John F. Krafcik (born September 18, 1961) was the
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of
Waymo
Waymo LLC, formerly known as the Google self-driving car project, is an American autonomous driving technology company headquartered in Mountain View, California. It is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc, the parent company of Google.
Waymo opera ...
from 2015 to 2021. Krafcik was the former president of
True Car Inc. and president and CEO of
Hyundai Motor America
Hyundai Motor America is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company. Along with Hyundai's USA manufacturing plant in Montgomery, Alabama called Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, Hyundai has total of 19 manufacturing plants globally.
...
. He was named CEO of
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
's self-driving car project in September 2015.
Krafcik remained CEO after Google separated its self-driving car project and transitioned it into a new company called Waymo, housed under Google's parent company
Alphabet Inc.
Alphabet Inc. is an American multinational technology conglomerate holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. It was created through a restructuring of Google on October 2, 2015, and became the parent company of Google and sev ...
Early life and education
Krafcik grew up in
Southington, Connecticut
Southington is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, it had a population of 43,501. Southington contains the villages of Marion, Milldale, and Plantsville.
Geography
Southington is situ ...
.
He studied
mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...
at
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
, where he graduated in 1983.
He received his
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in management from
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
in 1988, where he studied under
James P. Womack
James P. Womack was the research director of the '' International Motor Vehicle Program (IMVP)'' at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts and is the founder and chairman of the ''Lean Enterprise Institute'', a ...
.
Career
Krafcik worked in traditional automotive manufacturing for several decades before moving to Google's self-driving car project in 2015.
His first job was at
New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc., a
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
between
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
and
Toyota
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
, as a quality and manufacturing engineer from 1984 to 1986. He worked in the International Motor Vehicle Program at MIT as a lean production researcher and consultant from 1986 to 1990.
During this time, Krafcik traveled and studied 90 manufacturing plants in 20 countries, comparing their productivity and quality.
His studies formed the data behind Womack's book, ''
The Machine That Changed the World''.
The book was a study on "lean production", a term Krafcik coined.
In 1990, Krafcik moved to
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
where he held several positions, including chief engineer for the
Ford Expedition
The Ford Expedition is a full-size three-row SUV, manufactured by Ford. Introduced for the 1997 model year as the successor of the Ford Bronco, the Expedition was the first full-size Ford SUV sold with a four-door body. For its entire producti ...
and
Lincoln Navigator
The Lincoln Navigator is a full-size luxury SUV marketed and sold by the Lincoln brand of Ford Motor Company since the 1998 model year. Sold primarily in North America, the Navigator is the Lincoln counterpart of the Ford Expedition. It is the h ...
in the late 1990s and early 2000s and the chief engineer for truck chassis engineering.
Krafcik started at
Hyundai Motor America
Hyundai Motor America is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company. Along with Hyundai's USA manufacturing plant in Montgomery, Alabama called Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, Hyundai has total of 19 manufacturing plants globally.
...
as vice president for product development and strategic planning in 2004.
Within a few years he was promoted to become the president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America until the end of 2013.
During Krafcik's tenure, Hyundai reported record sales
and increased U.S. market share.
Following the
financial crisis of 2007–2008
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...
, Krafcik oversaw a group at Hyundai to create an "Assurance Program".
The program allowed Americans to return their new cars if they lost their jobs within a year.
Krafcik moved to become president of
True Car, Inc. in 2014 and served as a
director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
of the company's board.
Google hired Krafcik to head its self-driving cars unit in September 2015, as the company struggled to build relationships in the Motor City.
In 2018, Krafcik was awarded ''
Smithsonian Magazine
''Smithsonian'' is the official journal published by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The first issue was published in 1970.
History
The history of ''Smithsonian'' began when Edward K. Thompson, the retired editor of ''Life'' maga ...
''s American Ingenuity Award for Technology alongside Dmitri Dolgov.
Waymo
In December 2016, more than a year after Krafcik joined Google, the company's self-driving car project was spun off as its own company, Waymo, a subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet, and Krafcik became its CEO.
In 2017 and 2018, under Krafcik, Waymo struck partnerships with
Lyft
Lyft, Inc. offers mobility as a service, ride-hailing, vehicles for hire, motorized scooters, a bicycle-sharing system, rental cars, and food delivery in the United States and select cities in Canada. Lyft sets fares, which vary using a dyn ...
,
Fiat Chrysler
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA) was an Italian-American multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of Car, automobiles, commercial vehicles, List of auto parts, auto parts and production systems. The Italian holding compan ...
, and
Jaguar Land Rover
Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC is the holding company of Jaguar Land Rover Limited (also known as JLR), and is a British multinational automobile manufacturer which produces luxury vehicles and sport utility vehicles. Jaguar Land Rover is a ...
.
Krafcik initiated talks with Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne.
Two months later, the two announced a deal to integrate Waymo hardware into Fiat Chrysler minivans.
Krafcik also made a deal with
Avis Budget Group
Avis Budget Group is American car rental agency holding company headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey. It is the parent company of several brands including Avis Car Rental, Budget Rent a Car, Budget Truck Rental, Payless Car Rental and Zipca ...
to maintain its growing fleet.
As CEO, Krafcik leads Waymo's efforts to commercialize the company's autonomous technology.
These include ride sharing, trucking, urban last-mile solutions and passenger cars.
Krafcik also pursued licensing Waymo's technology to vehicle manufacturers and has deployed the largest fleet of self-driving cars.
Krafcik has told auto makers that Waymo's goal is to make better drivers, not cars.
In April 2021, Krafcik resigned as Waymo CEO to "kick-off new adventures".
References
External links
John Krafcikon
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krafcik, John
1961 births
Alphabet Inc. people
Google employees
Waymo employees
Living people
Stanford University alumni