From medicine to machines – A Syrian entrepreneur builds smarter robots

How can skills learned by humans – like playing the piano – be transferred to robots through machine learning and AI? A robotics developer and physician who followed his passion has already seen his previous startup acquired by a social media giant. This article is part of a series linked to the new business strategy for the Tampere City Region for 2026–2030.

Originally trained as a medical doctor Faez Alsalka followed his passion into robotics. Today he’s a robotics developer and startup entrepreneur. Photo: Petri Kangas / Business Tampere

The résumé of Faez Alsalka, a Syrian entrepreneur living in Vuores and working in Hervanta, reads like something out of a superhero comic. Born in London, England, Alsalka moved with his family back to their native Syria when he was a young boy. His parents dreamed of him becoming a doctor, and he did, but his true calling lay in technology and robotics. For Alsalka, the two fields aren’t all that different.

“Both are about debugging a system,” he says.

Alsalka is the founder of AQL Robotics, a tech startup exploring how machine learning and artificial intelligence can be used to automate high-precision tasks.

Lightbulb moment

Alsalka demonstrates how robots can learn human skills like playing the piano by observing people. His thinking took a turn when he realized that AI-powered robots could perform extremely fine motor tasks, and that those same capabilities could be applied to more everyday activities.

“So I wanted to see how we could bring this into the physical world doing things that are, of course, much simpler than playing the piano. If you’re building a robot, you might want it to load the dishwasher. For a human, that’s a much easier task than playing the piano. And that’s when it hit me. We’re now at a point where we can build machine learning models that can handle tasks requiring skill and dexterity,” Alsalka explains.

Machine learning is a subfield of artificial intelligence (AI). According to the MIT Sloan School of Management, AI generally refers to a machine’s ability to mimic intelligent human behavior. AI systems are used to carry out complex tasks in ways that resemble human problem-solving. Today, common applications of machine learning include tools like the ChatGPT chatbot, facial recognition on smartphones, and content recommendations on streaming services.

Hard work pays off

Alsalka also shares his thoughts on living and working in Tampere’s Vuores and Hervanta districts.

“This is a great place to live and work. The university, the networks, and the other companies really support what we’re doing. I also love that nature is so close,” he says.

At the moment, Alsalka describes his robotics startup as being in stealth mode, keeping a low profile before its official launch. On its website, the company lists its collaborators as FOV Ventures, TSIC, ByFounders Collective, and Business Finland.

His advice for other entrepreneurs? Focus on what you genuinely enjoy. Long-term commitment and passion are essential. Sometimes it takes years, as it did with his previous startup. That hard work eventually paid off: the buyer was none other than social media giant Snapchat.

The Economic Development Strategy of the Tampere Region