A profile series that introduces our team and showcases what we’re working on.
My name is Sameer Kshirsagar and I’m the Head of Supply Chain and Business Operations here at Uber Advanced Technologies Group (ATG). I started my career by spending a lot of time in school, earning a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech, an M.S. in Manufacturing Management from Kettering University, and an MBA from The Ohio State University. In addition, I spent over two decades at various companies specializing in automotive, consumer electronics and high tech. All of this served, I believe, as an excellent grounding for my work on self-driving vehicles as they require a multi-disciplinary approach.
I came to Uber ATG because of the opportunity to have a positive impact on the ever-changing mobility landscape. I could see the potential to build a world-class team that enables world-changing technology, and would work with leading technical talent. Not only that, but the impact on what Uber is doing in the self-driving space would undoubtedly be on a global scale.
Now
My team is heads down on organizing, optimizing and visualizing data streams to facilitate informed, data-driven, proactive business decisions. I’m always looking for innovative ways to mature our business for scale, whether that involves supply chain operations, facilities, manufacturing operations, quality, or some other aspect of the process. To that end, part of my job is to make sure that we have a strong supply base with the right partners, one that allows our team to integrate automotive, consumer electronics, and aerospace technologies into our self-driving vehicles.
From a big-picture perspective, I’m personally always looking for ways to strike the right balance between moving the needle on innovation while also instilling process discipline within my team. Also top of mind for me is strengthening my skills across multiple areas, which includes developing new supply chain analytics and fostering a strong sense of diversity and inclusion within my team.
Next
There are several challenges in my area that I’m eager to tackle next. For example, we are finding ways to collaborate more deeply with both our internal teams and external partners so we can solve some of our toughest problems even faster than ones we’ve solved in the past. We are also working toward mapping our supply chain in a way that allows us to visualize and optimize for scale, continuity, and efficiency. Not only that, but given the ever-changing environment, we are continually working to mature and institutionalize processes across the entire organization, which will unlock future growth. This is a never-ending process that lends itself well to the kaizen (continuous improvement) process…but that’s another blog post in itself!
Future
What excites me most about the future is being at the forefront of transforming global mobility to make it safer, more accessible, and more efficient for everyone.