Embark Autonomous Appoints Stephen Houghton Chief Operating Officer

Autonomous vehicle industry veteran will build on early success to lead operational growth, oversee geographic expansion, and spearhead Embark’s commercialization effort

Embark Trucks, Inc. developer of autonomous technology for the trucking industry, announced the appointment of Stephen Houghton as Chief Operating Officer, as Embark continues to forge partnerships with the nation’s biggest trucking companies and expands operations into new states. As COO, Stephen will leverage his extensive experience as an autonomous vehicle executive to guide Embark through rapid hiring, establish rigorous business operations, and oversee Embark’s growth in new markets including Texas as Embark scales up in preparation for commercial deployment of the Embark Driver in 2024.

Stephen is a veteran executive who brings two decades of leadership experience to Embark, including six years working on autonomous vehicles at Amazon and Cruise. As VP of Global Markets at Cruise, Stephen oversaw a team of more than 700 during a period of rapid growth. Stephen has degrees from Stanford and Harvard, experience as a management consultant at McKinsey, and is a veteran of the Iraq War. He currently serves as an Officer in the United States Marine Corps Reserves.

“I’ve had the opportunity to see many different applications of autonomous vehicles throughout my career, and am confident that trucking will be home to the first commercial deployment of profitable AV technology at scale,” said Stephen Houghton, Chief Operating Officer at Embark. “In my new role, I looked forward to working closely with CEO Alex Rodrigues as the company prepares for commercialization and enters a new stage of growth, with the end goal of driving real business value for shippers and carriers.”

Stephen has served as Chief Operations and Fleet Officer at Embark since June 2021. As COFO, he has more than doubled Embark’s operations team headcount, leading Embark into the Texas market as part of its business plan to deploy commercially across the US Sunbelt by 2024. In his new role, Stephen will ensure operational excellence throughout the entire organization, and help Embark navigate life as a rapidly growing public company. Stephen will also deepen Embark’s culture of “safety first” and lead the safety operations team.

“Stephen brings unparalleled experience and autonomous vehicle expertise to Embark. In the year since he joined Embark, Stephen has also demonstrated an unwavering commitment to our safety culture, which is at the heart of what we do,” said Alex Rodrigues, CEO of Embark. “Stephen knows what it takes to scale a business in the autonomous vehicle space, and our whole team is confident that he will continue to succeed and move Embark and the entire industry forward.”

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