Physics Gets a Vote: Nominal Cofounders on Hardware Development in an AI World
From Training Data by Sequoia Capital
March 10, 2026 · 41 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the innovative approach to hardware development in the context of AI, featuring insights from the cofounders of Nominal.
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
People in this episode
Hosts: Alfred Lin, Sonya Huang
Guests: Cameron McCord, Jason Hoch, Bryce Strauss
Topics covered
- hardware engineering
- AI
- data infrastructure
- validation logic
- reindustrialization
Keywords
- hardware testing
- AI companies
- data points
- validation
- manufacturing
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Nominal, SpaceX, Tesla, Anduril, Sequoia Capital
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