In less than two decades, autonomous vehicles have evolved from an experimental concept in the military to a real-life transformative industry, with innovators like Saiman Shetty contributing to this technological revolution. While the technology’s foundations were laid during the DARPA challenges of the early 2000s, today’s autonomous vehicle industry has grown into a sophisticated ecosystem worth trillions of dollars involving companies like Tesla and Lyft.
Saiman Shetty’s career mirrors the industry’s rapid evolution. Starting at Tesla during the crucial early days of electric and autonomous vehicles, he developed software applications for process automation on Model S and X battery pack lines. His work on powertrain systems (a system which generates power to move vehicles) and advanced insights initiatives contributed to Tesla’s manufacturing innovation, particularly in quality control and system monitoring.
“I realised the need to be fast and grow quickly,” says Shetty, reflecting on his Silicon Valley experience. Realising the potential of autonomous car driving, led him to Lyft’s autonomous vehicle division, where he led the development of their first functional autonomous vehicle platform. “I was given the responsibility of running and delivering the first functional autonomous vehicle,” he recalls, highlighting the rapid scaling of their team from a small group to over 100 people.
The industry has grown far beyond individual vehicles. Today, it encompasses specialized equipment, software development, advanced mapping systems, and powerful computing infrastructure. Shetty’s current work at Nuro, focusing on autonomous delivery vehicles, exemplifies this diversification. “After the COVID-19 crisis, the need for self-driving vehicles and an automated delivery system has become even more important,” he explains. Nuro’s partnerships with retail giants like Walmart and CVS demonstrate the technology’s expanding commercial applications.
From Google’s early entry in 2009 to Tesla’s ambitious programs and traditional automakers’ billion-dollar investments, the autonomous vehicle industry continues to evolve. Companies are now developing everything from self-driving passenger cars to automated delivery robots, supported by advances in artificial intelligence, sensor technology, and computing power.
As Shetty’s journey from Tesla to Lyft to Nuro shows, the autonomous vehicle industry continues to open new frontiers, promising safer, more efficient transportation solutions for an increasingly mobile world. With billions in investment and a growing ecosystem of supporting technologies, the self-driving change appears unstoppable, driven forward by innovators who saw possibility where others saw impossibility.
The changing landscape of autonomous technology is possible because they have a concentration of talent at hand to keep on improving the technology, however, one has to be careful when talking about self-driving cars, especially in areas where there are a huge number of pedestrians, or people, things coming in from here and there, especially in a country like India. Another challenge can be the possibility of hacking, however given the challenges I am sure engineers can work around them to improve the automated driving experience, like giving an option of manual control if automation fails.
The current of transportation is being shaped by doers like Shetty, who combine technical expertise with a vision for how autonomous technology can improve daily life. Their work across different aspects of the industry – from manufacturing to ride-sharing to delivery services – demonstrates the versatility and potential of autonomous technology to change not just how we transport cost-effectively, but how we live and work.