BrightDrop, a new mobility enterprise started by General Motors Co. in Detroit, today announced four new executives have been named to its leadership team.
BrightDrop is building an ecosystem of electric first-to-last-mile products, software, and services designed to help businesses deliver goods and services more efficiently while improving overall sustainability. BrightDrop’s first electric vehicle, the EV600, will hit the road in late 2021.
New team members include Anthony Armenta as chief technology officer, Rachad Youssef as chief product officer, Shaluinn Fullove as chief people officer, and Steve Hornyak as chief revenue officer.
“We’re thrilled to have Anthony, Rachad, Shaluinn and Steve join our growing, visionary team,” says Travis Katz, president and CEO of BrightDrop. “Their robust backgrounds — spanning robotics, autonomy and machine learning — will enable us to accelerate our vision of delivering better cities while helping decarbonize the last mile of delivery.”
The group brings extensive experience in advanced autonomous technology, software, and robotics. They will be responsible for leading product and technology development, recruitment, sales, and marketing strategies. Armenta, Youssef, and Fullove will be based in BrightDrop’s San Francisco Bay Area offices, and Hornyak in Atlanta.
As BrightDrop’s chief technology officer, Armenta will lead the technological vision of the company. He most recently served as vice president of software engineering for serve robotics at Postmates/Uber.
In this role, he led robotics, autonomy, fleetware, embedded and infrastructure teams building Postmates’ robotic sidewalk delivery platform. Armenta also worked on the first smartphones and tablets at Palm and General Magic and the first desktop virtualization and cloud client solutions at Dell and Wyze.
In his role as chief product officer, Youssef will lead the design, development, and management of BrightDrop’s ecosystem of all-electric products, software, and services for the commercial delivery and logistics sector. He has more than 25 years of product development experience in the technology industry, including most recently as vice president of software product management for the Chinese automobile manufacturer NIO.
There, he was responsible for the autonomous vehicle roadmap, as well as reinventing the in-car experience. He has also served in the same role at Zoox Inc. developing fully autonomous vehicles and the supporting ecosystem required to bring the technology to market at scale.
Fullove will serve as the company’s chief people officer to grow a diverse team of team of engineers and professionals. She has served in the technology industry for nearly two decades, holding various roles at Lyft and Google. Most recently, Fullove was the global head of people for Autonomous Technology and Rideshare Platforms at Lyft.
As chief revenue officer, Hornyak will be tasked with developing the company’s sales and marketing strategy, partnering with customers to grow a new delivery ecosystem. He came from Fabric, where he helped the company improve its logistics with automated micro-fulfillment centers.
“Our roster of highly skilled talent, with the addition of Anthony, Rachad, Shaluinn and Steve, is a nod to the magnitude of opportunities when tech and automotive talent unite around one common goal of creating a more sustainable future,” says Katz.
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