Padmasree Warrior would be heading NextTV's operations in the United States.
Tesla’s rival has taken an initiative to manage the operations of its US division in a better manner. NextEV, Chinese electric carmaker and potential competitor of Tesla, has appointed the former Strategy and CTO of Cisco, Padmasree Warrior.
The Shanghai-based enterprise, NextEV, has risen investment worth around half a billion dollars from organizations, such as Tencent Holdings, Venture Capital Company, Sequoia Ventures, and a Chinese investment firm ‘Hillhouse Capital’, which has played its role in supporting Uber. The Southeast Asian electric automobile manufacturer has stated that during 2016, it aims to launch out a vehicle that would match the “Ludicrous” speed mode of Tesla.
It is not clear exactly how many funds the company has acquired, but as per reports of Bloomberg news in September, it is trying to attract $1bn from venture capitalists. NextEV has an 85,000 square foot research facility in San Jose, California, along with a Munich-based design center.
While talking to Re/code, Padmasree named it a “global startup.” She stated that her job would be doubled, as she would be the CEO of the organization’s US division and internationally offer her services as the chief digital officer heading technology efforts, including user experience and software development.
She stated, “The principle vision is to build a car that is designed for the mobile and Internet era,” We’re trying to imagine how the experience of having a car would be different today, and how you would involve the customer in the process.”
Before leaving in 2015, Padmasree had worked as the CTO at NextEV since 2008, replacing Charlie Giancarlo, and in 2012, she also became the company’s CSO. Padmasree, the Indian native, graduated from Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi with a degree in chemical engineering.
She then shifted to the United States and obtained her master’s degree in the same discipline from Cornell University. While studying for a PhD, she agreed to work in the Semiconductor division of Motorola and kept working there for more than 20 years.
She worked for four years as the CTO of Motorola before being appointed at Cisco. She is also a member of board in a number of organizations, including ‘Box’, retailer ‘Gap’ and Microsoft Corporation. At Cisco, it was believed that she would probably replace the long lasting CEO John Chambers previously this year.
Padmasree left Cisco during the summer. Her last action for the company was playing a role in negotiating a strategic tie up with Apple. She has also turned out to be the second former Cisco official to be hired by the highly advanced transportation organization. In September, CEO Elon Musk backed company, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, named Rob Lloyd, former president of Cisco, as its first chief executive officer.
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