#157 – Michael Wiesinger | Kodiak Robotics – The Path to Commercialization for Autonomous Long-Haul Trucking

Michael Wiesinger is the Vice President of Commercialization at Kodiak, and responsible for driving business development and major partnerships, defining Kodiak’s commercial product and deploying it with the mission to optimize value for Kodiak’s customers Key topics in this conversation include: The true value of autonomous long haul trucking How Kodiak is working to address the needs of their partners’ stakeholders The key assumptions that need to hold true for autonomous trucking to take off How Kodiak is helping their partners increase their total capacity The impact of Chris Voss’s Never Split the Difference Links: ● Show notes: http://brandonbartneck.com/futureofmobility/michaelwiesinger ● https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-wiesinger-ab291590/ ● Solutions page - https://kodiak.ai/solutions/ ● Gen5 - https://kodiak.ai/news/smarter-faster-just-as-safe/ ● 2022 Recap - https://kodiak.ai/news/2022-safety-partners-and-progress/ Michael’s Bio: Michael Wiesinger is the Vice President of Commercialization at Kodiak, and responsible for driving business development and major partnerships, defining Kodiak’s commercial product and deploying it with the mission to optimize value for Kodiak’s customers. Michael spent most of his career in the automotive and supply chain industries. He worked for Detroit Diesel, a Daimler Truck subsidiary, before he joined BCG, where he focused on strategy, operations and supply chain topics for some of the world’s largest automotive OEMs. Michael was also part of the team that launched Ware2Go, a UPS company, where he built the company’s initial warehouse network and led all supply chain related topics About Kodiak Robotics: Kodiak Robotics, Inc. was founded in 2018 to develop autonomous technology that carries freight forward — so people, partners, and the planet thrive. The company is developing an industry-leading technology stack purpose-built for long-haul trucks, making the freight industry safer and more efficient. Kodiak's unique modular hardware approach integrates sensors into a streamlined sensor-pod structure that optimizes for perception, scalability, and maintainability. The company delivers freight daily for its customers across the South, operating autonomously on the highway portions of the routes. Kodiak also leverages its commercial self-driving software to develop, test and deploy autonomous capabilities for the U.S. Department of Defense. Future of Mobility: The Future of Mobility podcast is focused on the development and implementation of safe, sustainable, effective, and accessible mobility solutions, with a spotlight on the people and technology advancing these fields. linkedin.com/in/brandonbartneck/ brandonbartneck.com/futureofmobility/