Rivian’s Gulnaaz Afzal on What ‘Self-Driving’ Isn’t — While Playing Pong on the World’s Smallest Atari
Episode 270
In this last installment of “Live from AutoTech Detroit,” Gulnaaz Afzal, Senior Autonomy Systems Integration Engineer at Rivian, joined me to talk about what it really takes to get from cool AV demos to safe, scalable, production-ready autonomy. While playing Pong on the world’s smallest Atari (yes, really), Gulnaaz explains why reliability beats raw capability, why “production ready” is usually misunderstood, and how silent sensor degradation can turn into a six‑month forensic nightmare if you’re not paying attention.
Gulnaaz also explains why higher levels of autonomy does not equal “I get to scroll my phone now,” how true production readiness means designing for aging sensors, messy environments, and constant software updates, why the last 10% is less about flashy AI and more about catching subtle failures early. If you care about ADAS, autonomy levels, fleet uptime, and honest storytelling about where the autonomous vehicle industry actually is, this one’s a three-course meal. Don’t miss it!
