Intel veteran Aicha Evans has been named the new CEO of the self-driving car company Zoox, the company announced on Monday. Evans spent 12 years at Intel, most recently as its chief strategy officer.
Zoox — a Foster City, California based startup founded in 2014 — is building both self-driving software and its own vehicle with the vision of creating fully autonomous, zero-emission fleet focused on ridesharing in cities. Zoox has 700 current employees and is valued at $3.2 billion after a $500 million funding round in July.
“I’m thrilled to join Zoox and challenge the status quo with an autonomous mobility system built from the ground up,” Evans said in a company press release. "Mobility is approaching a major inflection point, and Zoox has set itself apart from entrenched players as the only company creating a solution purpose-built to meet the needs of a fully autonomous future."
Zoox declined to make Evans available to Business Insider for an interview.
Evans will replace former Zoox CEO and co-founder Tim Kentley-Klay, who was apparently ousted by the company's board of directors in August "without a warning, cause or right of reply," he said in a statement on Twitter at the time. The reason for Kentley-Klay's removal remains unknown to the public.
Evans has some experience in Zoox's industry — at Intel, she led the company's long-term strategy, including its push into autonomous vehicles.
Carl Bass, Zoox’s executive chairman and a member of its board, said that Evans is "an accomplished business leader and a strategic thinker with the right mix of skills to help turn Zoox’s ambitious vision into a reality."
Evans will assume her new role as Zoox's CEO on February 26.
