With the leader of Tesla Inc’s Optimus program, Milan Kovac, on his way out, Indian-origin engineer Ashok Elluswamy is poised to take over the consequential responsibility, according to Bloomberg

On Friday, Kovac confirmed his departure, which he called “the most difficult decision” of his life, via social media. “Over the past 9+ years, I’ve had the immense privilege to work with some of the most brilliant minds in AI & engineering. I’ve built friendships that will last a lifetime,” he wrote on X.

“This week, I’ve had to make the most difficult decision of my life and will be moving out of my position. I’ve been far away from home for too long, and will need to spend more time with family abroad. I want to make it clear that this is the only reason, and has absolutely nothing to do with anything else. My support for @elonmusk and the team is ironclad – Tesla team forever.”

Elluswamy even earned words of praise in his lengthy emotional outpour on X. Kovak extended his gratitude to his successor and fellow Tesla employee Srihari Sampathkumar for their “tremendous support over the many years” they’ve worked together.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk wasn’t far behind in commending Kovac and Elluswamy either. In a June 2 post, he hailed them as the two “key people” tied to the company’s artificial intelligence ops who “have been there from the beginning.”

Who is Ashok Elluswamy?

As Kovac makes his graceful exit after leading the program since 2022 to make time for his family, Indian-origin Ashok Elluswamy’s career graph is about to witness some redirections. The San Francisco-based man has built his reputation in the Tesla hierarchy, having served as the Director of Tesla’s Autopilot Software since 2019. He was the first engineer to join the Elon Musk-led company’s AI / Autopilot team in 2014.

Last year, Ashok showered the billionaire tech boss with words of appreciation for his indispensable role as the “key driver of AI and autonomy at Tesla.” Following his grand post detailing Elon’s importance to Tesla, the tech titan returned the favour by thanking Elluswamy and his consequential contributions to the team.

“Ashok was the first person to “Ashok was the first person to join the Tesla AI/Autopilot team and ultimately rose to lead all AI/Autopilot software,” Musk tweeted. He also noted that without the Indian-origin engineer Tesla would “just be another car company looking for an autonomy supplier that doesn’t exist.” Thanks to robotics engineer’s addition to the team, Tesla shipped the world’s first Autopilot system in 2015. That same year, Musk further disclosed that Elluswamy was actually the first person he interviewed.

Tesla’s Ashok Elluswamy: Education and prior work experience

According to his LinkedIn profile, the Indian-origin Tesla employee secured his Masters in Science from Carnegie Mellon University in Robotic Systems Development. Before that, he pursued his Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Communication from the College of Engineering, Guindy in Chennai.

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Prior to jumping on the Tesla bandwagon, he was a software engineer at WABCO Vehicle Control Systems in the Greater Chennai Area. Thereafter, he joined Volkswagen Electronic Research Lab as a research intern for eight months. 

Finally, kicking off his Tesla journey in 2014, he began his rising graph as a software engineer, then climbed the ranks to the senior software engineer post. In 2017, he switched to the roll of senior staff software engineer, ultimately soaring as the Tesla Autopilot Software director in 2019. Last year, Ashok earned yet another promotion, becoming the AI Software team’s vice president.