Sebastian Thrun is an innovator, serial entrepreneur, academic, educator and computer scientist who has been at the forefront of some of the world’s most transformative technologies for more than three decades. A pioneer in computer science, robotics, automation, education and artificial intelligence, he is widely regarded as the Godfather of... Read more
Sebastian Thrun is an innovator, serial entrepreneur, academic, educator and computer scientist who has been at the forefront of some of the world’s most transformative technologies for more than three decades. A pioneer in computer science, robotics, automation, education and artificial intelligence, he is widely regarded as the Godfather of the Self-Driving Car Industry and the Godfather of the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). His work has been pivotal in advancing robotics, AI, autonomous driving and education, making him one of the most influential figures in modern technology.
Today, Thrun is an Adjunct Professor at Stanford University and former Director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab (SAIL), one of the world’s leading centres of excellence in AI research, teaching and practice. He is also the CEO of Stealth Startup, continuing to work at the cutting edge of artificial intelligence and next-generation technologies. Previously, he served as a Google Vice President and Fellow, and was a Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, Georgia Tech and Carnegie Mellon University.
A serial entrepreneur and innovator, Thrun is the founder of Google X (now X Development LLC), Google’s Moonshot Technologies incubator. During his time at Google, he founded and led landmark projects including Google’s self-driving car team, Street View, Ground Truth, Waymo, Google Glass, Google Brain, Google Wing and GCam. Today, Waymo is the global leader in autonomous driving, built on the foundations of Thrun’s pioneering work.
Thrun is also the founder and former CEO of Udacity, the online education platform that has educated tens of millions of people worldwide in AI, machine learning and software development. Together with Peter Norvig, he co-created the first global MOOC, enrolling more than 160,000 students and redefining access to education at scale. At Udacity, he pioneered the concept of nanodegrees, enabling people from all backgrounds and ages to access careers in technology. Udacity reached a valuation of over $1 billion before being acquired by Accenture in 2024.
Earlier in his career, Thrun led the development of Stanley, the robotic vehicle that won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge and is now exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. He has published over 370 scientific papers and 11 books, and Google Scholar ranks his publication h-index among the top researchers worldwide in all of computer science. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering and the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina at the age of 39.
Sebastian Thrun is in demand globally as a speaker on artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, innovation, education and the future of technology.