4 Mar 2025
University of Auckland mechatronics engineering alumni Alex Kendall is the driving force behind one of the world’s leading AI companies, and a front-runner in the race to bring self-driving cars to market, aiming to make the tech accessible and driving safer.
2024 was a big year for Wayve, the United Kingdom-headquartered Embodied AI company co-founded by New Zealander Alex Kendall. It made headlines in May when it secured over a billion-dollar (USD) investment (from heavy hitters such as SoftBank, Microsoft and Nvidia) to bring its AI self-driving system to market. Not only was it the largest-ever capital raise by a British or European AI firm, it was seen as a strong signal that self-driving cars are back on track, after several years of setbacks and scepticism.
The financial backing was also vindication of Alex’s belief since co-founding Wayve in 2017 while completing an award-winning PhD in deep learning, computer vision and robotics at Cambridge University, that the solution to self-driving vehicles was using AI to physically interact with the world. Alex was motivated by the conviction the technology “would be one of the most transformative things of this century”.
“I was convinced that this was the way to build intelligent machines that we could trust with complex tasks like driving… End-to-end machine learning would allow us to build intelligent, safe, scalable autonomy.”
That approach, which he calls “AV2.0”, spurns techniques such as high-definition maps and hand-coded robotics for cameras and sensors to monitor the road environment and react when needed.
At the time, few others agreed. Now, some of Wayve’s leading rivals such as Tesla are taking this AV2.0 approach. Alex says Wayve is different because it is working with a range of vehicle manufacturers. It’s like the Android versus the iPhone.
“We want to be the system that lets the entire automotive industry benefit from the advantages of AI.”
Alex says it’s “challenging” to specify when driverless cars will be commonly available.
Photo: Wayve
“In the really near-term we will be able to get this deployed at large-scale as a driver-assistance system.”
Wayve can use that data “to grow the system into one that’s not just hands-off, or eyes-off, but truly driverless… you don’t need a steering wheel or a driver’s licence”.
In terms of recognition, what Alex loves is seeing people ride in Wayve’s cars – whether it’s Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella or former All Black Dan Carter.
“They get out with a smile on their face and they’re wowed with the possibilities it opens up.”
Taking Microsoft founder Bill Gates – “an incredible engineer and amazing businessman” – for a ride around central London in 2024 was inspiring, Alex says.
“He built a lot of what the modern software world is… and Microsoft is now one of the biggest companies in the world. Yet he’s still incredibly curious and just wanted to learn. I also learned quite a bit from him as well, about what it takes to get software in OEMs [original equipment manufacturers]. In his case, personal computers, in my case vehicle OEMs.”
As Chief Executive, Alex manages 500 staff in three offices in different time zones, overseeing everything from hardware to simulation, and juggling relationships with partners, customers and regulators. He’s “fairly nomadic” but tries to set regular time aside for some reflection. He enjoys holding meetings in the back seat of Wayve’s self-driving cars (with a safety driver on hand).
“It’s fun, you get to chat and once in a while you see an interesting situation.”
He says every day is different. “It’s very fast paced, full of challenges and long hours, but I absolutely love it.”
We want to be the system that lets the entire automotive industry benefit from the advantages of AI.
Alex says self-driving cars can help improve road safety, accessibility and the move towards increased electrification of vehicles. AV2.0 offers “a new trillion-dollar economy and so many opportunities” that he will “never be satisfied” with where Wayve’s technology is at. “It has the potential to operate all kinds of robotics, and be deployed at scale. It is a never-ending journey of opportunity. I see an endless road of impact that AV2.0 can bring the world.”
AI systems are just like the wheel, calculator and X-ray, he says, calling them “the next generation of tooling”, adding that it’s “critical” all engineers learn to use these tools effectively. “If not, you’re at real risk of being disrupted and not being competitive.”
He describes his time at the University of Auckland as “awesome” both in and out of the classroom. He worked on his own robotic projects, including building and flying drones on his family’s Canterbury property, and learned leadership and entrepreneurial skills through sport and social activities. He says university engineering programmes are brilliant because they are so diverse, but building things and learning creativity, learning to use AI and software, and leadership skills are critical components they should offer. He believes STEM subjects at school are key to inspiring the next generation of engineers, but recalls how students who excelled were encouraged to go into law or medicine.
“But I think engineering is the greatest field of them all: you get to build the future.”
This article was first published in the March 2025 issue of EG magazine.
