Uber’s former vice president of software engineering, Jon Thomason, has joined autonomous mobile robotics (AMR) company Brain Corp as chief technology officer.
Brain Corp described Thomason as a leader in AI and self-driving autonomous software, bringing three decades of experience at companies including Amazon and Microsoft.
At Uber, Thomason led the company’s self-driving vehicle efforts. As a general manager at Microsoft, he led several high-profile projects, including creating the operating system and development tools for Microsoft Windows, Xbox, and Xbox Live.
Dr Eugene Izhikevich, CEO at Brain Corp, said: “Jon is a true technical visionary and one of the leading experts on autonomous technology. We are thrilled to have someone of his calibre leading our efforts as we scale the business and focus on unlocking the transformative business opportunities in front of us when you combine the power of autonomous mobile robots, AI, and data analytics.”
Brain Corp’s AI software platform is used in AMRs for applications such as floor scrubbers, vacuums, in-store delivery tugs, and shelf analytics applications within retail, grocery, airports, hospitals and warehouses.
“AI and robotics is the new frontier of innovation,” Thomason said. “Brain Corp has cracked the code for bringing autonomous robots out from behind cages and tightly controlled environments, so they can drive value for organisations and their employees operating in high-traffic commercial locations.
“My goal will be to expand upon Brain Corp’s success in making robots simple and easy to use, while also improving functionality to collect and analyse environmental data that previously was not available, or very hard to get. I couldn’t be more excited to join the team.”
