SEBASTIAN THRUN
Sebastian Thrun is an innovator, an expert on artificial intelligence and computer scientist from Germany. He is currently the CEO of the Kitty Hawk Corporation (an American aircraft manufacturer) and he is also the Co-Founder of Udacity an educational organisation.
In the past he has been a Google VP and Fellow and a Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University and also at Carnegie Mellon University. He is currently also an Adjunct Professor at Stanford University and at Georgia Tech.
At Google, he founded Google X and Google’s self-driving car team and he led development of the robotic vehicle Stanley which won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge. This has since been placed on exhibit in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. His team also developed a vehicle called Junior, which placed second at the DARPA Grand Challenge (2007).
Thrun is also known for his work on probabilistic algorithms for robotics with applications including robotic mapping. In recognition of his contributions, and at age 39, he was elected into the National Academy of Engineering and also into the Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in 2007.
In 2011, he received the Max-Planck-Research Award, and the inaugural AAAI Ed Feigenbaum Prize. Fast Company selected Thrun as the fifth most creative person in the business world. The Guardian recognized him as one of 20 “fighters for internet freedom”
BIOGRAPHY
Before Google, Thrun was a professor at Stanford University and director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, where he led the Stanford Racing Team to victory in the DARPA Grand Challenge—widely recognized as a turning point in autonomous driving. His research contributions span probabilistic AI, robotics, SLAM, human-robot interaction, and decision-making under uncertainty, with hundreds of publications and widely cited breakthroughs that moved autonomy from lab demos to deployed systems.
Named to TIME’s 100 Most Influential People and elected to the National Academy of Engineering, Thrun has received numerous honors for advancing AI for societal impact. He holds multiple patents and has advised governments and global enterprises on responsible AI, autonomy, and the future of work. Today, he builds and mentors frontier AI ventures, translating cutting-edge research into products that are safer, more accessible, and massively scalable.
On stage, Thrun blends technical depth with builder practicality—sharing lessons from inventing the modern self-driving car, scaling moonshots inside large organizations, and designing human-centered AI that augments rather than replaces. He speaks on autonomous systems, generative AI, AI productization, scaling AI teams, safety and regulation, education and upskilling, and how to turn breakthrough ideas into real-world, trusted infrastructure.
Select media and recognition include TIME 100, Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business, and features in The New York Times, The Economist, and Wired. Audiences leave with a rare inside view of AI’s past, present, and trajectory—and a clear blueprint for adopting AI responsibly at scale.