Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s Vice President of AI Software, spilt the beans on Elon Musk’s wacky sense of humour and his work ethic during a podcast with YouTuber Gopinath. Elluswamy revealed the Tesla CEO’s leadership qualities and gratitude for the opportunity to work with Musk. In the podcast, he also talks about his Tamil roots and his professional journey to Tesla.
Elluswamy describes Musk as nothing short of a visionary. He said, “I meet with him every week. He is really smart in the sense that he can predict the future very early. He works really hard. Easily 80–90 hours per week. I feel fortunate to work for him. He is not afraid of taking risks. He is very funny. You can see it in person.”
Elluswamy is an integral part of Tesla’s advancements in the field of artificial intelligence, and Musk, in June 2024, appreciated his contribution and revealed that he was the first person to join the Tesla AI/Autopilot team. Taking to social media, Musk expressed his gratitude and posted, “Without him and our awesome team, we would just be another car company looking for an autonomous supplier that doesn’t exist.”
Tesla investor Sawyer Merritt took to X (former Twitter) and posted a video clip of the podcast, which went viral. In the clip, Elluswamy talks about how Musk’s brain works and that “he can predict the future earlier than others”.
Who is Ashok Elluswamy?
Elluswamy joined Tesla in 2014 and is currently the Vice President of AI Software. He was one of the first members to join the Autopilot team. Earlier, he was working with Volkswagen Electronic Research Lab and WABCO Vehicle Control System. Elluswamy, a robotics engineer, earned his bachelor’s in Electronics and Communication Engineering from the College of Engineering Guindy, Chennai, and a master’s in Robotics System Development from Carnegie Mellon University.
