TOYOTA TECH TALKS

Steve Basra of Toyota Connected loves cars. “We have such a long history of innovation at Toyota,” says Steve Basra, Executive Vice President of Toyota Connected and Vice President of Toyota Motor North America. While most people think the company’s roots lie in the automotive industry, he notes, its first technologies developed by Sakichi Toyoda were actually to improve weaving looms. “An innovator is simply someone who can turn a new idea into a solution that can add value to a customer or to society,” says Basra, who heads up numerous initiatives – from vehicle connectivity to shared mobility – aimed at making vehicles safer, and more convenient. His goal is to use new forms of technology, data science and machine learning to enable amazing customer experiences.