Waymo LLC Chief Executive John Krafcik is leaving the company after more than five years, bringing an end to the former auto executive’s leadership of Google parent Alphabet Inc.’s driverless car effort.
The company said Friday that it is promoting its chief technology and operating officers, Dmitri Dolgov and Tekedra Mawakana, to lead a decade-old effort to make self-driving cars a reality. They will share the title of co-chief executive. Under Mr. Krafcik, Waymo broadened its business beyond years of mapping roads and designing software to begin running robotaxis around a segment of Phoenix. He also led Waymo’s conversion into an independent subsidiary of Alphabet and raised an external investment round of $3.25 billion.
In a blog post, Mr. Krafcik said he will serve as an adviser to Waymo, adding that “Dmitri and Tekedra have my full confidence and support.” Mr. Dolgov is one of the founders of Google’s self-driving car project. He joined the program when it began in 2009 and led the development of Waymo’s autonomous system, known as Waymo Driver. He studied physics and math at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology before earning a doctorate in computer science from the University of Michigan.