Plato raises $16 million to build the training grounds for AI's next leap into real work. Oct 28, 2026, 9:17 AM ET Plato gives AI developers a repeatable way to train and test models on the tools, decisions, and constraints that shape real work SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Plato, a company building simulated workplaces where AI can learn to do real jobs, today announced a $16 million Series A funding round led by Nava Ventures, with participation from Gradient Ventures, Transpose Platform, and Microsoft AI CEO, Mustafa Suleyman. Freddie Martignetti, founder of Nava Ventures, joins the board. The round brings Plato's total funding to $19 million, following a seed round led by Gradient Ventures. As AI moves from answering questions to taking action, it needs practice using software, responding to changing circumstances, and completing multistep tasks. Plato gives AI labs realistic, repeatable environments where models can learn from feedback before operating in live systems. "Mastering real complex work comes from experience doing those tasks," said Robert Farlow, co-founder and CEO of Plato. "We're building simulations that capture the tools, decisions, and unexpected situations those tasks involve, so AI models can gain experience in safe, contained environments before developers put them to work." For AI labs, training models directly in live software can carry real consequences: A model learning to place an order could spend actual money, while one practicing an administrative task could alter real records. Plato recreates these workflows in simulations that can be reset and reused, giving labs a place to train and test models without affecting live operations. Plato works with domain experts to recreate the tools, situations, and expectations that shape jobs in customer support, people operations, finance, accounting, and healthcare administration. AI labs use these environments for reinforcement learning, a process in which models attempt tasks and receive feedback that helps them improve. Plato is developing richer simulations involving longer sequences of work and interactions with simulated people. Plato evaluates both the outcome and how a model reaches it. Completing a purchase, for example, should not count as success if the model exceeds the budget. Its evaluations also examine whether models exploit weaknesses in a simulation to earn a high score. "The feedback a model receives shapes what it learns," said Pranav Putta, co-founder and CTO of Plato. "We build evaluations that reflect what the job actually requires, so developers can distinguish a high score from work done correctly. That means checking whether a model followed instructions, respected constraints, and completed the task." Farlow and Putta bring firsthand experience building systems for AI training. Farlow built an annotation platform at Yutori to support training computer-use models. Putta's background includes research in computer vision, robotics, and reinforcement learning, as well as work training computer-use models at MultiOn. "Robert and Pranav are deeply talented researchers and developers from Waterloo and Georgia Tech. They have developed a unique way to create high fidelity environments at scale, which is what initially drew us to the company," said Freddie Martignetti, Founder of Nava Ventures. "However, we quickly learned that Plato is really a data lab, working on the frontier of the field to support the world's best model development. We believe the work that Plato is doing is critical to unlocking the potential of AI at the enterprise level" Plato will use the funding to expand its library of real-world work experience, paying professionals to recreate their jobs in simulated environments and deploying AI agents on real tasks to collect additional experience. About Plato Plato builds working simulations of real jobs and tasks for AI training and evaluation. Its environments combine realistic tools, situations, and task requirements so AI labs can train models on complex work and assess their performance in contained settings. Founded by Robert Farlow and Pranav Putta, Plato brings firsthand model-training experience and domain expertise to the challenge of making AI useful in the real world. Founded in 2025 and based in San Francisco, Plato has raised $19 million in total funding. Investors include Nava Ventures, Gradient Ventures, Transpose Platform, and Microsoft AI CEO, Mustafa Suleyman. SOURCE Plato Technologies, Inc. NOTE: This content is not written by or endorsed by "WOWK", its advertisers, or Nexstar Media Inc.

Plato builds training environments where agents can be taught to do more complex work.