Daron Acemoglu
2024 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences | MIT Institute Professor | Institutions, Democracy & the Future of AI
Sterling Anderson
EVP & Chief Product Officer, General Motors | Co-Founder, Aurora Innovation | Former Tesla Autopilot Lead | MIT PhD in Robotics
Sterling Anderson is one of the most consequential figures in the future of mobility — the MIT roboticist who led Tesla Autopilot, co-founded Aurora Innovation, and now serves as EVP & Chief Product Officer at General Motors, overseeing the end-to-end product strategy of one of the world's largest automakers as it races to redefine the software-defined vehicle.
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Sterling Anderson biography
Sterling Anderson is one of the most accomplished and consequential figures in autonomous vehicle technology — a roboticist, entrepreneur, and executive whose career has shaped the systems that define how vehicles sense, decide, and move. He currently serves as Executive Vice President for Global Product and Chief Product Officer at General Motors, a role he assumed in June 2025, making him the most influential product executive at GM in over fifteen years. He oversees the end-to-end product lifecycle of GM’s entire portfolio — hardware, software, services, and user experience — reporting directly to President Mark Reuss, as the automaker accelerates its transformation into a software-defined vehicle company.
Autonomous vehicles speaker Sterling Anderson brings one of the most distinctive résumés in the industry to that role. He holds both a master’s degree and a PhD in robotics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he developed the Intelligent Co-Pilot — a semi-autonomous vehicle safety system that became a foundational reference point for human-machine interaction in automated driving. He then joined Tesla, where he served as the first leader of the Autopilot program and oversaw the development of the Model X — two of the most commercially impactful programs in the history of consumer automotive technology.
In December 2016, Anderson co-founded Aurora Innovation alongside Chris Urmson and Drew Bagnell, assembling what became one of the most technically respected autonomous vehicle companies in the United States. Over nearly nine years, Aurora pursued a disciplined, safety-first path to commercial autonomy. In April 2024, the company launched the first commercial, fully driverless trucking route in the country — operating autonomously between Houston and Dallas, Texas — a milestone that represented the culmination of years of systematic engineering and regulatory engagement. Anderson served as Aurora’s Chief Product Officer through its growth from startup to publicly traded company.
From Aurora to GM: Redefining the Automobile
Anderson joined GM in mid-2025 with a $40 million hiring package — a clear signal of the strategic significance GM’s leadership places on his capabilities. Within six months, he had consolidated authority over manufacturing engineering, battery, software and services product management, and engineering teams across GM’s global operations. CEO Mary Barra cited Anderson’s appointment as central to GM’s plans to achieve autonomous highway driving in its vehicles by 2028. In December 2025, Bloomberg reported that Anderson is among the leading candidates to succeed Barra as GM’s next CEO — a reflection of how rapidly he has become the defining voice in the company’s technological future. His stated philosophy: GM is a canvas — one that can be retouched, reimagined, and rebuilt for the next century of mobility.
As a speaker, Sterling Anderson offers audiences something rare — the perspective of someone who has not just studied autonomous and intelligent vehicle systems but has led the teams that built and deployed them at commercial scale. His keynotes combine technical depth with strategic clarity, addressing the real engineering challenges, policy constraints, and organizational dynamics that determine which AI-driven mobility visions become products and which remain concepts. For executives, investors, engineers, and policymakers navigating the transformation of transportation, Anderson is one of the most credible and insightful voices available.
Sterling Anderson Speaking Videos
Sterling Anderson - "What." Then "How." Realizing the Power of Right-to-Left Innovation
Sterling Anderson, Co-Founder, Aurora - MIT Self-Driving Cars
Sterling Anderson Keynote Topics
The gap between an autonomous vehicle demo and a commercially deployed autonomous system is measured not in years but in engineering decisions, safety frameworks, regulatory relationships, and organizational discipline. Drawing on his experience leading Tesla Autopilot, scaling Aurora Innovation to its first commercial driverless trucking route, and now overseeing GM's autonomy strategy, Anderson maps the real path from research to deployment — what the unsolved problems are, where the genuine breakthroughs have come from, and what senior leaders need to understand about the pace and nature of progress in this field. A technically authoritative, strategically grounded keynote for automotive, mobility, AI, and investment audiences.
Every major automaker is now racing to transform vehicles from mechanical products into software platforms — but the organizational, engineering, and commercial challenges of that transformation are far harder than most coverage suggests. Anderson, who is leading that transformation at General Motors, addresses what a software-defined vehicle actually is, why it demands a fundamental rethinking of how vehicles are designed, manufactured, and updated, and what the companies that successfully navigate this transition will look like compared to those that do not. A rare combination of technical depth and C-suite strategic perspective from the executive who has become GM's most important product mind.
Autonomous vehicles are the most complex real-world deployment of artificial intelligence in history — systems that must perceive, reason, and act in an environment of near-infinite variability, at speed, with human lives at stake. Anderson draws on his work at MIT, Tesla, Aurora, and GM to explain how AI is genuinely transforming transportation: where the technology is today, what problems remain hardest to solve, and how the convergence of AI, sensing hardware, and connectivity is creating the foundation for a fundamentally different transportation system. A technically rich but accessible keynote for technology, engineering, and executive audiences who want to understand the AI-in-mobility story beyond the headlines.
How do you bring Silicon Valley speed and culture to a century-old manufacturer with 150,000 employees, union agreements, and a product cycle measured in years? Anderson is living this challenge at GM, and in this keynote he shares the strategic and human dynamics of driving technology transformation inside a large, established organization. He draws on his experience as a founder who built from scratch and as an executive who joined one of the world's most complex companies with a mandate to change it from the inside — covering where the levers of real change are, where the resistance comes from, and what it takes to move fast without breaking things that matter. A compelling and candid keynote for innovation leaders, chief product officers, and transformation executives in any capital-intensive industry.
Speaker topics
FAQs on Booking Sterling Anderson
Why Sterling Anderson?
Booking Sterling Anderson means bringing the single most credentialed executive in the autonomous vehicle industry to your stage. He led Tesla Autopilot, co-founded Aurora Innovation and launched the first commercial driverless trucking route in the United States, and now serves as EVP and Chief Product Officer at General Motors — overseeing the product strategy of one of the world's largest automakers at the most consequential inflection point in the history of the automobile. His talks are not theoretical: they are grounded in the experience of actually building, scaling, and deploying autonomous systems under real-world constraints. For events focused on AI, mobility, transportation, manufacturing, and technology leadership, Anderson delivers the depth, credibility, and currency that most speakers in this space cannot match. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to explore availability and format.
What did Sterling Anderson build at Tesla?
At Tesla, Anderson served as the company's first leader of the Autopilot program — the advanced driver assistance system that became one of Tesla's most commercially significant and widely discussed technologies. He also led the program that developed the Model X, Tesla's SUV and the first vehicle to feature falcon-wing doors and a range of advanced passive safety systems. Both programs were among the most technically ambitious in consumer automotive history at the time of their development. Anderson has since noted that GM's Super Cruise system — which he now champions — has accumulated over 700 million hands-free miles without a single reported fatality attributed to the technology, a safety record he contrasts explicitly with Autopilot's more contested history.
What was Aurora Innovation and what did it achieve?
Aurora Innovation was an autonomous vehicle technology company co-founded by Sterling Anderson, Chris Urmson, and Drew Bagnell in December 2016. It pursued a strategy focused on the long-haul trucking market, where the operational environment is more predictable than urban robotaxis and the commercial case is more immediate. Aurora went public via SPAC in 2021 and, in April 2024, launched the first commercial fully driverless trucking route in the United States — operating autonomously between Houston and Dallas, Texas — a landmark achievement that validated years of systematic engineering, safety validation, and regulatory engagement. The company partnered with major logistics and trucking companies including FedEx and Werner Enterprises. Anderson served as Chief Product Officer from Aurora's founding through mid-2025, when he departed to join General Motors.
What topics does autonomous vehicles speaker Sterling Anderson cover?
Speaker Sterling Anderson addresses the questions at the heart of the intelligent mobility transition: the real engineering and safety challenges behind autonomous vehicle development and what it actually takes to deploy AV systems at commercial scale; how software-defined vehicles are transforming the economics and architecture of the global auto industry; the intersection of AI, sensor technology, and regulatory policy in shaping which autonomous applications succeed; what the next generation of intelligent transportation systems will look like and what it means for infrastructure, logistics, and urban planning; and the leadership and organizational challenges of driving technology transformation inside large, established manufacturing companies. His talks are particularly valuable for automotive, transportation, logistics, AI, and investment audiences. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to discuss the right keynote format for your event.
How to book Sterling Anderson as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Sterling Anderson as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Sterling Anderson's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for Sterling Anderson or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Sterling Anderson speaking fee?
Sterling Anderson 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 Sterling Anderson 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 Sterling Anderson.
How can I contact Sterling Anderson?
We only work with Sterling Anderson on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Sterling Anderson and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Sterling Anderson speak at your event. We will be your sole point of contact throughout the process. Get in touch with Aurum Speakers Bureau today, and we will reach out to any motivational speaker or celebrity you want to enquire about speaking at your event. If you wish to contact Sterling Anderson for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Can I book Sterling Anderson for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Sterling Anderson is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Sterling Anderson for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
