Tensor’s Amy Luca on the Dubai debut of the ‘personal’ Level 4 robocar and the tech driving it

At the recent 2025 World Congress for Self-Driving Transport in Dubai, Tensor made global headlines with the debut of what it calls the world’s first ‘personal’ Level 4 autonomous vehicle — the Tensor Robocar.

Following its debut, Tensor will also be at GITEX Global 2025 to advance the dialogue from industry vision to tangible, real-world application, the firm said in a press statement.

Unlike fleet-operated or ride-hailing autonomous vehicles, Tensor’s innovation puts full self-driving capability in the hands of individual owners, marking a major milestone in personal mobility.

In this conversation, Amy Luca, CMO, discuss how the company’s ground-up approach to autonomy, its focus on safety and data privacy, and its readiness for the Gulf’s real-world driving conditions are positioning it as a global pioneer in the race toward self-driving consumer vehicles.

Tensor is calling this the world’s first ‘personally owned’ Level 4 Robocar. What does that distinction mean in practical terms compared to fleet-based autonomous vehicles?

When people think of self-driving cars today, they usually picture fleets of robotaxis or shuttles that you book when you need a ride. That’s the model most companies are building toward. We asked ourselves a different question: why should autonomy be something you rent, rather than something you own?

With Tensor, for the first time, a Level 4 autonomous car belongs to the individual. It sits in your driveway, ready to take you to work in the morning or bring your kids home safely from school. The practical difference is independence. Instead of fitting into the schedule of a shared service, autonomy becomes part of your daily life, as natural as owning a smartphone.

Why did Tensor choose Dubai and the World Congress for Self-Driving Transport as the launchpad for the Robocar’s global debut?

We wanted our UAE debut to mean something, not just to be another car reveal. Dubai is one of the few cities in the world that has put a number on its ambition — by 2030, 25 per cent of all trips should be autonomous. That vision speaks directly to what we are building. The World Congress is where the world’s regulators, innovators, and thought leaders gather to turn ambition into reality.

By choosing Dubai, we are saying to the world that the Middle East is not only ready for autonomy, it is ready to lead it.

The Tensor was built ground-up for autonomy. How does this native design differentiate it from existing EVs retrofitted with autonomous features?

Think of it like building a house. You can take an old structure and keep adding extensions, but it will never feel as solid as a home designed from the foundation up. That’s what happens when you retrofit autonomous features onto an existing EV. Tensor started with a blank page.

The steering system, chassis, and placement of every sensor were designed to work together as one ecosystem of resilience and accountability. That’s why the robocar feels different. It’s not a driver’s car that learned autonomy later; it’s an autonomous car from birth. That makes it safer, lighter, and more efficient.

With over 100 sensors and a dual-system AI architecture, safety is clearly central. How confident are you in Tensor’s ability to navigate Dubai’s unique conditions like dust, glare, and heat?

Driving in Dubai teaches you respect for the environment — from dazzling sunshine to heavy dust and relentless heat. These are exactly the kinds of realities we considered as part of a global design approach that ensures Tensor performs safely and reliably anywhere. Our robocar was designed to handle these extremes as part of a broader commitment to building a vehicle ready for the world’s toughest conditions.

More than 100 sensors give us multiple ways of “seeing” the road, so if the glare blinds the cameras, lidar and radar are still working. Inside, two independent AI brains constantly cross-check each other in milliseconds, like two pilots flying the same plane. And we engineered thermal systems to thrive in desert conditions.

Our confidence comes not from wishful thinking, but from building the car to excel in the very environment where it is being launched.

Privacy is positioned as the foundation of Tensor, not just a feature. How does your data model contrast with the way connected vehicles from traditional automakers handle user information?

One of the biggest unspoken truths in the auto industry is that connected cars are really data businesses on wheels. Most automakers send streams of information back to headquarters and monetise it in ways the driver never fully understands. We wanted to break that model.

With Tensor, data stays with the owner. It’s encrypted and stored locally. We believe your car should protect you, not profit from you. It’s the same way people once thought email would always be private until they realised it wasn’t. We’re making sure that autonomy starts with privacy because without trust, technology can’t scale.

You’ve announced world-first partnerships with Nvidia, VinFast, Oracle, and Marsh. How critical are these collaborations in delivering both the technology and the ecosystem for the robocar?

The entire industry has made remarkable strides in autonomy — from breakthroughs in AI computing to advancements in manufacturing and safety protocols. But taking autonomy from concept to personal reality requires an ecosystem of world-class partners.

Nvidia brings the computing power that makes real-time decision-making possible. Oracle provides the secure digital infrastructure. VinFast delivers production capability and the discipline of scale. Marsh is rewriting the rulebook on how autonomous vehicles are insured.

Together, our partners make Tensor’s vision possible with the robocar as the centerpiece. Through this network of expertise, autonomy moves from being an industry milestone to a trusted, personal experience.

Insurance for autonomous vehicles is still a grey area globally. How will your partnership with Marsh set a precedent for insuring personal robocars?

If you look at history, every breakthrough in mobility needed insurance to follow. Cars only scaled when insurers figured out how to underwrite them. The same is true for aviation. Today, autonomy faces that same barrier.

With Marsh, we are creating new risk models that don’t simply copy the rules for human drivers. They reflect how an autonomous system behaves and performs. This is not about setting new frameworks — by insuring robocars as personal assets, we are creating a path that regulators, owners, and insurers around the world can adopt.

The robocar is set for customer deliveries in H2 2026. What does the rollout strategy look like in terms of markets, volumes, and regulatory readiness?

We are aiming to have the UAE on the first deliveries because the ecosystem is ready and the regulatory vision is clear. From there, we will expand into other cities that share Dubai’s appetite for innovation. Volumes in the early phase will be limited — we want every customer to feel supported and to have a flawless experience.

Over time, as regulations adapt and confidence grows, we will scale production. Our goal is not just to deliver cars, but to set a global benchmark for how autonomy enters people’s lives responsibly.

Looking at the UAE and wider Middle East, how do you see consumer adoption of personal autonomous vehicles evolving, especially given Dubai’s push for smart mobility?

If there is one region in the world where adoption can happen quickly, it is here. The UAE has a government that builds for the future, consumers who embrace innovation, and a clear policy vision for smart mobility. That combination doesn’t exist in many other places. We expect adoption to follow a similar curve to electric vehicles — early adopters will lead, and once people experience safety and convenience, adoption will accelerate.