Leaders with Lacqua Goes Green: Zoox CEO Aicha Evans

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According to their website, Zoox was founded “to make personal transportation safer, cleaner, and more enjoyable—for everyone.” To achieve that goal, they created a “whole new form of transportation.” Zoox is seeking to build a fit-for-purpose self-driving passenger vehicle from the ground up, along with the software and AI end to provide its autonomous driving capabilities. In 2020 Zoox was acquired by Amazon possibly to integrate Zoox’s offerings into its logistics network to offer cheaper and faster delivery, as well as its cashierless grocery stores.

Aired at the Bloomberg Technology Summit 2022 in London, Aicha Evans, CEO, Zoox explained why they don’t call their autonomous vehicles cars. “From an engineering standpoint, the architecture of a car is around a human driver, the hood, the windshield, even the seating arrangements, so the people seated around the driver don’t bother them.” But the robotaxi, basically a passenger compartment on wheels, does not accommodate manual driving. “So, we want to make sure that mindset, that shift, that distinction is clear.”

Moving forward, the issue is about testing. In the U.S., an average of 40,000 people die annually in motor vehicle accidents, Evans said. That’s mostly due to human error. That said, drivers in the U.S. log a remarkable 100 million miles per fatality. “It takes a lot of testing, a lot of statistical math and forecasting to meet and beat that number, because we try to be better than humans.”

Using technology to innovate for the future

Today, innovation is advancing at greater speed than ever. From transport to agriculture, from medicine to automation, not one area of our lives is untouched by technological advancement. It’s an extraordinary time for innovation and it seems to be at the heart of virtually everything we do, including at Zurich Insurance Group Ltd (Zurich). In order to keep thinking like a 150-year-old start-up, Zurich encourages individuals and corporations to embrace fresh ideas and fresh input. Both from within an organization, but also through partnership and collaboration. Zurich supports new and sustainable modes of mobility. As one of the world’s leading car and fleet insurers, we don’t want to wait for the future. We’re already working on it. For Zurich, a cooperation with Rinspeed in 2020 offered a great opportunity to learn more about how its solutions can be applied in urban centers worldwide and also the risks that they provide. 

Is there a choice between advanced technology vs. sustainability?

Evans also pointed out that sustainability and advanced technologies need to advance together. “There might be some compromise in the short term but long-term it is a non-choice.” And she also made the point that sustainability is not just electrification. “We also building more things that we need. When we buy a car, we actually only use it 4% of the time. With a robotaxi, when you don’t use it someone else will”.

In the fifth episode of Leaders with Lacqua Goes Green, sponsored by Zurich Insurance Group, Bloomberg’s Francine Lacqua sits down with Aicha Evans, CEO of Zoox for a wide-ranging conversation around autonomous driving challenges, sustainability, leadership, and hard days (Source: Bloomberg). Watch the full video which was first aired at the Bloomberg Technology Summit on September 28, 2022, and subsequently on Bloomberg.com.

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