E. Glen Weyl
Founder of Microsoft Research's Plural Technology Collaboratory | Co-Author of Plurality & Radical Markets | Chair, Plurality Institute | Co-Founder, RadicalxChange
Sebastian Thrun
AI & Robotics Pioneer | Founder of Google X, Waymo, Udacity & Dulo | Godfather of the Self-Driving Car | Former Director, Stanford AI Lab
The future belongs to human-machine collaboration, and few have shaped this frontier more profoundly than AI pioneer Sebastian Thrun. Founder of Google X and Waymo, a pioneer of probabilistic robotics, and creator of Udacity, Thrun has redefined what is possible in robotics, AI, transportation, and education. Today he stands at the forefront of physical AI, and remains one of the most compelling voices on innovation anywhere in the world.
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Sebastian Thrun biography
AI speaker Sebastian Thrun is a pioneering roboticist, educator, and entrepreneur whose work helped define the modern field of physical AI. Widely recognized as the ‘godfather’ of self-driving technology, he led Stanford’s team to victory in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge with Stanley, the robotic vehicle now featured in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, and followed with Junior, runner-up in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge.
As a Stanford professor and former director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL), Thrun helped invent and popularize probabilistic robotics, the mathematical framework that enables machines to reason under uncertainty using sensors, maps, and imperfect information. His textbook Probabilistic Robotics, co-authored with Wolfram Burgard and Dieter Fox, remains a standard reference, and his research has shaped autonomous vehicles, localization, mapping, and robotic decision-making worldwide.
In 2007, Thrun joined Google as Vice President and Fellow, where he contributed to Street View and founded Chauffeur, Google’s self-driving car project, now Waymo, the global leader in autonomous driving. In 2010 he founded Google X, Google’s renowned innovation lab for ambitious “moonshot” projects aimed at improving technologies at least tenfold to address humanity’s most significant challenges. Under his leadership, Google X developed transformative projects including Google Brain, Wing, and GCam, and Thrun personally led the creation of Google Glass, an early and influential effort to bring AI, sensing, and computing into everyday human experience. Google Brain went on to revolutionize machine learning, advancing products from YouTube recommendations to Google’s AI models.
Thrun’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to co-found Udacity in 2012, a pioneering education platform whose ‘nanodegrees’ have reached more than 21 million learners worldwide in AI, machine learning, and software development. Known as the “Godfather of MOOCs,” he collaborated with Georgia Tech to create the first affordable online Master’s degree in computer science. In 2024, Udacity was acquired by Accenture.
Thrun also co-founded Kitty Hawk Corporation, a trailblazing electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) company, alongside Google co-founder Larry Page, and served as its CEO until 2022. Kitty Hawk developed over 100 electric flying vehicles and conducted more than 30,000 flights before selling its flagship Cora project to Boeing, now operating as Wisk.aero.
Sebastian Thrun Today: Robotics Founder, AI Entrepreneur & Sought-After Keynote Speaker
In 2026, Sebastian Thrun returned to the field where he made his name, robotics, unveiling Dulo, a stealth startup announced at the Actuate robotics conference in San Francisco. With a team drawn from Waymo, Google Brain, and SAIL, Dulo is developing AI foundation models for hardware design, with the goal of enabling “manufacturing at lightspeed.” Thrun is also CEO of Sage AI Labs, a stealth AI venture building next-generation, real-world applications of artificial intelligence, and co-founder and Chairman of Cresta AI, a fast-growing company that uses real-time AI coaching to enhance customer service and sales performance. He remains an adjunct professor at Stanford. In 2025, OpenAI acquired Crossing Minds, one of the AI companies Thrun co-founded, bringing its team and technology in-house to accelerate OpenAI’s personalization and recommendation capabilities.
Elected to the US National Academy of Engineering at just 39, named among the Top 100 Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine, and recognized by The Guardian as a ‘fighter for internet freedom,’ AI speaker Sebastian Thrun brings audiences an unparalleled look at the frontier of AI, robotics, and educational innovation, from someone who has spent three decades turning breakthrough research into technology that works in the real world.
Sebastian Thrun Speaking Videos
The Man Who Builds for the Decade Ahead | Founder of Google X, Waymo, and Udacity
Sebastian Thrun - What AI is - and isn't
Sebastian Thrun Keynote Topics
Having pioneered the self-driving car and now founded the stealth robotics startup Dulo, Sebastian Thrun is once again at the frontier of "physical AI", the wave of intelligent machines moving from screens into the real world. In this forward-looking keynote, Thrun explores what happens when AI leaves the digital realm to design, build, and operate hardware: from autonomous vehicles and flying cars to the next generation of robots and the AI-driven factories that will make them. Drawing on two decades leading breakthrough teams at Stanford, Google X, Waymo, and beyond, he shares where robotics and manufacturing are truly headed, the falling barriers now accelerating the field, and how leaders can prepare for a world where software and the physical world finally merge.
Sebastian Thrun, one of the pioneering minds behind Google X and the founding force of Waymo, takes us on a behind-the-scenes journey through some of the most groundbreaking technological initiatives of the past two decades. From launching self-driving cars to spearheading moonshot projects, Thrun will share candid insights into the culture of innovation at Google, the mindset required to lead high-risk, high-reward ventures, and the lessons learned from building technologies once thought impossible. In the second half of his talk, Thrun will turn his focus to the present and future of artificial intelligence, offering a personal, thought-provoking outlook on where AI is heading, how it will transform our world, and what responsibilities innovators must embrace as we stand on the cusp of the next great technological revolution.
Thrun is one of the pioneers of modern AI and robotics. In 2005, his team won the DARPA Grand Challenge with their robot “Stanley.” He also founded Google X in 2010 and led its self-driving car team. Thrun truly believes that AI has limitless applications, and is set to disrupt many industries in the next years. In this fascinating session, Thrun will talk about these limitless applications and how he envisions a near future in which AI powers every business and industry.
Sebastian Thrun pioneered online education with Udacity, the online-learning platform called the “University of Silicon Valley,” which has reached more than 21 million learners with Nanodegrees in programming, data science, artificial intelligence, digital marketing, and more. Sebastian has long advocated for the future of education being online, and has already disrupted higher education with Nanodegrees that significantly reduce the cost of a technical education, bringing the most innovative skills that companies require today to learners all around the world. Thrun's purpose is to fill the gap in skilled technology workers needed to handle the high-tech jobs of today and tomorrow.
From the Google Self Driving Car to Google Glass to the education start-up Udacity, Sebastian Thrun has led remarkable teams in the creation of products that will truly change the way the world works in the future. In 2013, he received the ALVA Award, presented by Behance in partnership with GE to recognize remarkable serial inventors.
In this talk, Thrun outlines his approach to making incredible ideas happen. Along the way he talks about the importance of setting wildly ambitious goals, embracing failure as an opportunity to learn, iterating as fast as you can, and giving your team members the autonomy they need to invent.
Speaker topics
FAQs on Booking Sebastian Thrun
Why is Sebastian Thrun considered a leading AI keynote speaker?
Sebastian Thrun is widely recognized as one of the pioneers of modern artificial intelligence, robotics, and autonomous driving. As the founder of Google X and of Google's self-driving car project, now Waymo, a pioneer of probabilistic robotics, and the creator of Udacity, he has shaped the development of AI across academia, industry, and education. His keynote speeches provide first-hand insights into breakthrough innovation, machine learning, robotics, and the future of technology, making him one of the most sought-after AI keynote speakers worldwide.
Organizations interested in booking Sebastian Thrun for conferences or executive events can contact Aurum Speakers Bureau for availability and tailored proposals.
What topics does AI speaker Sebastian Thrun cover in his keynote speeches?
AI speaker Sebastian Thrun covers topics such as artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, machine learning, moonshot innovation, digital transformation, and the future of education. Drawing on his experience at Stanford, Google X, Waymo, Udacity, and his current AI ventures, he offers strategic insights designed for senior leadership audiences navigating technological disruption. For detailed keynote themes and booking information, Aurum Speakers Bureau provides direct access to his speaking engagements.
Is Sebastian Thrun the inventor of the self-driving car?
Sebastian Thrun did not single-handedly invent the self-driving car, but he is widely regarded as one of the central pioneers of modern autonomous vehicle technology. He led Stanford’s team to victory in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge with the robotic vehicle Stanley and later founded Google’s self-driving car project, which became Waymo, now a global leader in autonomous driving.
Did Sebastian Thrun found Google X?
Yes, Sebastian Thrun founded Google X in 2010 as Google’s innovation lab dedicated to ambitious “moonshot” projects. Under his leadership, Google X developed transformative initiatives such as Waymo, Google Brain, and Wing, positioning it as one of the world’s most influential advanced technology labs.
What is probabilistic robotics, and what was Sebastian Thrun's role in it?
Probabilistic robotics is the mathematical framework that allows robots and autonomous vehicles to reason under uncertainty, combining noisy sensor data, maps, and imperfect information to estimate where they are and decide what to do next. As a Stanford professor and director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Sebastian Thrun helped invent and popularize the field, and his textbook Probabilistic Robotics, co-authored with Wolfram Burgard and Dieter Fox, remains a standard reference. These methods underpin modern self-driving cars, from the Stanford vehicle that won the DARPA Grand Challenge to the technology that became Waymo.
How to book Sebastian Thrun as a keynote speaker?
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How much is Sebastian Thrun speaking fee?
Sebastian Thrun speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire Sebastian Thrun to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book Sebastian Thrun.
How can I contact Sebastian Thrun?
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Can I book Sebastian Thrun for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Sebastian Thrun is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Sebastian Thrun for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
