In the final episode of It's Not Magic's San Francisco Season, Tekedra Mawakana, Co-CEO of Waymo, joined Sixth Street Co-President David Stiepleman for a Waymo ride around San Francisco and a conversation at our office about the journey of bringing autonomous driving from an innovative project to a daily reality for hundreds of thousands of riders.
As a leader at the forefront of physical AI, Tekedra shares insights on Waymo’s expansion to operating in ten cities, with many more on the horizon, and the rigorous safety standards that have led to a 10x reduction in injury-causing crashes compared to human drivers. A former IP and telecoms lawyer, she reflects on how her background in navigating highly regulated industries and earning stakeholder trust prepared her to lead a company at the intersection of technology, policy, and global operations.
The conversation dives into the reasoning capabilities of the Waymo Driver, her vision for wider applications of Waymo’s technology, the future of urban space in San Francisco and beyond, and why being \"deliberate, strategic, and focused\" is the right approach for safety-critical innovation.
Thank you to Tekedra for joining us!
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