Automotive and autonomous vehicle safety leader Steve Kenner has been appointed by Cruise as its chief safety officer. Bringing AV industry experience and safety engineering skills to the role, Kenner will oversee Cruise’s safety management systems and operations, and work in direct partnership with the Cruise board of directors.
Kenner has nearly four decades of experience in engineering and automotive safety, starting his career at General Motors and holding leadership positions at multiple US auto makers. He served as the global director of automotive safety at Ford and, most recently, as VP of safety at self-driving trucking company Kodiak, where he was involved in defining safety strategies and driverless safety cases. He has also worked at Apple, Uber, Locomation and Aurora.
In his new role, Kenner will report to Cruise president and chief administrative officer Craig Glidden, who said, “As we look forward to Cruise’s next chapter, we know we must continually improve our overall safety performance and work to build trust with regulators, other government officials and our communities.”
Kenner said, “At the end of the day we have the same goal as regulators: to make our roadways safer and establish public confidence in the AV industry. I have worked on safety-critical technologies throughout my career, I believe in the safety potential of autonomous vehicles, and I want to safely and responsibly realize that potential.”