Autonomous vehicle technology company Nauto has named ex-Microsoft executive Sanket Akerkar as senior vice president of global fleets and insurance, and Jennifer Haroon, most recently from Waymo, as head of corporate development and business operations. Both will be based in Nauto’s Palo Alto headquarters and will report to Nauto CEO and founder Stefan Heck.
Akerkar is spearheading Nauto’s global growth among its key commercial fleet and insurance business lines in North America, Japan, Europe, and additional regions around the globe. Most recently, he was vice president of Microsoft’s global enterprise sector, where he oversaw sales, services and marketing for its largest global commercial relationships and was responsible for $5 billion in annual revenue and 900 sales and technical professionals around the world.
In her new role, Haroon will lead Nauto’s corporate development initiatives, including partnerships and acquisitions, and overseeing their management and execution through Nauto’s business operations. She joins Nauto from Waymo, where she spent three years as head of business operations and was the first business hire in what was formerly known as the Google Self-Driving Car Project. Prior to Waymo, she held several significant strategy and operational roles at Google from 2008 to 2014. Before Google, she was with The Boston Consulting Group in San Francisco and Stockholm.
“Nauto’s value to our clients and partners increases exponentially with scale, and we now have executives who are uniquely skilled and experienced in leading global expansion and operating within and on behalf of some of the world’s most dynamic and respected companies,” Heck said. “From our time together at McKinsey through his tenure at Microsoft, I always valued Sanket’s insight and respected his leadership ability and performance. Jennifer is truly a veteran in the autonomous vehicle space, and brings an incredible network, business acumen, drive and creative thinking to Nauto. We’re fortunate to have them lead our growth and to help us realize our mission to deliver smarter, safer driving around the world.”
