connected-vehicles
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Arun Rajagopalan
Arun Rajagopalan is the Co-Founder and CEO of Motorq, a San Francisco-based connected vehicle data platform that gives enterprises direct access to OEM-embedded vehicle data without any aftermarket hardware. With a career arc that spans vehicle control systems engineering at Robert Bosch, strategy consulting at Booz & Company, and big-data leadership at Mu Sigma, Arun founded Motorq in 2016 to solve a deceptively simple problem: cars are generating enormous amounts of data, but that data is locked inside hundreds of incompatible systems. Motorq unlocks it, normalizes it, and pipes it to fleets, insurers, and OEM dealers through clean APIs. The company has raised $89.3M in total funding, including a $40M Series B led by Insight Partners in February 2022, and now has partnerships with 10 of the top global OEMs covering more than 51 million vehicles.
Jozsef Kovacs
Jozsef Kovacs was the co-founder and CEO of Commsignia, the world's largest company fully dedicated to Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication technology. Born in Hungary and trained as a computer scientist and PhD researcher in cooperative intelligent transportation systems, he co-founded Commsignia in 2012 alongside fellow researchers from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Under his leadership, Commsignia deployed V2X technology across 130+ intersections in Las Vegas, secured partnerships with Volkswagen, Audi, Ford, and major OEMs, raised $26M+ in venture funding, and expanded to 20+ countries. Kovacs passed away in late 2021, leaving behind a company that continues to lead the global V2X industry.
Lei Zhang
Lei Zhang is the CEO of CARIAD, Inc., Volkswagen Group's U.S. automotive software subsidiary based in Mountain View, California. A seasoned technology executive with 16+ years spanning Microsoft, Google, Huami, and NIO, Zhang now leads CARIAD's Interior, Infotainment & Digital Experience division globally. Known for pioneering NIO's NOMI digital assistant and championing software-defined vehicle innovation, he earned MotorTrend's Software-Defined Vehicle Innovator Award in 2023. His work sits at the intersection of Android OS expertise, AI-driven user experience, and the fast-evolving world of connected, electric mobility.
Marc Jones
Marc E. Jones is the Board Chairman of Aeris Communications, a San Jose-based IoT connectivity company he has led since 2005 and served as President & CEO from 2008 through early 2025. A Stanford undergraduate and law school graduate who grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago, Jones transformed Aeris from a company on the verge of collapse — personally investing alongside employees to rescue it — into a global IoT platform managing nearly 100 million connected devices including 41 million connected vehicles for Fortune 500 clients such as Chrysler, Honda, and Bosch. Named by Goldman Sachs as one of the nation's best entrepreneurs in 2012 and 2013, he also serves on the boards of CDW, Ingersoll Rand, Stanford University, and Stanford Health Care, and chairs Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT), a nonprofit dedicated to advancing underrepresented minorities into executive roles.
Sameer Misson
Sameer Misson is the co-founder and CEO of Gluon Solutions, Inc., a Livermore, California-based enterprise software company building IoT, AI, and cloud platforms for the automotive and fuel ecosystem. Under his leadership, Gluon has developed Petromo (fuel station and convenience store management), Gluon Auto (vehicle and fleet monitoring), and EZ Lister (auto parts catalog and fitment tools), collectively serving 100+ businesses. A serial entrepreneur with roots in his family's automotive parts business (Mission Trading Company / MTC Parts), Misson also holds a J.D. from Golden Gate University and studied computer science at UC Berkeley, combining legal, business, and technical expertise in his work across IoT, blockchain, and SaaS.