiates it from more vertically integrated approaches to robotics?

Most robotics companies try to build everything themselves; the hardware, the software, the AI. That’s expensive and slow. We do it differently. The Terminal is our hardware. The Brain is our AI orchestration layer, which we build with partnerships like 247meta. The advantage is flexibility. If better AI becomes available, we integrate it without rebuilding the robot.

We’re not locked into one bet. We focus on what we’re best at; reliable, practical hardware, and we partner with best-in-class AI instead of trying to beat everyone on the tech side alone. That means faster iteration, lower capital, and we move at the speed of AI innovation, not mechanical engineering timelines.

GMEX has entered into an agreement to acquire an initial stake in MediaMeta.ai, whose technology focuses on social intelligence and human behavioral modeling. What does “social intelligence” mean in the context of a robot, and what new capabilities could it unlock that today’s multimodal AI models cannot reliably provide?

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