Biography
Mandali Khalesi is Global Head of Automated Driving Mobility and Innovation at Toyota Motor Corporation, and General Manager of Toyota's Advanced R&D and Engineering Company. He is a former Chair of ITS Japan's Automated Driving Support Center working group, supporting the development of automated driving mobility to benefit local communities in the regions outside the Tokyo metropolis.
Originally a Masters graduate in Astrophysics from University College London, Mandali moved to Japan in 1999 working in IT for local government and software companies. In 2005 he established Japan's first location-based mobile advertising business for luxury brands in a traditional Japanese house complete with moss garden in downtown Tokyo. After the receipt of multiple awards, such as being named one of the top tech entrepreneurs in Asia, in 2008 he moved to Europe to work on developing location-based software products at groundbreaking companies such as TomTom NV, Binatone Telecom PLC and Nokia OY. He returned to Japan in 2014 to head up the Asia-Pacific Automotive products business for Nokia HERE, later acquired by a consortium of premium automakers Daimler, Audi and BMW.
