SAN FRANCISCO — Embark Trucks, Inc., a developer of autonomous technology for the trucking industry, announced Monday the appointment of Stephen Houghton as chief operating officer.
Houghton is a veteran executive who brings two decades of leadership experience to Embark, including six years working on autonomous vehicles at Amazon and Cruise.
As VP of Global Markets at Cruise, Houghton oversaw a team of more than 700 during a period of rapid growth.
“I’ve had the opportunity to see many different applications of autonomous vehicles throughout my career and am confident that trucking will be home to the first commercial deployment of profitable AV technology at scale,” Houghton said. “In my new role, I looked forward to working closely with CEO Alex Rodrigues as the company prepares for commercialization and enters a new stage of growth, with the end goal of driving real business value for shippers and carriers.”
Houghton has served as chief operations and fleet officer at Embark since June 2021.
Houghton has degrees from Stanford and Harvard, experience as a management consultant at McKinsey, and is a veteran of the Iraq War. He currently serves as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves.
“Stephen brings unparalleled experience and autonomous vehicle expertise to Embark. In the year since he joined Embark, Stephen has also demonstrated an unwavering commitment to our safety culture, which is at the heart of what we do,” Alex Rodrigues, CEO of Embark, said. “Stephen knows what it takes to scale a business in the autonomous vehicle space, and our whole team is confident that he will continue to succeed and move Embark and the entire industry forward.”
The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
