Greylock | Zoox CEO Aicha Evans | Moving People Forward @GreylockVC | Uploaded December 2022 | Updated October 2024, 3 hours ago.
Zoox CEO Aicha Evans speaks with Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman to discuss how the "robotaxi" company has made safety permeate into every aspect of the company culture and operations; why they are building for dense urban environments; and her vision for the future of the “people moving business.”
Zoox's unique approach to autonomous driving (building all of the hardware and software in-house, from the ground up), means the entire company is oriented around the same mission and priorities. From the people building the door handles to the developers coding the software, keeping riders safe is the paramount focus for every Zoox employee. That means all teams must operate with total transparency and expect a culture of collective learning, patience, and tradeoffs, says Evans.
“Zoox has a very transparent culture – some would argue too transparent. But there’s one plan. Everybody knows it. If you work here, I’m not giving you any opportunity for it to be secret,” says Evans.
This interview is part of Greylock's Iconversations speaker series. You can read a transcript here: greylock.com/greymatter/zoox-moving-people-forward
Chapters
0:00 Introduction
1:42 State of the Industry
3:39 Zoox
5:25 Safety Nets
8:50 Urban Environment
12:41 Career Journey
16:25 Core Lessons from Intel
18:07 Engineering and Humanism
21:38 Branching Out
24:57 Work-Love
27:48 First Months at Zoox
31:45 Workflow and Communication
35:09 Scale Journeys
38:09 Rider Experience
40:29 Riding in Zoox
41:51 Hesitation from the Public
43:54 Transition of Society
Zoox CEO Aicha Evans speaks with Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman to discuss how the "robotaxi" company has made safety permeate into every aspect of the company culture and operations; why they are building for dense urban environments; and her vision for the future of the “people moving business.”
Zoox's unique approach to autonomous driving (building all of the hardware and software in-house, from the ground up), means the entire company is oriented around the same mission and priorities. From the people building the door handles to the developers coding the software, keeping riders safe is the paramount focus for every Zoox employee. That means all teams must operate with total transparency and expect a culture of collective learning, patience, and tradeoffs, says Evans.
“Zoox has a very transparent culture – some would argue too transparent. But there’s one plan. Everybody knows it. If you work here, I’m not giving you any opportunity for it to be secret,” says Evans.
This interview is part of Greylock's Iconversations speaker series. You can read a transcript here: greylock.com/greymatter/zoox-moving-people-forward
Chapters
0:00 Introduction
1:42 State of the Industry
3:39 Zoox
5:25 Safety Nets
8:50 Urban Environment
12:41 Career Journey
16:25 Core Lessons from Intel
18:07 Engineering and Humanism
21:38 Branching Out
24:57 Work-Love
27:48 First Months at Zoox
31:45 Workflow and Communication
35:09 Scale Journeys
38:09 Rider Experience
40:29 Riding in Zoox
41:51 Hesitation from the Public
43:54 Transition of Society
