Subvolts take Hardware needs software-like development for AI's physical future. Mar 10, 2026 - Developers
- Learn how modern data infrastructure and validation logic apply to physical hardware development.
- Business
- Understand the shift towards physical AI companies and the need for robust testing and data management.
This interview with founders of a company building essential infrastructure for hardware development offers a solid look at a growing AI-related sector.
Physics Gets a Vote: Nominal Cofounders on Hardware Development in an AI World
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From Subvolts
Summary and analysis by Subvolts editorial, AI-assisted.
Sequoia Capital's Training Data podcast features Nominal cofounders Cameron McCord, Jason Hoch, and Bryce Strauss discussing a new approach to hardware engineering. They explain how Nominal provides a system of record for hardware testing, moving companies from PDF workflows to data infrastructure. The conversation explores the idea that all hardware companies will become physical AI companies, requiring rigorous validation.
This episode explains how building physical products, like robots or cars, is becoming more like building software. Nominal helps companies test and track their hardware using data, ensuring it works correctly before it's used in the real world.
This episode offers insight into the evolving landscape of hardware development in the AI era. It's for hardware engineers, founders of hardware startups, and investors interested in the reindustrialization trend. Nominal's focus on a "verification layer" for physical products connects to the broader AI industry's need for robust testing and validation, mirroring the careful development cycles seen in frontier AI labs before deploying new models.
- HostSequoia Capital
- GuestCameron McCordCofounder, Nominal
- GuestJason HochCofounder, Nominal
- GuestBryce StraussCofounder, Nominal
- Guests: Cameron McCord, Jason Hoch, Bryce Strauss (Nominal Cofounders)
- Show: Training Data (Sequoia Capital)
- Length: 41 minutes
- Nominal's role: System of record for hardware testing, enabling data infrastructure for sensor telemetry.
- Core insight: All hardware companies will become physical AI companies requiring rigorous validation.
Nominal’s cofounders (Cameron McCord, Jason Hoch and Bryce Strauss) realized that the new age of reindustrialization requires a new approach to hardware engineering and testing that’s closer to how software is developed. They founded Nominal with the insight that while SpaceX, Tesla, and Anduril built proprietary internal platforms for hardware testing, the thousands of new hardware entrants can't afford to replicate that work.
Nominal serves as the system of record for hardware testing, helping companies move from PDF-based workflows to modern data infrastructure that catalogs telemetry from sensors producing millions of data points per second.
The platform enables engineers to author validation logic that follows hardware systems from initial testing through manufacturing and field deployment. We discuss their belief that all hardware companies will become physical AI companies, and why they think Nominal's role as the verification layer will be critical - because unlike a video game, physical products require rigorous validation before they enter the real world.
Hosted by: Alfred Lin and Sonya Huang, Sequoia Capital
- reindustrialization
- Nominal Cofounders
- Bringing manufacturing and industrial capabilities back to a country or region.
- telemetry
- Nominal Cofounders
- Data collected remotely from sensors about a system's performance.
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Questions people ask
- What problem does Nominal solve for hardware companies?
- Nominal provides a system of record for hardware testing, helping companies move from PDF-based workflows to modern data infrastructure for sensor telemetry.
- Why is rigorous validation critical for hardware companies?
- Unlike software, physical products require rigorous validation before entering the real world to ensure they function correctly and safely.
Page generated Oct 19, 2026. Summaries are Subvolts' own; the audio, artwork and notes belong to Sequoia Capital.