Meet 56 year old Senegalese Aicha Evans, CEO of Zoox who sold her tech company to Amazon for $1.2 billion.
Born in Senegal and raised in Paris, Aicha moved to the U.S. as a teenager for college. She earned a computer engineering degree from The George Washington University, then built her career in semiconductors and wireless tech.
After several startups, she joined Intel. Over 12 years she rose to Chief Strategy Officer — one of the highest-ranking Black women in Silicon Valley.
In 2019, she made a bold move. She left Intel to become CEO of Zoox, a startup building fully autonomous, bidirectional electric vehicles designed for ride-hailing in dense cities.
One year later, Amazon acquired Zoox for over $1.2 billion. Aicha stayed on as CEO.
Under her leadership, Zoox became the first company to operate a purpose-built robotaxi in California. No steering wheel. No pedals.
But the road wasn’t smooth.
As one of the only Black women leading a Silicon Valley tech company, Aicha faced intense scrutiny. In many rooms, she was the only woman and the only person of color.
Her advice to founders?
“The idea is rarely the problem… You just literally have to have irrational belief and be determined that it’s going to work out.”
Today, she isn’t just building vehicles. She’s building a new vision for transportation.
And yet, this might be the first time you’ve heard of her.
That’s the problem. Talent isn’t the pipeline issue. Visibility is.
