Ananth Kini

Ananth Kini is an accomplished engineering professional with extensive experience in autonomy systems and verification. Currently serving as Director of Autonomy Verification & Test Engineering at Nuro since April 2023, Ananth previously held key roles at Waymo, including Technical Lead for Driving Behavior Systems focused on Waymo Via, and at Cyngn as Director of Engineering overseeing planning, control, and localization software development. Ananth's career at Caterpillar Inc. included leadership positions such as Path Planning Team Lead and Engineering Specialist for autonomous mining trucks, as well as a Senior Systems Engineer. Earlier experience includes a role as Senior Controls Engineer at Embedded Systems and Software, Inc., and research at the University of Arizona as a Graduate Research Assistant. Ananth holds an MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Arizona, a STM certificate in Strategic Technology Management from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology Karnataka.