We have developed an efficient room-temperature ytterbium-doped YAG laser operating at 1.03 microm pumped by an InGaAs strained-layer diode laser operating at 968 nm. The threshold was 234 mW and 23 mW of output power was obtained for an absorbed pump power of 345 mW. This laser offers a number of advantages over AlGaAs pumped Nd:YAG lasers, such as broader absorption features, longer fluorescent lifetime, and lower thermal loading of the gain medium.