From Chennai to Silicon Valley, Ashok Elluswamy becomes the face of Tesla’s self-driving revolution
Ashok Elluswamy, an Indian-origin engineer, has earned global recognition after Tesla CEO Elon Musk credited him for being instrumental in Tesla’s autonomous driving and AI breakthroughs. On June 2, 2025, Musk revisited a 2015 tweet that marked the formation of Tesla’s Autopilot team and acknowledged Ashok as the very first person he interviewed to build the team, reported timesofindia.indiatimes.com.
Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s Vice President of AI, leads the company’s vision for full self-driving and AI technology, playing a key role in making Tesla more than just an automaker.
Musk’s tweet read: “This tweet 9 years ago was how I started the Autopilot, now AI, team at Tesla. Ashok, who now leads the team, was the first person I interviewed… Without him and our awesome team, we would just be another car company looking for an autonomy supplier that doesn’t exist.”
A resident of San Francisco, Ashok joined Tesla in 2014 as the first engineer in its Autopilot software division. Since 2019, he has been leading Tesla’s AI initiatives, focusing on self-driving capabilities, neural networks, and advanced decision-making systems. His efforts have helped transform Tesla into a global leader in autonomous vehicle technology.
Ashok Elluswamy, the first engineer hired for Tesla’s Autopilot team, now leads the company’s AI division, with Elon Musk publicly crediting him for Tesla’s breakthroughs in self-driving and AI
Ashok holds a Master’s degree in Robotic Systems Development from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor’s in Electronics and Communication from the College of Engineering, Guindy, Chennai. Prior to Tesla, he worked at WABCO Vehicle Control Systems and interned at Volkswagen’s Electronic Research Lab, contributing to early autonomous driving research.
With more than 11 years at Tesla, Elluswamy stands out not just for his technical prowess but also for his long-term leadership in one of the world’s most innovative AI programs. His journey—from Chennai to leading AI at Tesla—has made him a global symbol of Indian talent in cutting-edge technology.
