/ T H E R O A D T O A U T O N O M Y P O D C A S T
Conversations with the Architects
We do not chase headlines; we host the newsmakers. From the founders of unicorn startups to the CEOs of publicly traded companies, our guests join The Road to Autonomy to articulate their vision, defend their strategies, and signal their next moves.
Latest Episode
Our audience gains unparalleled, unfiltered access to the C-Suite executives, founders, and policymakers who are building and regulating the future.
From the founders of unicorn startups to the CEOs of publicly traded companies, our guests join to articulate their vision, defend their strategies, and signal their next moves.
Host
Founder, The Road to Autonomy & Co-Founder & Co-CEO AUTNMY AI
Grayson Brulte is a visionary strategist and one of the foremost authorities on autonomy, automation, and the emerging Autonomy Economy™. Widely recognized for anticipating what's next, his work sits at the intersection of innovation, policy, and emerging technology, where he serves as a trusted advisor to executive teams throughout the autonomy landscape.
Grayson coined the term Autonomy Economy to describe the convergence of automation, autonomy, commerce, and economic growth. His insights have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, Reuters, Forbes, CNN, and The Hollywood Reporter.
Recent Episodes
New episodes every Tuesday. Watch on YouTube, X and Spotify and listen on your favorite podcast platform.
April 11, 2023
Preparing an Autonomous Trucking Business to Scale
Dr. Peter Vaughan Schmidt, CEO of Torc Robotics, discusses the company's autonomous trucking scaling strategy, emphasizing their collaborative culture and partnership with Daimler Trucks since 2019. Torc is developing redundant autonomous truck platforms based on Freightliner's Cascadia with 1,500 upgrades to achieve commercial-scale operations by 2030.
Watch →
April 4, 2023
DARPA Urban Challenge to Commercialization
Jan Becker, CEO of Apex AI and former Stanford DARPA Urban Challenge team member, discusses the evolution of autonomous vehicles from the 2007 DARPA competition that demonstrated self-driving feasibility to today's commercial reality. The conversation covers how the challenge led to Waymo's founding and the industry's transition from hype-driven timelines to actual business deployment over the past 15 years.
Watch →
March 28, 2023
Capturing Equity at the end of a Car Lease
Zander Cook from Lease End discusses how consumers can capture equity at car lease termination, noting that despite average new vehicle prices rising over $10,000 to $47,920 since the pandemic, leasing actually declined to its lowest percentage of new vehicle sales in decades due to rising interest rates. The conversation covers market dynamics including the EV flipping market growth and early signs of lease origination recovery as COVID stimulus effects fade and vehicle shortages continue.
Watch →
March 21, 2023
Scaling Motional
Motional VP Akshay Jaising discusses the company's partner-centric commercialization strategy, focusing on building autonomous driving technology while collaborating with ecosystem players to deploy robotaxis. The company has expanded its Uber partnership from food delivery to a 10-year multi-market deal for robotaxi services, launching in Las Vegas with plans to expand to Los Angeles.
Watch →
March 14, 2023
Building an Autonomous Trucking Business
Don Burnette, CEO of Kodiak Robotics, discusses the company's decision to reject multiple SPAC offers and remain private, citing insufficient metrics needed for public company status. The conversation covers challenges in the autonomous trucking industry over the past 18 months and the broader market correction affecting companies without strong financial fundamentals.
Watch →
March 7, 2023
Decarbonizing Mining
Christian Spano from the International Council of Mining and Metals discussed strategies for decarbonizing mining operations, particularly addressing the 28,000 large haul trucks that collectively emit 68 million tons of CO2 annually and represent 30-80% of mine emissions. The conversation covered how health and safety concerns are driving adoption of autonomous and electric vehicles, while infrastructure upgrades for hydrogen and electric equipment are essential for achieving net-zero mining operations.
Watch →
The Future is Bright. The Future is Autonomous. The Future is The Road to Autonomy.