At PhysicsX, innovation moves fast, and at the helm of our product strategy is Stephen Rose, our new VP of Product. From the high-stakes world of Formula One to building AI-driven platforms for enterprise users, Stephen has spent his career solving complex problems at speed. We caught up with him to hear what drew him to PhysicsX, his vision for the future, and the biggest lessons he’s learned along the way.
You’ve had a high-impact career. Give us the highlights – what led you to PhysicsX?
I’ve been lucky to work at the intersection of cutting-edge technology and real-world impact throughout my career. Following my Computer Science degree, I joined McLaren’s Formula One team. It was an intense, formative experience. Deadlines there are non-negotiable – if the car isn’t race-ready, you don’t race. It’s an environment where every second counts, and you’re constantly striving for innovation.
McLaren truly shaped the start of my journey in product. As a software engineer, having the opportunity to sit in the same room as the users of the data management and simulation platform I was building gave me direct access to their needs and challenges. This firsthand exposure provided a deep understanding of how technology translates into real-world decisions and outcomes, sparking my passion for product and design thinking.
From there, I helped build and scale McLaren Applied Technologies, taking F1 innovations into other industries. That startup experience shifted me from technical roles to product and commercial strategy, where I could focus on connecting the dots between innovation, technology, and user outcomes, making sure the insights generated in the lab reach the decision-makers in meaningful and interactive ways.
I then moved on to roles at Improbable, bringing large-scale multi-domain simulation to defense, and to Kallikor where we used simulation to help businesses optimize their supply chains.
PhysicsX felt like the perfect next step – I’ve missed the proximity to engineering since my Formula One days, so this opportunity to bring cutting-edge AI to engineering and industrial organizations at scale is both exciting and deeply rewarding. And of course, it’s the people here. I know this is cliché, but startups are tough, and you need great minds and great people to succeed. PhysicsX has both.
What’s your mission as VP of Product?
Scaling the impact of great innovation. That means taking all the brilliant ideas across the organization and unifying them into a coherent product strategy. Innovation doesn’t come from a single person or team; it comes from everywhere – from R&D to customer-facing teams – and my job is to harness that collective creativity.
As PhysicsX grows, finding smart ways to scale our impact across industries becomes increasingly important. We’re focused on helping customers tackle complex challenges with our platform and embedding those capabilities across their organizations. It’s not about one-off solutions; it’s about driving enterprise-wide transformation and ensuring long-term impact.
How do you create an environment where ideas lead to impact?
It starts with trust and psychological safety. People need to know their ideas will be heard, and they shouldn’t be afraid to speak up. Then, they need the autonomy and tools to act on those ideas. That might mean creating a new team, rethinking a product area, or building new capabilities.
The best ideas often come from people closest to the problem. My goal is to make sure those ideas are captured, prioritized, and developed into tangible outcomes.
How does PhysicsX stand out?
Many companies focus on solving isolated pain points in a product development cycle, whether that’s concepting, design, manufacturing, or testing. We think horizontally across the entire lifecycle, leveraging data and AI to drive impact at every stage with a platform-first approach.
With the rapid advances in AI, particularly foundation models, it’s critical to have a mechanism to deliver that innovation broadly and consistently. PhysicsX operates on two powerful axes: developing novel physics models, and understanding how to deploy them to deliver real user outcomes. It’s this dual capability that gives us the edge.
AI – hype or here to stay?
Buzzwords come and go, but what matters is delivering value for customers. If you’re enabling companies to bring better products to market faster, or elevating the performance of those products, that’s real value. And value doesn’t disappear when the buzz fades.
What keeps you motivated?
For me, it’s variety. I love exploring different perspectives, whether it’s diving into marketing, physics, human behavior, or business strategy. Audiobooks and reading help me constantly broaden my thinking and unlock new ways of approaching challenges. There’s no single framework for success, but every book or idea I come across nudges me forward in some way.
To wrap things up, one piece of advice for someone starting out?
Be curious. Always ask why. Why this approach? Why this decision? The context – whether it’s technical, business, or user-driven – is key to seeing the bigger picture.
It’s also important to respect the history of decisions within an organization. Change for change’s sake is pointless; fully understanding the reasoning behind past decisions helps you make smarter choices moving forward.
And most importantly, be inquisitive about people. Why do customers behave a certain way? Why do they want a particular feature? Understanding their internal motivations is just as important as understanding their practical needs.
Stephen’s Product team is growing! If you want to help build AI that is unlocking new frontiers in engineering, explore our open roles here: https://jobs.lever.co/physicsx.ai.