Laura Main was named president and CEO of Motional in June 2025. | Credit score: Motional
Autonomous car firm Motional in the present day named Laura Main president and CEO. Main was appointed by Motional’s Board of Administrators following a profitable tenure as CTO. The announcement comes as Motional prepares to launch its driverless industrial service in 2026.
Main has served as Motional’s interim CEO since September 2024 when she took over for Karl Iagnemma, who stepped down. Iagnemma is now CEO of Vecna Robotics, a supplier of warehouse automation techniques. Main has been CTO of Motional because the firm’s inception in 2020.
As CTO, she led the engineering staff to develop one of many world’s first absolutely driverless autos to be licensed by the Federal Motor Car Security Requirements, the IONIQ 5 robotaxi, and created a machine learning-first autonomous driving software program stack. Previous to Motional, Main developed a spread of autonomy and AI options at Draper Laboratory and Aria Insights, together with astronaut and nationwide safety functions. She can be an completed writer, and co-wrote What to Anticipate When You’re Anticipating Robots: The Way forward for Human-Robotic Collaboration.
“In partnership with Hyundai, we’re bringing embodied AI to transportation and introducing vital societal advantages,” mentioned Main. “Leveraging our deep experience in constructing absolutely driverless techniques and our agility in realizing the most recent AI breakthroughs, we’re strongly positioned to unlock a future the place secure autonomous autos are a sensible a part of each day life.”
MassRobotics co-founder Joyce Sidopoulos (left) and Motional president & CEO Laura Main on the 2025 Robotics Summit Girls in Robotics Breakfast.
Main was the featured speaker for the Girls in Robotics Breakfast on the 2025 Robotics Summit & Expo, which is produced by The Robotic Report. She started her profession as a cognitive engineer for Draper Laboratory, the place she mixed her psychology and engineering expertise to design decision-making assist gadgets for U.S. astronauts and troopers. After 12 years with the corporate, she served as division chief for the Data and Cognition Division.
Throughout this time Main was acknowledged by the Society of Girls Engineers as an rising chief in 2014. She additionally hung out at Aria Insights, Inc. (previously generally known as CyPhy Works), a U.S.-based drone producer that specialised in growing extremely superior drones. She served as VP of engineering, after which CTO, engaged on the event of autonomous drones.
Main is a graduate of Georgia Institute of Know-how and Massachusetts Institute of Know-how.
