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Spotlight:
Mo Elshenawy

EVP of Engineering at Cruise

Mo Elshenawy remembers learning to play chess as a young boy using an electronic chess board. After entering his move, the chess board would tell him which piece it wanted to move and where to move it. “It was just mind-boggling for an eight-year-old kid. It was like literally holding magic in your hands,” Elshenawy said.

The device did more than teach Elshenawy chess; it inspired a lifelong passion for technology that can think and engage at a human scale. Today, Elshenawy works with cutting-edge artificial intelligence and machine learning to teach cars to drive as the EVP of Engineering at Cruise, a leading developer of autonomous vehicle technology.

Riviera Partners checked in with Elshenawy for his insight into the key factors he considers crucial as a prominent leader in the tech industry.

01

Stay
Adaptable

02

Never
Stop Learning

03

Practice
Situational Leadership

04

Focus on
Core Values

01

Stay
Adaptable

As the technical leader at Cruise, Elshenawy’s remit resembles a bingo card of technology buzzwords: artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, simulation, analytics, cloud, cybersecurity, hardware, and data science. While few industries require the same expansive tech stack as autonomous vehicles, the rise of artificial intelligence means all tech leaders will need to stay flexible.

“When I joined Cruise in 2018, there was no autonomous vehicle playbook. Putting all those different pieces of technology puzzle together, and then understanding how to scale from an R&D phase to commercialization, had to be done very deliberately and carefully,” he said.

As companies and their products become more interconnected into the fabric of everyday life, business leaders can no longer afford to solely focus inward. While autonomous vehicles represent one of the most transformative examples, the use of customer data, cybersecurity implications, and how connected, intelligent products operate in the real world will require businesses to engage and partner with users, communities, and regulators in new ways.

“AI is a technology that will never plateau,” Elshenawy said. “The real challenge is the journey of balancing public trust, regulatory frameworks, and scale so that it’s a smooth transition to a much better future. The opportunities are way, way bigger than the challenges.”

"AI is a technology that will never plateau."

02

Never
Stop Learning

For Elshenawy, the attraction of autonomous vehicles is two-fold. “You are dealing with an immense challenge from a technology perspective, and I was definitely very inspired by the mission to unlock this technology for the impact it will have for the greater good. At the same time, I’m a very curious person. I’m a learner. This opportunity was a way to fill a gap in my pyramid of needs.”

While Cruise represents a unique opportunity for Elshenawy–the ability to iterate like a startup but with the financial backing of companies like Honda and GM–it was the chance to engage in continuous learning that ultimately drew him to the industry.

“It wasn’t only about what we were trying to achieve and how great it is, but understanding how we would go about it,” he said. “I judge personal success by asking if I am growing in a position. Am I a better leader now than last year? What kind of feedback would I give myself a year ago? It’s a red flag if you can’t give yourself any feedback; it doesn’t mean you were perfect a year ago. It means you haven’t learned anything in the last year.”

“It’s a red flag if you can’t give yourself any feedback; it doesn’t mean you were perfect a year ago. It means you haven’t learned anything in the last year.”

03

Practice
Situational Leadership

When reflecting on his leadership style, Elshenawy says he’s worked to cultivate a lack of one: “I don’t like putting it in a box. You can’t put boundaries around leadership; it has to change constantly based on the needs of the company maturity phase, the team you’re leading, and the other leaders you’re working with at the time.”

By adapting and evolving his role to provide situational leadership that takes the unique needs of his team and his organization into account, Elshenawy feels that he can operate more effectively compared to leaders that demand that others adapt to them. One way he maintains his adaptability is by engaging in continuous feedback.

“Without a feedback loop, even the best leadership style would become obsolete or at least non-optimal. The feedback loop for me is: Are you meeting your goals? How are you meeting them? Where can you grow? How are you growing others? You have to optimize for the entire system.”

“Without a feedback loop, even the best leadership style would become obsolete or at least non-optimal.”

04

Focus on
Core Values

Every decision that Elshenawy makes at Cruise is viewed through the lens of the company’s core values, starting with how he builds out his technical team.

“Our mission requires people who have a growth mindset and are able to come at the problem every single day to iterate, experiment, and innovate quickly and safely,” he said. “Safety has to be ingrained in everything we do; we can’t have people who are motivated by quick wins that come at that cost.”

The focus on safety requires Elshenawy and his team to take a unique approach to innovation compared to other Silicon Valley peers. If a social media company does a test trying to improve ad placement accuracy, a failed experiment may lead to a minuscule dip in revenue. But in an autonomous vehicle–when lives are on the line–failure is not an option.

“We have had to create an entire infrastructure and new tools to allow our engineers to innovate safely. This is where simulation comes into play, for example,” Elshenawy said. “It’s a layer of culture that we build everything on top of that allows us to celebrate experimentation regardless of the result. Every experiment is a successful experiment. That’s the whole point of doing an experiment. It’s all about learning.”

“Every experiment is a successful experiment. That’s the whole point of doing an experiment. It’s all about learning.”

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