About
Ryo Ishibashi is a corporate innovation and startup ecosystem professional serving as Program Director at MIT Corporate Relations, where he works with the Industrial Liaison Program team to connect MIT-affiliated startups, especially deep tech companies from MIT labs, with companies in the MIT ecosystem. He began as an automotive engineer in Detroit, then worked in the San Francisco Bay Area startup sector, at a family office with assignments in Tokyo and Singapore, in management consulting in Chicago, and with a Boston-based startup in Tokyo. His most recent assignment before MIT was leading engineers in Japan deploying AI-based warehouse automation. Ryo brings an engineering and international business perspective on deep tech commercialisation, corporate-startup collaboration, and cross-border work between Japan and the United States. The role provides direct exposure to how established companies find, assess, and partner with research-driven startups. Ryo is particularly relevant to conversations around university-industry collaboration, corporate partnerships for deep tech startups, robotics and automation, and building bridges between the Japanese and U.S. innovation ecosystems.