Saurabh Verma

Jeff Hammoud, Rivian’s Chief Design Officer, took me inside their color and materials room—a space that encourages innovation and intricate design storytelling. I learned how Rivian’s design philosophy transforms everyday materials and objects into thoughtful features that enrich the experience of driving their EVs, and how one of their most iconic features was inspired by a humble piece of climbing gear. Follow along for more at https://lnkd.in/gZbXmpYk

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Getting the tech right is only half the battle. If the public doesn't trust it or regulators block it, your state-of-the-art robot is just a very expensive paperweight. Tomorrow (Tuesday) at 1:00 PM PT, I’m hosting a session for the UC San Diego Alumni AI Council (https://lnkd.in/gSWBz22V) "AI Perspectives" series to talk about the messy, non-technical reality of getting physical AI out the door. Drawing on my experience deploying self-driving vehicles, off-road robotics, and other safety-critical systems, we're skipping the theoretical hype and diving straight into the actual friction points of deployment: ➡️ What actually goes into a successful deployment beyond the code and hardware? ➡️ How public opinion actively accelerates—or completely stalls—adoption. ➡️ How regulators are approaching novel, autonomous technologies today, and how to navigate those frameworks. ➡️ The current deployment bottlenecks we are seeing across physical AI industries and how to build a strategy that actually wins over customers and regulators (instead of just hoping for the best). Whether you are building safety-critical systems, wrestling with deployment bottlenecks, or just curious about what happens when AI meets the physical world, you should be there. https://lnkd.in/gtYg9yzr (And yes, if you register, you'll get the recording even if you can't make it live).

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🚖 At CES, we caught up with Nuro in front of their robotaxi. Built with Lucid Motors and Uber and powered by the NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion platform, it's headed for public rides in the SF Bay Area later this year.

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"How did you transition from Automotive to Tech?" It's the question I get asked most. There is no secret. It's frameworks to transfer skills. Not reinventing the wheel, just adapting to what works. Switching to AI thinking is no different. You're not learning a new discipline—you're applying a slightly modified framework to what you already know as a PM. Here's the framework I am trying out that stole from the 1000s of videos out there (if it doesn't work, modify for your use) : 1. UNDERSTAND: What's the actual problem?  • Describe the pain without mentioning AI or ML  • How do people solve this today?  • Why does the current solution suck?  🚩 𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘨: 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩 or 𝘗𝘙-𝘍𝘈𝘘 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 "𝘈𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥..." 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 "𝘜𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩..." 2. EVALUATE: Is AI the right tool?  • Is this inherently probabilistic or deterministic?  • What's the explainability requirement?  • What's the acceptable error rate?  • What's your MOAT? Do we have proprietary data or domain expertise? Why does ChatGPT not work?  • Could rules-based logic work better and cheaper? 3. DESIGN: How do we deploy responsibly?  • What happens when the AI is wrong? What's the blast radius?  • What guardrails prevent catastrophic failures?  • How do we maintain user trust through inevitable errors?  • What's our escalation path for edge cases? 4. BUILD: How does this improve over time?  • What feedback loops drive continuous improvement?  • What data are we collecting for refinement?  • How do we detect and respond to model drift? ------ Would love to hear what other frameworks are folks using? 

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I spoke to Samsara VP of product, engineering, AI and safety to learn how his company combines in-vehicle cameras with data analysis and AI to help encourage fleet driving safety. One thing is clear, he is enthusiastic as any executive I have spoken to to this point when it comes to working with startups to improve his industry and enhance his company's offerings. “If there is one thing I want to campaign for, it’s that this industry needs more startups. Please come start companies in our industry. It’s great when new players come in and push the thinking," Land said. Link in comments below.

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Lucid Motors is #Arizona's answer to # Tesla Lucid Motors ' robo-taxis AND Waymo serve the Arizona market Arizona is the proving ground for EVs and #EV #automation Phoenix Business Journal Phoenix Business RadioX #EV #innovation #entrepreneurs #eclecticvehicles #startups Uber Lyft #engineering

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What a great example of #airporttech! I like the "...friendly nudge by an officer." Excellent use case of curb management. Thank you Andrew K Kirk and Automotus for your partnership. INRIX #airports #govtech

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Uber is redefining how the world moves – combining the power of electric and autonomous technology to build a hybrid network of the future that will make transportation more affordable, sustainable, and reliable for all. Our announcement today with @LucidMotors and @Nuro is key to bringing that vision to life. The future is on its way! https://lnkd.in/gW_xh4de

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