Oxa strengthens leadership team to drive next phase of autonomous vehicle growth

Just weeks after the autonomous vehicle software developer rebranded from Oxbotica to accelerate the global take-up of its self-driving vehicle technology platform, and marking the next stage in the company’s growth as the business prepares to scale in North America and Europe, Oxa has announced three new appointments to its senior leadership team, bolstering the company’s growth as it scales globally this year. 

The company, founded eight years ago, claims to be accelerating the current transition to self-driving technology. It aims to provide businesses with software which drives the vehicles, proprietary generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools that accelerate deployment with Oxa MetaDriver and cloud-based tools for fleet management with Oxa Hub.

The company’s platform is designed to be used across multiple industries, such as shared passenger transport, logistics, goods delivery, agriculture, energy and mining. It has developed the software for businesses with transportation in its value chain to get the most from their fleets, wanting to deploy autonomy into their operations safely, efficiently and reliably. This ranges from a virtual testing environment to the software driving the vehicles and the cloud-based management tool.

The key management moves are led by Graeme Smith, joining the business in August to take on the role of chief product engineering officer. He will be responsible for product management, engineering, solutions, programmes and services to deliver Oxa’s portfolio of software products to customers globally.

Smith is a business, product and technology executive with more than 26 years’ experience working primarily in big tech. Most recently, he served as senior director of engineering at Google, overseeing many of YouTube’s Creator engineering teams. Prior to Google, Graeme was at Amazon, where he led its development centre in Edinburgh, growing it to more than 300 people and leading pioneering initiatives in ad tech, personalised retail, digital music and talent management. He also served as CEO of Sizmek, a digital advertising business acquired by the company in 2019.

Katy Goldwater is now the company’s chief people officer, with roles including recruitment, talent development and organisational effectiveness. She brings more than 25 years of experience as an established global human resources executive to her role at Oxa and has held leadership roles in high-growth companies including TikTok, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Astellas Europe, and both the financial services and healthcare divisions of General Electric. She is tasked with delivering on the promise to make Oxa the best place to start and develop a long-term career.

In the last major move, the company’s founder and chief technology officer Paul Newman has been appointed Oxa president. In this role, he will set out to drive the strategic vision of the company and continue his responsibilities as chief technology officer in providing the technology and invention that underpins Oxa’s products.

Oxa CEO Gavin Jackson said: “Both Graeme and Katy will play a vital role in how we lead and scale our organisation. They bring a wealth of experience which will be crucial in accelerating our world-class team and ensuring we deliver value to our customers.

“Having worked closely with Paul over the past 18 months, I know from first-hand experience he is among the world’s foremost technology visionaries with a rare and special depth in AI and Robotics,” he said. “With his new role, Paul will ensure Oxa continues to develop ground-breaking innovations using the latest advancements in technology, whilst supporting me on leading Oxa into the future.”

Oxa recently raised $140m in Series C funding to deploy its operating system for autonomy to customers around the world. Investors include Trimble Ventures, Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance, ENEOS Innovation Partners, BP ventures, BGF, Halma, Hostplus, Kiko Ventures (IP Group), Ocado Group, Tencent, Venture Science and ZF. To date, the business has raised approximately $225m.