Shad Laws

About Shad Laws

Engineer, designer, entrepreneur, leader. Driven by a desire to build teams to create new technologies, Shad enjoys leading programs by working across teams to develop product roadmaps and corporate strategies. These are grounded in his deep technical experience and design thinking practice, often applied to developing vehicle automation technologies and understanding their impact on society. By setting goals that are optimistic yet pragmatic, he can then lead cross-functional teams to bring his vision to life. Shad recently joined Cruise Automation. In this role, he is working on evolving their planning and control systems. Prior to this role, he was the VP of Advanced Development and Product Planning at Peloton Technology, where he led Peloton’s highly automated (L4) truck program, AutoFollow, including product planning, OEM / Tier 1 partnerships, technical development, and operational execution. Before this, he was the Autonomous Driving Lead for Renault at Renault-Nissan Silicon Valley, where he led their autonomous driving efforts in California, collaborating with academic labs, working with startups, collaborating with programs at HQ in France and Japan, and piloting their prototype vehicles. He has a background in control/mechatronic engineering, design thinking, startups, and software development.Shad completed his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University researching vehicle dynamics and control. For this work, he developed both theoretical simulations and full-scale prototypes, which he continued at LIVIC in France after graduation. Before this, he received an MS from Stanford University and a BS from Northwestern University, both in Mechanical Engineering with an emphasis in design thinking. He\'s a dual US-French(EU) citizen. In his spare time, his hobbies transform him into an avid gearhead, an open-source coder, an amateur cyclist, a jazz musician, a seasoned traveler, and a storied photographer.

Experience

1. Senior Distinguished Engineer General Motors

   Cruise

   Oct 2025 — Present · San Francisco, CA, US

   Leading the Embodied AI team to build the world\'s most capable production autonomy system.

Education

• Stanford University

  Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Mechanical Engineering

  2005 — 2010

• Stanford University

  Master of Science (M.S.), Mechanical Engineering

  2003 — 2005

• Northwestern University

  Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Mechanical Engineering

  1999 — 2003

Skills

• Mechatronics
• Internal Combustion Engines
• Piccolo
• Product Design
• Photography
• Rapid Prototyping
• Mechanical Engineering
• Mentoring
• Control Systems Design
• Php
• Metal Fabrication
• Suspension Design
• Machining
• Vehicle Dynamics
• Simulink
• Real-Time Data Acquisition
• Matlab
• Flute
• Automotive Design
• Solidworks
• Javascript
• Html 5
• Simulations
• Modeling
• Actuators
• Teaching
• Entrepreneurship
• Electronics
• Sensors
• Woodworking