Tanya Ivanova

Tanya Ivanova brings computer vision and robotics expertise to autonomous vehicle analysis from her PhD work at Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute before joining Waymo as a perception engineer. Her technical background developing self-driving algorithms gives her unique insight into the challenges of achieving full autonomy and evaluating different technical approaches. Tanya understands the sensor suites (cameras, lidar, radar), perception algorithms, planning systems, and simulation platforms required for autonomous driving. After years working on Waymo's technology, she pursued her MBA from Stanford and transitioned to analyzing autonomous vehicle companies and their suppliers. Tanya excels at assessing technical progress, distinguishing between levels of automation, and predicting deployment timelines. She was among the first to recognize that robotaxis would take longer than optimistic projections while identifying valuable opportunities in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Her analysis covers AV developers, sensor suppliers, mapping companies, and automakers integrating autonomous features. Tanya evaluates technical capability, safety validation, regulatory pathways, and business model viability. She understands that achieving robust self-driving in all conditions remains extraordinarily difficult. Based in San Francisco, Tanya maintains connections across the autonomous vehicle industry while providing realistic assessment of this transformative but challenging technology.