Tesla Elevates Milan Kovac to Vice President of Optimus Engineering

Tesla has promoted Milan Kovac, a long-time employee and veteran of the company’s Autopilot team, to the position of Vice President of Optimus (Tesla Bot). This significant advancement was revealed through an update on Kovac’s personal LinkedIn profile.

Kovac’s promotion follows a similar move within Tesla, where Ashok Elluswamy was recently elevated to Vice President of AI Software. Both executives have extensive experience with Tesla’s Autopilot technology.

Milan Kovac’s tenure at Tesla spans an impressive 8 years and 7 months, a notable achievement given the company’s reputation for its demanding work environment. His career progression at Tesla includes:

• April 2016: Joined as Staff Software Engineer for Autopilot
• June 2016: Promoted to Engineering Manager of Autopilot Software
• January 2018: Advanced to Senior Engineering Manager of Autopilot Software
• May 2019: Became Director of Autopilot Software Engineering
• Later: Appointed Director of Optimus and Autopilot Engineering

Under Kovac’s leadership, Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot project evolved significantly, progressing from a concept to a functional Gen 2 bipedal machine capable of autonomous operation in Tesla factories.

Interestingly, Kovac’s LinkedIn profile indicates that his promotion to Vice President of Optimus (Tesla Bot) occurred in September 2024. This suggests that the promotion was kept under wraps for some time, as it predates Tesla’s recent “We, Robot” event.

According to Ed Ludlow of Bloomberg News, there were discussions about having both Elluswamy and Kovac present at the “We, Robot” event. However, CEO Elon Musk reportedly preferred to keep the event at a high level. This decision aligns with Musk’s previous statements about competitors closely monitoring Tesla’s events for innovations they might emulate.

This promotion underscores Tesla’s commitment to advancing its robotics and AI capabilities, with experienced leaders like Kovac at the helm of crucial projects such as the Optimus robot.