I spoke with Adam J. Mandel — founder, advisor, and holder of seven patents, with more than fifteen years at the forefront of autonomy, EVs, and AI. We discussed his unique path from a non-technical background into leadership roles, where he bridged advanced technology with customer-first thinking to help deep-tech companies scale. Adam reflected on the realities of commercialising frontier technologies, from the challenges of deploying autonomous systems on public roads to the trade-offs between lidar and vision. We also explored his work at Rivian on charging and fleet solutions, as well as his venture EnergizedAI, which used AI to improve EV charger reliability and was later acquired by 7Gen. The conversation closed with his belief that the future of mobility is not just electric but intelligent — and his advice for innovators working at the intersection of AI, autonomy, and electrification.