As it prepares for the commercial launch of its autonomous vehicle trucking product by late 2024, Strip District-based Aurora Innovation Inc. has promoted one of its key executives tasked with ensuring this technology is safe to a more elevated role.
Nat Beuse, who is based in Pittsburgh, is now the chief safety officer at Aurora (NASDAQ: AUR) after previously serving as the company's vice president of safety. He reports directly to Chris Urmson, the company's co-founder and CEO, who is based out of the Bay Area in California.
As the first person to serve in the newly created role, Beuse will be tasked with seeing Aurora close its safety case framework, which the company said will prove that its autonomous vehicles are "acceptably safe" for humanless driving on public roadways.
"Safety is at the core of Aurora’s mission, and we’re deeply invested in autonomous vehicles’ potential to save lives and deliver value to businesses, consumers and the general public," Urmson said in a prepared statement. "Nat has helped Aurora set the pace in areas that advance our product, operations and strong safety culture, and his leadership will continue to play a critical role as we prepare for commercialization."
Prior to joining Aurora in July 2021, Beuse led the safety team at Uber ATG, the AV research subsidiary of ride-hailing platform makers Uber Technologies Inc., which would go on to be acquired by Aurora in early 2021. He also worked at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for two decades before he began working at Uber.
"The current state of safety on our roads is unacceptable, and I firmly believe autonomous vehicles will help save lives and significantly reduce vehicle collisions," Beuse said in a prepared statement. "We’re committed to setting a high bar for our industry by prioritizing a safety approach with responsibility and transparency at the forefront. There is no team better equipped than Aurora to deploy safe, scalable autonomous vehicles."
Beuse will remain based in Pittsburgh to carry out this work. He's the latest executive to join the company's top leadership team in recent months following the January 2023 appointment of Dallas-based Ossa Fisher to serve as the company's president, a post that Urmson previously held in addition to his role as the CEO.
