READERPROFILE The Oddball in Autonomous Trucking
as told to Karen Kroll
RESPONSIBILITIES: Support and add value to strategic and operational initiatives, such as developing autonomous solutions for the U.S. Army. EXPERIENCE: Senior strategist and business operations, Kodiak; corporate strategy and development associate, TuSimple; finance product summer associate, AgriDigital; vice president, production, Picture Movers Anonymous; chief executive officer and founder, LouLou Productions; business valuation associate, Deloitte. EDUCATION: MBA, Yale School of Management; B.B.A, Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University. LAUREN HARPER is chief of staff at Kodiak Robotics, which builds solutions that can power autonomous movement for the long-haul trucking market.
I ’m a jack of all trades. I earned an undergraduate finance degree, specializing in alternative assets. Almost all my classmates are in investment banking or private equity. I’m the oddball in autonomous trucking, but I love it. After working in finance, I moved to the entertainment space. I worked primarily as a line producer, building the budgets and managing cash flow for music videos, TV shows, movies, and other projects. While this work was exciting—I applaud people who work in entertainment and love a good TV show as much as the next person—I felt I wasn’t impacting people’s day-to-day lives in a tangible way. When I pivoted from entertainment
and save our soldiers on the ground. It’s fulfilling to feel I’m part of something that can make such a positive impact. I worked in corporate strategy at TuSimple, an autonomous driving technology developer. I fell in love with it from day one. Partly it was my wonderful manager, but it’s also an exciting industry. I was impacting day-to- day lives. You could see our customers’ trucks on the road. It was tangible. When you pivot to a new industry, you have to work hard and prove you belong. I said ‘yes’ to everything. I managed our insurance and worked with the CFO to manage investor relations, even though those weren’t technically my job. I’m proud of my willingness to learn, get my hands dirty, and make a spot for myself in this industry.
to the trucking industry, I knew I’d need to immerse myself in a different world. I got into the Yale School of Management, where there are people from all over the world, with all sorts of backgrounds and perspectives. You can learn from everyone. Then I looked for a position in transportation. I grew up in a trucking family and witnessed how important safety is. I believe autonomous trucking has the potential to save lives on the road “Success means showing up and learning so you’re ready to take on a project when it comes up.”
10 Inbound Logistics • August 2024
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