David Watson

David Watson has a diverse work experience spanning over several years. David is currently working as a Principal at The General Partnership and Sweat Equity Ventures, both starting in 2021. In 2012, they served as the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Zoo Labs, a non-profit Artist Accelerator. Prior to this, they held various roles at companies such as Aurora, Embark Trucks, Voyage, and Freq. David has worked as a Senior Software Systems Engineer, Chief Architect, Software Engineer, and Principal Software Engineer in these organizations. Additionally, they have experience as a Music Producer at The Zoo and as a Cancer Survivor at Stanford Hospital & Clinics.

David Watson earned a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Creative Studies from UC Santa Barbara in 1999. David pursued a Master's degree in Computer Science at UC Santa Barbara but dropped out in 2000. In 2017, they obtained a Nanodegree in Self-Driving Car Engineering from Udacity. Additionally, they completed online courses on Convolutional Neural Networks for Visual Recognition from Stanford University (via YouTube) and AI for Robotics & Introduction to Computer Vision from Udacity, both in 2016. David also holds certifications in SOTIF Safety of Intended functionality - Automotive ISO 21448 from Udemy and as a Functional Safety Engineer from TÜV SÜD, obtained in 2020. Furthermore, they obtained a Dive Master certification from PADI in 2009.