Luminar Technologies, an automotive tech firm, has named Paul Ricci as its new Chief Executive Officer. Ricci, who was the Chairman and CEO of Nuance Communications for nearly twenty years, brings deep experience in scaling technology-driven companies. His appointment follows the resignation of Austin Russell, Luminar’s Founder, who stepped down from his role as President, CEO, and Chair of the Board. Board member Matt Simoncini expressed confidence in Ricci’s appointment, stating, “His track record speaks for itself. He is a visionary leader with a rare combination of technical insight and operational excellence. His commitment to innovation, his ability to scale organizations, and his instinct for anticipating where technology is heading make him the ideal person to lead us into our next chapter of growth. The Board has full confidence in his leadership, and we are excited about what lies ahead.”
Ricci's professional background includes advisory roles at Lightspeed Venture Partners and Warburg Pincus, and leadership positions at Qualifacts and several other health tech firms. At Nuance, he led the company’s expansion from a niche software firm to a major provider of AI and speech recognition solutions across various industries. Before that, he held executive roles at Xerox, beginning his career at its Palo Alto Research Center. With this leadership change, Luminar aims to strengthen its position as a key technology partner for automakers such as Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, and NVIDIA, supporting the integration of advanced safety and autonomous driving systems in upcoming vehicle models.
