Self-Driving Car Startup Zoox Gets a New CEO
Self-driving startup Zoox names Aicha Evans, former Intel chief strategy officer, as its new CEO.
Self-driving car startup Zoox hires Aicha Evans, Intel's former chief strategy officer, as its new CEO starting February 26. She replaces co-founder Tim Kentley-Klay, who is no longer with the company after his departure in August. Co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson explains that the company wants someone with strong executive and operational experience to guide them through their next stage of growth.
Evans brings a wealth of large-scale tech experience to the startup after spending 12 years at Intel. During her time there, she manages a massive 7,000-person engineering team and successfully leads the company's strategic transition from a PC-centric focus to a data-centric approach. This background prepares her well to oversee the complex engineering challenges involved in building autonomous vehicles.
The leadership transition occurs at a pivotal time for Zoox as the California Public Utilities Commission recently grants the company an autonomous vehicle passenger service pilot permit. Unlike other companies in the space, Zoox takes a unique approach by building its purpose-built autonomous vehicles entirely from the ground up rather than simply retrofitting existing cars.