Ryan Holben Obuchi

👋Hello, world!

I'm a math PhD with nearly 10 years' experience at Cruise and NVIDIA helping create the autonomous vehicle future. I believe in living a well-rounded life!

My professional interests currently span AI, autonomy, climate tech, and startups. I'm particularly interested in the challenges around trustworthiness in AI tools as they transform our industry.

If there's something you'd like to chat about, schedule a call on my LinkedIn!

🤖Work

I spent the last decade working in behavior planning algorithms for self-driving cars, working for Cruise and NVIDIA. I specialized in L2-L5 classical algorithms for dense, chaotic urban environments like San Francisco, and also dabbled in end-to-end deep learned systems, like NVIDIA's Alpamayo. My roles spanned senior engineer, tech lead, and engineering manager.

Prior to tech, I taught mathematics at UC Irvine and Furman University, pursuing research in set theory and combinatorics. Teaching brought deep satisfaction to my life, paving the way for mentorship & leadership in my career.

📷Passions

I have an impractical number of hobbies, including playing piano in a quartet, churning ice cream, roasting coffee, shooting photos, bouldering, snowboarding, and growing veggies.

I speak some Japanese, and spend a decent amount of time traveling Japan, Hong Kong, and elsewhere with my lovely wife.