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In today’s episode, The Driverless Digest Editor Ben Hubbard speaks with Gautam Narang, CEO & co-founder of Gatik. Gautam explains what fuels his passion for autonomous trucking and introduces Gatik’s approach to driverless freight, including its current fleet, commercial deployments, and areas of focus. He also discusses Gatik’s contracted revenue and what differentiates the company from other autonomous trucking developers.
They take a closer look at why Gatik chose to focus on middle-mile, dock-to-dock routes and how its fleet management platform, Gatik Omni, allows customers to interact with and manage their autonomous freight operations. Gautam also breaks down the edge cases Gatik’s trucks encounter, some of the most complex scenarios they have successfully navigated, and the four core pillars underpinning the Gatik Driver.
Finally, they discuss how Gatik measures autonomous vehicle safety, the company’s safety record, and the current state of autonomous vehicle safety standards in the United States. Gautam also explains how autonomous trucks could help address the freight industry’s labor shortage, why Gatik has attracted significant investor interest, and how the company is approaching capitalization, customer partnerships, and contracted revenue. He closes by sharing what’s next for Gatik as it works to expand its fleet and scale driverless freight operations.
Chapters
(00:00) Introduction to Gautam Narang and what fuels his passion
(02:20) Introduction to Gatik, fleet size, driverless deployments, and focus areas
(05:25) Gatik’s contracted revenue
(06:30) How Gatik stands out from competition
(07:45) How Gatik came to focus on middle-mile dock-to-dock operations
(11:16) How Gatik’s fleet management platform, Gatik Omni, facilitates customer interaction
(13:41) What kind of edge cases Gatik experiences, and how it handles them
(18:35) What are the most complex scenarios Gatik’s trucks have dealt with well?
(20:22) Gatik’s vehicles specifications
(21:10) The four pillars of the Gatik Driver
(24:07) How Gatik measures AV safety, and the current state of AV safety standards in the US
(28:04) Gatik’s safety record and how the company assesses incidents
(30:13) Filling the labor shortage in the freight industry with autonomous trucking
(34:20) Investor interest in Gatik’s business, its capitalization, contracted revenue, and partners
(36:25) Gatik’s future plans
(37:30) Conclusion and final thoughts
