Johann Lau
Seattle, Washington, United States
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Dad | Husband | Product Guy
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2K followers
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Johann Lau shared thisCome work with me and make Google Maps data even better! https://lnkd.in/gpVaU_Sz
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Johann Lau reposted thisJohann Lau reposted thisSuper excited to share that today we announced two new Google Maps features, bringing together the world’s freshest map with the most capable Gemini models: Ask Maps and Immersive Navigation. It is incredible to see these features transform exploration into simple conversations and make driving more intuitive than ever. Congrats to the team for all they are doing to shape the future of maps and deliver incredible experiences for our users. Excited to continue building on this great momentum! More info 👉https://lnkd.in/gMvcapqV
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Johann Lau reposted thisJohann Lau reposted thisGoogle Maps, you think, what's interesting about that...? Many don't realize the depth of interesting, state-of-the-art problems we tackle in Geo (Google Maps), which demand significant innovation. What makes these challenges truly compelling is the immense volume and diversity of our data—including 220 billion StreetView images, tens of million aerial and satellite images, hundreds of millions of car-perception events and trillions of navigation traces. This rich, multi-modal dataset, combined with the massive impact we have on 2 billion users and car manufacturers (Mercedes, Volvo, GM, Ford, Honda, Nissan, ...) through our ADAS data product, creates unparalleled opportunities. This treasure trove of data is ready for you to unleash your ideas upon and drive significant innovation. We've a proven track record of disrupting Geo with state-of-the-art ML for road, sign, and lane automation; multi-modal foundation-model research and driving integration of Geo data to Gemini. Join us to make a substantial impact on world understanding and advance the fields of ML/AI and computer vision towards a hyperfresh, self-healing map. My team is hiring for multiple roles: Engineering Manager L6 for our AI/ML R&D work powering Google Maps Driving Experience for our 2B users: https://lnkd.in/dPM5nTg8 Multiple L4/L5 research oriented SWE positions with a focus on multi-modality, multi-task e2e models and Gemini: https://lnkd.in/db_uhN7T If you feel ready to take the next step and work on truly big datasets with impact on billions of users, talk to us and let's build the next generation of Google Maps together!
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Johann Lau shared thisI couldn't be more proud of the many teams across Google Maps, Android Auto, and Polestar that came together to launch this new feature! I'm looking forward to hearing feedback from users in the coming months and bringing live lane guidance to more countries, road priorities, and automotive partners in the near future. Thank you and congratulations to all involved!Johann Lau shared thishttps://lnkd.in/ekzx7suQ Thrilled to announce our groundbreaking new feature, live lane guidance, for cars with Google Maps built-in, coming first to our partners at Polestar. We're using advanced AI in the vehicle to analyze real-world lane markings and road signs through a car's existing front-facing camera, seamlessly combining it with Google’s detailed maps to give drivers more accurate and tailored lane guidance. The feature will use an enhanced route visualization showing all possible lanes and provides subtle audio and visual cues to ensure you stay on course. No more last-minute lane changes or missed exits, helping you navigate with confidence. A massive thank you and congratulations to the amazing teams at Google and Polestar that brought this feature to life. Polestar 4s in the U.S. and Sweden will be the first to experience this new benchmark in navigation. Can't wait for drivers to try it! #GoogleMaps #Polestar #LiveLaneGuidance #Automotive #AI #Innovation Hans Bleckert Andrew Foster Krish Padmanabhan Johann Lau Dmitry Alekseev Michael Woodward Dave O'FlynnGoogle Maps introduces AI-powered live lane guidance for cars with Google built-in, starting with Polestar 4.Google Maps introduces AI-powered live lane guidance for cars with Google built-in, starting with Polestar 4.
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Johann Lau reposted thisJohann Lau reposted thisCome work with me — we're hiring! 🚀 I'm looking for a Product Manager to join my team at Google Maps. This role is ideal for someone who has built both 0→1 and 1→100 products in a B2C or B2B setting, is eager to create personalized and context-aware experiences using AI and brings insatiable curiosity and relentless energy to their work. A background in geospatial technologies is preferred, but not required. The role is based out of Seattle / Mountain View. If this sounds like you — or someone you know — please apply online! https://lnkd.in/gQASWGkv Note: To ensure fairness and visibility, please apply through the official link above — I will not be able to respond to DMs from folks I don’t already know.
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Johann Lau reposted thisJohann Lau reposted thisIn the age of AI, strategic partnerships define automotive leadership: See how it's done.✨ Join us at IAA Mobility for the essential keynote “The Mercedes-Benz & Google Partnership: Building the next generation in-vehicle experience, together.” Hear from @Magnus Östberg (CSO of Mercedes-Benz), and myself on our unique co-creation model. Discover how OEMs can accelerate software-defined vehicle development while retaining full brand control and avoiding lock-in. 📍 Where? IAA Main Stage 🗓️ When? September 11th | 15:15 - 15:45 Find all information about our keynotes and masterclasses in the comment below.👇 #IAA25 #Google #GoogleAI
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Johann Lau reposted thisJohann Lau reposted thisOnly three weeks until the auto industry meets in Munich! 🚗💨 I'm thrilled to share a sneak peek of what Google has in store for IAA 2025 – it's going to be an unmissable event! Get ready for: 🎤 3 Keynotes on the IAA Main & Summit Stages: We'll be sharing our vision and insights on the future of mobility, technology, and AI's impact on the automotive sector. 💡 Theater Keynotes at the Google Booth B1: Dive deeper into specific topics with focused presentations right at our stand. Find the full program in the comments below and register now - seats are limited! 🚗 Experience the Power of Google AI with many demos, including the ones in our partner cars from @Renault and @Mercedes ⭐ Several Exclusive Side Events: Connect with our experts, industry leaders, and peers in more intimate settings for in-depth discussions and networking. 👋 Yours truly will be speaking about Driver Assistance and Automated Driving with Google Maps on Wednesday at 12 PM on the Google Booth B1 stage. We're bringing together cutting-edge innovation, real-world applications, and thought leadership. Don't miss the chance to see how Google is driving the future of automotive. Who's planning to be at IAA 2025? Let me know in the comments! 👇 #IAA25 #Google #GoogleAutomotive #GoogleAI
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Johann Lau reposted thisJohann Lau reposted thisThe Maps Automotive team is hiring a Product Manager in Sydney. If you've wanted to have global impact in how people navigate in their cars please consider joining our team! https://goo.gle/4li7Li0
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Johann Lau reposted thisWe're hiring a great Engineering Manager to help us develop new Maps technologies!Johann Lau reposted thisShape the Future of Maps as a Software Engineering Manager, Geo Auto In Munich! Ready to steer the next generation of mapping technology? We're searching for a Software Engineering Manager to lead our Geo Auto team in Munich, impacting over a billion users worldwide. If you're a seasoned software leader with a strong background in technical leadership and a knack for Android native/C++, this is your chance to drive innovation. Join us and help redefine how the world explores and navigates! Apply send to a friend: https://lnkd.in/dgPtz7Ec
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Johann Lau liked thisJohann Lau liked thisFrom checking my readiness for my next workout or a game of pickup basketball to understanding my sleep in the lead up to important launches…Google Health Coach paired with the new Google Fitbit Air makes it easy to start a new relationship with your health. And the Stephen Curry Special Edition is 🔥🔥🔥 and with Gemini Nano Banana you can instantly dunk! more info about Fitbit Air and the Google Health app and Coach here https://lnkd.in/gwC5Ummv https://lnkd.in/g3Syaady
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Johann Lau liked thisJohann Lau liked thisEveryone knows and loves the little blue/green squiggles in word processors — they indicate you have a bum sentence; right-click it and you get a few options to fix it. What happens when your computer can put a squiggly line under your whole story. Not because you have bum prose, but because you have a flat character, a boring plotline, a fizzling conflict? What should be in the popup menu? Not so clear. The problems are deep and structural; the solutions require coordinated decisions. Quick example — in a novel, of course. The AI extracts characters, chapters, plots, settings, etc, and comes up with 500 notes for 'things that seem off'. You could pin them as sticky notes, but that's not how to fix a story. The best developmental editors connect the dots and surface deeper insights, like: Underdeveloped Secondary Character Arcs Dilute Emotional Stakes The Antagonist's Arc Needs Stronger Foreshadowing Rushed Emotional Beats Undercut the Climax Opportunities to step back from the ocean of feedback and make bigger pivots. An author might agree or disagree. But if they pick one — say 'Underdeveloped Secondary...' — what do they do? Right-click and... the novel rewrites itself? No author signs up for that. Naming a problem (...err, opportunity...) is just the start. Next: 'ok, so what should I do with this?' To make secondary characters feel more alive they might: Seed their Concrete Life Contexts Reveal their Personal Tradeoffs at Key Decision Points Personalize their Signature Rituals All viable. But which is right for *this* work? Which balances the fix's value against the cost of adding words? Which reveals the story the author wants to tell without burying it? Pick one — say 'Personalize their Signature...' Now there's a diagnosis and an approach and still... the task is ill-defined. So many relevant passages, so many techniques. So an author might go through the novel and select some paragraphs: Chapter 7 — reveal Felix's data obsession root Chapter 30 — deepen Bridget's window ritual Chapter 52 — hint at Detective Conroy's sarcastic exhaustion NOW we're on to something. When the author is editing chapter 52 and gets to Detective Conroy, they might see a 'Story Squiggle'. They right-click and see: Because we agreed some secondary characters are underdeveloped, AND you decided to approach this through signature rituals... you might rewrite this paragraph like so. That clear blue squiggle with 3 options has turned into a hierarchy of choices, all leading to a meeting of the minds before anything changes. Better? Heck yeah. But also much more complex, and no users have any idea what to expect — no training on the interaction patterns. We have this amazing new capability. And so many friction points for humans who aren't drinking all the AI kool-aid they can find. What an amazing time to be alive. What do you think? Will people get used to the complexity? Or will tools evolve another way?
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Johann Lau reacted on thisJohann Lau reacted on thisThis portrait will be featured tomorrow, May 6, 2026, at the Diversify: Female Founders in Focus exhibit at #SFMOMA San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, alongside 200 extraordinary women founders building across healthcare, AI, fintech, and beyond. I am honored and excited to join this movement and be part of this exciting event. I will be representing ANTA Biotech where we are building gravity-agnostic biotools and creating an entirely new market category. Gratitude to Erika Bahr and her company Daxe, Inc. for creating this platform and driving the vision forward. If you’re an investor, operator, or champion of innovative companies, I would love for you to join us and see what this movement looks like in action. Register here: https://lnkd.in/gqehY9_M #Diversify #FemaleFounders #SFMOMA
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Johann Lau liked thisJohann Lau liked thisIt was exciting to see Google recognized on TIME’s #Time100Companies list – a wonderful recognition of our relentless pace of innovation and the opportunities that enable us to deliver for our partners during this extraordinary AI era. One of many great excerpts – and a link for the piece below :) “Several key breakthroughs…catapulted Google’s Gemini model to the top of many capability leaderboards...Google has quietly introduced millions of people to AI through everyday products: search, image-generation tools like Nano Banana, video editing on YouTube, research assistance via NotebookLM, translation through Google Translate, and autonomous driving with Waymo. At the same time, its Cloud division has boomed, powering a wave of businesses entering the AI economy.” Thanks to my amazing, indefatigable, creative, and responsible colleagues! Full article here: https://lnkd.in/gbRmg_nN
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Johann Lau liked thisJohann Lau liked thisArguably, hyperscale started 20 years ago with our data center in The Dalles. Here's a photo from exactly 20 years ago (I'm the red shirt on an away mission 😉). The Dalles was our first greenfield data center, and certainly the largest. It likely was the largest in the world at the time, at over 50 MW. At the time, we tried to keep it under wraps because we were concerned that Microsoft would find out; they were trying hard to compete by jamming Bing into Internet Explorer (hmm, sounds familiar?). Ultimately, the NYT found out and published a front page article in June 2006, but we were happy to have gained 15 months. We've learned a lot since then, but the two original buildings are still in operation. Time flies!
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Johann Lau liked thisJohann Lau liked thisAfter reading the responses to my last post, I started thinking more about conservation, sacrifice, and influence. Many people mentioned issues like low pay, job insecurity, burnout, and the idea that passion should make up for poor career structures. But some comments went even further. The issue is not just that conservation asks people to make sacrifices. The bigger problem is that these sacrifices often do not lead to real influence. Field-based conservation relies on people who spend years building trust, learning about the land, understanding communities, and tracking changes in populations. They stick with tough problems long after short projects end. This kind of knowledge cannot be summed up in a report. It comes from being present over time, engaging again and again, building relationships, learning from failure, making adjustments, and coming back. But the people who do the work are often not the ones with power. They are not always part of funding talks. They do not always help shape strategy. They are often left out of the rooms where priorities are decided. This leads to a lasting gap between field knowledge and influence within institutions. People with hands-on experience often have little say in big decisions, while those with power may not understand the realities that shape conservation success. This gap makes conservation weaker. This is not meant to criticize fundraising, communication, policy, leadership, or working with donors. Conservation needs all these skills. But we need to be honest about the imbalance. Field biologists, community conservationists, local partners, and long-term project leaders do more than just carry out plans. They hold important strategic knowledge. If field experience is seen as just operational work, conservation loses something vital. It loses context, memory, and the lessons learned from past failures. It also loses the insight that comes from long-term trust with local communities. This can lead to conservation plans that are too disconnected from the realities that shape their success. If conservation depends on people being present over time, then that presence should matter within institutions. If trust is key, those who build it should have influence. If field knowledge is crucial for recovery, it should be central to decision-making, not pushed aside. Conservation cannot keep asking people to give so much to the work without giving them a real say in shaping its future.
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Johann Lau liked thisAmazing and impactful SWE opportunity in Seattle!Johann Lau liked thisDo you know any Seattle-based software engineers who want to work at the intersection of sustainability and geospatial AI? I've got a really exciting opening on the Earth Engine team: https://lnkd.in/gnt3DMGw
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Greg Isaacs
Criteria Corp • 7K followers
I took my second Waymo across Los Angeles last night, and the experience was largely excellent. From the smooth pickup to navigating the freeway (which is now supported here in LA!), the technology is undeniably impressive. However, the "last mile" wasn't quite perfect. I was dropped off on the left side of a two lane, one way street, directly in traffic rather than on the shoulder. Also, my destination was on the right. As I've written previously (https://lnkd.in/gHw7drrc), there is great promise in using technologies like AI in countless ways, from autonomous driving to talent measurement. However, my recent Waymo experience highlights two critical lessons: 1. Humans Must Own the Outcome: Whether you are a passenger in an autonomous vehicle or managing talent, you cannot delegate accountability to the machine. Technology is a powerful tool, but humans must own the final result. In hiring, as in transport, we must remain in the driver's seat to ensure the "drop off" (i.e. the final decision) is the right one. 2. The Feedback Loop is Non Negotiable: Without human feedback to these systems, technology will never improve. I made sure to provide feedback on my ride, and we must do the same in our talent systems. If we don’t provide constant, iterative feedback, we lose the opportunity to refine them into something better. Progress happens when human intuition meets technological scale. We provide the feedback; the tech provides the lift.
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Amir Hartman
Studio CX • 13K followers
🚕🤖 The most ironic gig economy job just dropped. Waymo, the poster child of autonomous driving, is paying DoorDash drivers… to close car doors. Yes, really. In Atlanta, Dashers have reported receiving requests to drive less than a mile to a stopped Waymo vehicle and shut a door left ajar. The reason? If the door stays open, the vehicle can’t move. What sounds like satire is actually a confirmed pilot. 🔍 What’s actually happening here Waymo’s AVs can become temporarily immobilized if a passenger exits and doesn’t fully close the door. To recover fleet efficiency quickly: • Nearby DoorDash drivers are pinged • Small payment to “complete” the task • Vehicle gets back on the road In Los Angeles, similar requests have appeared via Honk, sometimes paying significantly more. ⚙️ This is bigger than a funny headline This isn’t about doors. It’s about the hidden reality of automation: • Even advanced AI systems hit edge cases • Physical-world failures still need humans • “Autonomous” often means “human-assisted at the margins” The future isn’t human or AI. It’s human + AI + gig-layer patchwork. 💡 Three uncomfortable questions for leaders 1️⃣ As AI systems scale, how many micro-exceptions will require human intervention? 2️⃣ Are we designing workflows that assume perfection instead of failure? 3️⃣ Who owns and funds this invisible labor layer? Because someone always does the “last 5%.” 🚀 The real lesson AI doesn’t eliminate work. It reshapes it into: • Exception handling • Recovery tasks • System supervision • Edge-case labor Today: DoorDash drivers closing AV doors Tomorrow: Entire job categories built around AI friction #AI #Automation #DigitalLabor #FutureOfWork #Waymo #GigEconomy #AIDayTwo #LeadershipInTheLoop
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Denise Straessler
Straessler Ventures • 972 followers
Self-driving vehicles promise fewer total road deaths but perfection isn’t possible. Waymo’s co‑CEO said society will likely accept a robotaxi‑caused fatality “when” it happens if the net safety record improves. That’s candid, but it puts the spotlight on governance. #Ai #Selfdriving What robust AV safety looks like: - Transparent incident reporting (full datasets, not summaries) - Independent safety audits with public findings - Clear accountability when software or operations are at fault - Defined rollback/deployment thresholds tied to measurable risk Progress isn’t just “fewer crashes than humans”, it’s trust earned through verification and accountability. If AVs are safer on average, the burden is to prove it continuously and act fast when systems fail.
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Tete Xiao
Bot Auto • 1K followers
The movement of goods is the backbone that the world runs on - $2.6 trillion a year in America alone. Every meal, every medicine, every material that builds our lives depends on it. That backbone is approaching its limit, and this is why robotrucks are must-haves. Thanks Grayson Brulte for kindly inviting me on the show to share how our technology will run continuously for commercial operations, and why I believe Bot Auto will be a categorical winner in the space.
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Mohak Shroff
Microsoft • 53K followers
Jeff Hammoud, Rivian’s Chief Design Officer, took me inside their color and materials room—a space that encourages innovation and intricate design storytelling. I learned how Rivian’s design philosophy transforms everyday materials and objects into thoughtful features that enrich the experience of driving their EVs, and how one of their most iconic features was inspired by a humble piece of climbing gear. Follow along for more at https://lnkd.in/gZbXmpYk
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