Technology Speaker Sebastian Thrun

Sebastian Thrun

Founder & CEO of Udacity. Founder of Google X

The future belongs to human-machine collaboration, and no one has contributed more to that development than tech speaker Sebastian Thrun. As a pioneering robotics engineer, groundbreaking AI researcher, and founder of Google X, Thrun has helped build the future. As founder of Udacity, he revolutionized online education. Sebastian Thrun is one of the world's best speakers when it comes to innovation.

Want to book Sebastian Thrun as a speaker for your event? Please provide the info below and we’ll get in touch within 24h:

    Sebastian Thrun biography

    One of the world’s truly great innovators, technology speaker Sebastian Thrun is a disruptive innovator and education maverick. As a speaker, Sebastian Thrun delivers stirring addresses on topics ranging from AI and technical innovation to creativity and education.

    While a tenured professor at Stanford, Sebastian Thrum led the development of award-winning robotic vehicles. One, named Stanley, won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge and is now displayed at the Smithsonian. The second, Junior, placed second at the 2007 DARPA Grand Challenge, but earned Thrun something more valuable: Google’s attention.

    Joining Google as a Vice President and Fellow, Thrun soon founded Google X, the company’s moonshot R&D factory. There, he built on his previous work to earn a reputation as the godfather of the self-driving car. Thrun also led the Google Glass and Loon projects, and initiatives to develop medical contact lenses and indoor localization. Through Google X, he helped launch the Google Brain project, which develops deep-learning AI technologies.

    A chance meeting with Khan Academy founder Sal Khan inspired Thrun to go online with his Stanford AI class. More than 160,000 students took the course, and the best performers weren’t from Stanford. A year later, Thrun launched Udacity, which now offers “nanodegrees” to millions of students each year.

    Thrun returned to engineering as co-founder and chief executive of Kitty Hawk, which develops autonomous aircraft and flying cars. He is one of the youngest members ever elected into the National Academy of Engineering. He is also a member of the Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in his native Germany. Foreign Policy named him one of 2012’s top 100 global thinkers, and he won the inaugural AAAI Ed Feigenbaum Prize.

    His deep knowledge and unparalleled experience at the cutting edge of AI, robotics, and education highlight events and conferences worldwide.

    Sebastian Thrun Keynote Topics

    Thrun is known as the godfather of AI and machine learning. In 2005, his team won the DARPA Grand Challenge with their robot “Stanley.” He also founded Google X in 2010 and led its self-driving car team. Thrun truly believes that AI has limitless applications, and is set to disrupt many industries in the next years. In this fascinating session, Thrun will talk about these limitless applications and how he envisions a near future in which AI powers every business and industry.

    Sebastian Thrun — the scientist and inventor, educator and serial entrepreneur, Google moonshot factory chieftain and self-driving car architect — is trying to disrupt yet another industry. His latest passion project: Kitty Hawk, the electric flying car company led by himself and backed by Google’s Larry Page. In this talk, Sebastian will talk about the future of flight and how this startup aims to free people from traffic. He will also talk about he started, and led, Google's autonomous-car project and is now building a self-driving car at his online-learning startup Udacity.

    Sebastian Thrun is pioneering online education at his online-learning startup, Udacity. Udacity has been called the “University of Silicon Valley.” as it provides Nanodegrees in programming, data science, artificial intelligence, digital marketing, and more. Sebastian has long advocated for the future of education being online, and has disrupted already higher education with the Nanodegrees which significantly reduce the cost of a technical education, bringing the most innovative and latest skills that companies nowadays require, and makes it available all around the world. The purpose of Thrun is to fill the nationwide gap in skilled technology workers that are needed to handle the high-tech jobs of today and tomorrow.

    From the Google Self Driving Car to Google Glass to the education start-up Udacity, Sebastian Thrun has led remarkable teams in the creation of products that will truly change the way the world works in the future. Which is why we selected him as the 2013 winner of the ALVA Award, a special prize presented by Behance in partnership with GE to recognize remarkable serial inventors.

    In this talk, Thrun outlines his approach to making incredible ideas happen. Along the way he talks about the importance of setting wildly ambitious goals, embracing failure as an opportunity to learn, iterating as fast as you can, and giving your team members the autonomy they need to invent.

    Sebastian Thrun Speaking Videos

    Sebastian Thrun - The Future of Flight
    Sebastian Thrun - What AI is - and isn't

    FAQs on Booking Sebastian Thrun

    How to book Sebastian Thrun as a keynote speaker?
    Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Sebastian Thrun as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Sebastian Thrun's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for Sebastian Thrun or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
    How much is Sebastian Thrun speaking fee?
    Sebastian Thrun speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire Sebastian Thrun to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book Sebastian Thrun.
    How can I contact Sebastian Thrun?
    We only work with Sebastian Thrun on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Sebastian Thrun and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Sebastian Thrun speak at your event. We will be your sole point of contact throughout the process. Get in touch with Aurum Speakers Bureau today, and we will reach out to any motivational speaker or celebrity you want to enquire about speaking at your event. If you wish to contact Sebastian Thrun for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
    Can I book Sebastian Thrun for a virtual keynote?
    Yes, Sebastian Thrun is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Sebastian Thrun for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.