2026 40 Under 40 Honoree: David M. Carroll (38)
“Growing the future in Pittsburgh is a no-brainer.”
PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA
David M. Carroll
Vice President, Commercialization, Motional
David Carroll has watched the conversation around self-driving cars change dramatically in nearly a decade of working in transportation technology.
“We’ve officially moved past proving whether the technology works,” says Carroll, vice president of commercialization at Motional. Now comes another challenge: turning autonomous mobility into “a seamless, reliable product that riders will love.”
For Carroll, the stakes extend beyond technology. He has lost loved ones in crashes caused by speeding, drunk or distracted driving, and he watched relatives miss social opportunities because they lacked transportation.
“One of the biggest jobs as an industry is to educate, earn trust and be great partners to the cities and communities we serve,” he says.
His investment in Pittsburgh is personal, too. The son of a coal miner and a teacher, Carroll returned to the region after a decade on the West Coast and now leads the Keystone Oaks Foundation for Educational Excellence.
His goal? “Leave my local community better off than I found it.”
