⚑ Tokyo, Japan

As a data scientist on the Perception team, Ivaylo is bringing a future with zero accidents closer by helping vehicles make better sense of the world around them. Working at the frontier of AI model development with Toyota Group partners, his team applies advanced engineering to rich driving data sets to raise the bar on safe, reliable driving experiences. He talks about what attracted him to Woven by Toyota, what it means to design software with quality and safety in mind, and what shape ‘collaboration’ takes in the Toyota Group.

Q: Why did you say yes to the role?

There are two things that made me say yes to the position. The first thing, at Toyota, with this incredible fleet, we have a huge variety and diversity of data. The type of data is very interesting to me because it is data captured by all these vehicles on the road from their cameras and all their sensors.

The second part is the quality of the team that we have at Woven by Toyota. From the interviews with my current manager and other team members, I could sense a really strong passion for the mission of Woven by Toyota, as well as strong capabilities and technical skills that will help me grow as an engineer.

"At Toyota, with this incredible fleet, we have a huge variety and diversity of data."

Q: What are you currently working on?

Currently, I'm working on perception models that are trying to detect in three dimensions, the world outside of the vehicle. It's a lot of advanced technologies, advanced models, AI models that we develop.

The real thing that is exciting is that by improving and iterating these models, we see the impact on the vehicle’s perception and the increase in value it has for the customer and their safety.

Q: What defines great software development?

As part of the Toyota Group, we are really focused on designing quality products. The design of quality software is something that hits home for me. I'm able to find a lot of joy in developing quality products.

The benefit of a quality product — especially quality software — to the customer, is that it allows us to actually design the product in a way where we are iterating it easier, and doing it faster. So we can deliver more value (to the customer) in the future.

Q: What does collaboration in the Toyota Group look like?

In Woven by Toyota, we have a lot of engineers working on the latest technologies who are very good at understanding the latest research and cutting edge technologies.

At Denso, they have a really great understanding of how to work with Toyota and how can we package everything so it works correctly for Toyota.

The Toyota members who participate, they have the inside knowledge of how our products are actually going to be consumed in the bigger picture of the vehicle.

Q: What’s the hardest part of your role?

With the goal of zero accidents at Woven by Toyota, we really have to challenge ourselves to not be satisfied with the current status quo of our technology, and go beyond it to ensure a better experience for our users and a generally safer environment.

"We really have to challenge ourselves to not be satisfied with the current status quo of our technology."

Q: What drives great work in your team?

If there is a strong motivation and care about delivering value, usually the rest follows. That's the single most important aspect, I would say.