
Beyond Standards: Why Humanoid Robot Safety Requires What No Framework Has Codified Yet
This article was written by Gokul Krithivasan, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of SRES. Gokul is a senior safety expert with over 14 years of experience
We help companies develop responsibly safe and secure products across automotive systems and physical AI platforms.

We develop safety strategies aligned with standards such as ISO 26262 and ISO 21448, applying functional safety principles across automotive, robotics, and AI-enabled systems to ensure safe and predictable behavior in real-world conditions.

We apply standards like ISO/SAE 21434 and ISA/IEC 62443 to protect system integrity—aligning cybersecurity with safety and system architecture across modern, connected systems.

We enable the responsible development and deployment of AI—addressing model behavior, data, governance, and regulatory requirements across safety-critical systems and engineering workflows.
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Our team brings several decades of experience across safety-critical systems, working across functional safety, cybersecurity, and AI assurance. We work closely with leading OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, autonomous vehicle developers, and robotics and AI technology companies. We apply a unified engineering approach to address real-world challenges and build systems that are not only compliant, but robust, scalable, and ready for deployment.
Jody and his team have been instrumental for the safety of our organization. Their training programs, led by certified experts, equipped our team with crucial skills in functional safety. Simultaneously, their consulting services provided us with practical guidance to implement safety measures effectively. They not only helped us move forward towards compliance, but they also enhanced the safety and reliability of our systems.
During my time with Jody, it became abundantly clear that he lives and breathes his passion for safety. In addition to a wealth of knowledge and experience in established best practices, Jody presented an open mind to creating a safety case for a technology which was just laying its safety foundations.
I attended one of Jody's IS026262 training sessions, where he demonstrated a thorough understanding of safety-critical systems, a meticulous approach to standards, and a practical perspective that proved particularly valuable.
I have had the great fortune of contracting Jody Nelson for Functional Safety services multiple times over the past 12 years. He is the most experienced and most knowledgeable Functional Safety expert I have ever worked with. He has vast experience in many different product technologies, including significant autonomy experience, so he is a very technical safety expert in terms of architecture, safety analysis, requirements and verification. Additionally his experience spans the entire safety lifecycle and includes significant experience in safety reviews. He is the best in the business and the first person I call when seeking safety expertise.
Our company has utilized Jody’s expertise in functional safety for both organization competency development through formal training, and technical support for safety-critical product development. Jody’s professionalism and depth of expertise in embedded safety-critical systems and homologation have helped our company successfully deliver safety critical products to international and domestic end customers.
Truly appreciate - and can only recommend - the expertise of Jody Nelson that he has provided over the past decade. Thanks to Jody, we were able to implement ISO 26262 in our organization. It was great to have Jody on our side when we established the required processes and built the safety culture on top.














This article was written by Gokul Krithivasan, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of SRES. Gokul is a senior safety expert with over 14 years of experience

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We’re here to provide the guidance and support you need to navigate the complexities of engineering with responsibility and safety at the forefront.

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