– Guidehouse Research Leaderboard 2025 ranks Autonomous A2Z 7th overall, the highest position ever achieved by a Korean autonomous driving company
– Only Korean company to be ranked for three consecutive years; rises for the second straight year, climbing four places year-over-year into the global Top 10
– Ranked 5th globally in Strategy, recognized for Level 4 autonomous vehicle "ROii," APEC deployment, and global scalability
SEOUL, South Korea, Jan. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Autonomous driving startup Autonomous A2Z (CEO Ji-hyung Han, hereinafter "A2Z") announced that it has been ranked 7th globally in the 2025 Automated Driving Systems Leaderboard published by Guidehouse, marking the highest ranking ever achieved by a Korean company in the report's history.
Guidehouse, which was established following a spin-off from PwC's public sector and advisory practice, is a global consulting firm. Since 2015, Guidehouse has published the world's only comprehensive global leaderboard evaluating the capabilities of autonomous driving companies.
A2Z first entered the rankings in 2023 at 13th place, followed by 11th in 2024 and 7th in 2025. It is the only Korean company to appear on the leaderboard for three consecutive years and has recorded two consecutive annual ranking increases, reinforcing its position as Korea's leading autonomous driving company with growing global competitiveness.
The 2025 evaluation assessed companies across two major dimensions: Strategy, including vision, go-to-market strategy, partners, production strategy, technology, and geographic reach; and Execution, covering sales/marketing and distribution, product performance, product quality and reliability, product portfolio, pricing, and staying power.
This year's assessment placed greater emphasis on geographic expansion and pricing, reflecting not only technological competitiveness but also companies' long-term viability and self-sustainability in the capital-intensive autonomous driving market.
Notably, A2Z ranked 5th overall in the Strategy category, outperforming all companies classified in the "Contenders" group and trailing only the four companies designated as "Leaders." Within this category, A2Z received particularly high scores in Production Strategy, Technology, and Geographic Reach.
Guidehouse highlighted A2Z's clear and differentiated market entry strategy centered on public transportation, its extensive real-world driving experience gained through close collaboration with government and public institutions, and its strong potential for global expansion.
Among the key factors cited was A2Z's successful deployment of autonomous vehicles during the APEC 2025 Leaders' Meeting, as well as large-scale autonomous driving demonstrations in government districts, ownership of the domestically developed Level 4 autonomous vehicle "ROii" with a 96% localization rate, and a competitive pricing structure. The company's progress toward near-term commercialization in Singapore, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Japan was also noted as a significant strength.
"Being selected to officially operate Level 4 autonomous vehicles—developed entirely with Korean technology—at a global event such as the APEC Leaders' Meeting was a meaningful factor in this year's evaluation," said Ji-hyung Han, CEO of Autonomous A2Z. "We are deeply grateful for the support and collaboration of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and other related organizations. Building on Korea's upcoming large-scale autonomous driving demonstration cities, we will accelerate operational scale-up and technological advancement to contribute to the national goal of becoming one of the world's top three AI powers."
[Guidehouse Report Download – Paid Access] Guidehouse Research Leaderboard: Automated Driving Systems (2025)
About Autonomous A2Z
https://autoa2z.co.kr/
Founded in 2018 by CEO Ji-hyung Han and four former Hyundai Motor Group autonomous driving engineers, Autonomous A2Z is one of Korea's leading autonomous driving companies. The company operates the nation's largest fleet of autonomous vehicles, with experience running 82 autonomous vehicles nationwide and has accumulated approximately 940,000 kilometers of autonomous driving mileage—the highest in Korea's urban autonomous driving sector.
Leveraging this experience, A2Z develops a range of future mobility services, including urban autonomous shuttles and smart logistics mobility solutions, with a focus on safe and efficient commercialization of autonomous driving technology. In 2024, the company completed development of its Level 4 autonomous vehicle, ROii, and plans to pursue full commercialization following performance certification testing in 2026.
A2Z is also accelerating its global expansion. The company established a Singapore joint venture, A2G (Autonomous to Global), with global expansion partner KILSA Global, secured the COSMO smart city project in Singapore, and became the first Korean company to obtain a local autonomous driving license (M1). In the UAE, A2Z formed a joint venture with AI company Space42, marking the first such partnership for a Korean autonomous driving firm, and in Japan, it signed an MOU with trading company Kanematsu to explore entry into the Japanese autonomous driving market.
Through collaborations spanning mobility services for transportation-disadvantaged populations and smart logistics solutions, Autonomous A2Z continues to drive sustainable innovation in future mobility.
Media Contact (PR Agency)
Doyeon Kang
CEO, Peak Road
dy@peakroad.kr
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Autonomous A2Z Ranks 7th Globally in 2025 Guidehouse Automated Driving Leaderboard, Marking Highest-Ever Ranking for a Korean Company
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Former Cisco and Meraki executive to oversee Plume's go-to-market strategy with a focus on deepening engagement with ISP customers and building subscriber confidence by turning intelligence into action
PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Plume, a leader in cloud-managed Wi-Fi, security, and smart home services for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), today announced the appointment of Rebecca Stone as the company's new Chief Marketing Officer.
Stone brings more than 20 years of experience leading global enterprise and service provider marketing organizations across brand, product marketing, growth, and revenue strategy, as well as a deep understanding of service provider needs across multiple industry tiers. Most recently, she served as Senior Vice President of Revenue Marketing and Customer Solutions Marketing at Cisco, where she oversaw media, integrated marketing, campaign planning, content marketing and operations, and demand marketing for Cisco's $50B networking portfolio.
At Plume, Stone will help Plume deepen engagement with ISP customers while clearly articulating the value of the company's expanding capabilities around intelligent Wi-Fi management, telemetry and analytics, cybersecurity, and customer care, powered by an unprecedented dataset and artificial intelligence. Plume aims to work with ISPs to strengthen subscriber confidence by turning data and insights into action, including a more robust offering that incorporates powerful AI orchestration technology from recently acquired Sweepr.
"The industry is shifting quickly, and Plume is entering a new chapter: one platform, a stronger customer experience, and more value from data and AI for ISPs," said Dan Herscovici, CEO of Plume. "In a market this crowded, clarity wins and we're going to make Plume the obvious choice. Rebecca has built and scaled world-class marketing teams across cloud, networking, and service providers. Her customer empathy and ability to translate complex technology into differentiated value will be critical as we help partners stand out, grow, and compete."
Plume's cloud platform connects nearly half a billion devices, creating an unmatched foundation of real-world network and device telemetry across diverse home environments. In this rapidly evolving broadband landscape—with rising subscriber expectations, intensifying competition, and AI shaping service delivery—Stone will oversee marketing strategy, brand positioning, and go-to-market execution as the company enters its next phase of growth. She will play an integral role in how Plume communicates this refreshed approach and suite of new capabilities to ISPs and the broadband industry, bringing them to life with clarity and inspiration across channels.
"I'm delighted to join Plume at this transformative moment in the company's growth," says Rebecca Stone, Chief Marketing Officer at Plume. "I've spent my career focused on building innovative marketing teams that accelerate growth and drive customer success, especially in an increasingly AI-powered landscape. There's nothing more valuable than hearing from your customers, learning from them, and turning those insights into action that propels their success. I look forward to curating experiences where Plume can engage in a deeper and more meaningful way with them in the year ahead."
Prior to Cisco, Stone was Chief Marketing Officer at Meraki, where she doubled the global marketing team to 150 employees, led a major rebrand and messaging transformation, and grew marketing-sourced pipeline contribution to 35%. At LiveRamp, she served as VP of Marketing, leading a team of 70 marketers and sales staff and helping the company expand from $20M to $300M+ in four years. She previously held marketing leadership roles at DataSift and Calix, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from UC Santa Barbara.
About Plume
Plume created the first managed Wi-Fi platform for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in 2016 and continues to lead today with a best-in-class solution for cloud-managed Wi-Fi, security, and workflow orchestration – all powered by an unmatched dataset and AI. With almost half a billion devices connected to its platform, Plume is a trusted technology partner for more than 400 ISPs around the world, helping them deliver subscriber confidence through better Wi-Fi experiences, new services, and proactive customer care. Plume leverages OpenSync®, an open-source framework that comes pre-integrated and supported on the leading silicon, CPE, and platform SDKs, and supports leading industry standards like RDK-B and prplWave. Combined with powerful AI orchestration tools with its acquisition of Sweepr, Plume now offers ISPs a true end-to-end solution to power their most important workflows and customer experiences, while making deployment simpler and faster. Plume is leading the way in providing ISPs an intelligence and innovation edge to stay competitive, build subscriber confidence, and adapt to the changing needs of the market. Discover more about how Plume is empowering ISPs by visiting https://www.plume.com.
Former Cisco and Meraki executive to oversee Plume's go-to-market strategy with a focus on deepening engagement with ISP customers and building subscriber confidence by turning intelligence into action
PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Plume, a leader in cloud-managed Wi-Fi, security, and smart home services for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), today announced the appointment of Rebecca Stone as the company's new Chief Marketing Officer.
Stone brings more than 20 years of experience leading global enterprise and service provider marketing organizations across brand, product marketing, growth, and revenue strategy, as well as a deep understanding of service provider needs across multiple industry tiers. Most recently, she served as Senior Vice President of Revenue Marketing and Customer Solutions Marketing at Cisco, where she oversaw media, integrated marketing, campaign planning, content marketing and operations, and demand marketing for Cisco's $50B networking portfolio.
At Plume, Stone will help Plume deepen engagement with ISP customers while clearly articulating the value of the company's expanding capabilities around intelligent Wi-Fi management, telemetry and analytics, cybersecurity, and customer care, powered by an unprecedented dataset and artificial intelligence. Plume aims to work with ISPs to strengthen subscriber confidence by turning data and insights into action, including a more robust offering that incorporates powerful AI orchestration technology from recently acquired Sweepr.
"The industry is shifting quickly, and Plume is entering a new chapter: one platform, a stronger customer experience, and more value from data and AI for ISPs," said Dan Herscovici, CEO of Plume. "In a market this crowded, clarity wins and we're going to make Plume the obvious choice. Rebecca has built and scaled world-class marketing teams across cloud, networking, and service providers. Her customer empathy and ability to translate complex technology into differentiated value will be critical as we help partners stand out, grow, and compete."
Plume's cloud platform connects nearly half a billion devices, creating an unmatched foundation of real-world network and device telemetry across diverse home environments. In this rapidly evolving broadband landscape—with rising subscriber expectations, intensifying competition, and AI shaping service delivery—Stone will oversee marketing strategy, brand positioning, and go-to-market execution as the company enters its next phase of growth. She will play an integral role in how Plume communicates this refreshed approach and suite of new capabilities to ISPs and the broadband industry, bringing them to life with clarity and inspiration across channels.
"I'm delighted to join Plume at this transformative moment in the company's growth," says Rebecca Stone, Chief Marketing Officer at Plume. "I've spent my career focused on building innovative marketing teams that accelerate growth and drive customer success, especially in an increasingly AI-powered landscape. There's nothing more valuable than hearing from your customers, learning from them, and turning those insights into action that propels their success. I look forward to curating experiences where Plume can engage in a deeper and more meaningful way with them in the year ahead."
Prior to Cisco, Stone was Chief Marketing Officer at Meraki, where she doubled the global marketing team to 150 employees, led a major rebrand and messaging transformation, and grew marketing-sourced pipeline contribution to 35%. At LiveRamp, she served as VP of Marketing, leading a team of 70 marketers and sales staff and helping the company expand from $20M to $300M+ in four years. She previously held marketing leadership roles at DataSift and Calix, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from UC Santa Barbara.
About Plume
Plume created the first managed Wi-Fi platform for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in 2016 and continues to lead today with a best-in-class solution for cloud-managed Wi-Fi, security, and workflow orchestration – all powered by an unmatched dataset and AI. With almost half a billion devices connected to its platform, Plume is a trusted technology partner for more than 400 ISPs around the world, helping them deliver subscriber confidence through better Wi-Fi experiences, new services, and proactive customer care. Plume leverages OpenSync®, an open-source framework that comes pre-integrated and supported on the leading silicon, CPE, and platform SDKs, and supports leading industry standards like RDK-B and prplWave. Combined with powerful AI orchestration tools with its acquisition of Sweepr, Plume now offers ISPs a true end-to-end solution to power their most important workflows and customer experiences, while making deployment simpler and faster. Plume is leading the way in providing ISPs an intelligence and innovation edge to stay competitive, build subscriber confidence, and adapt to the changing needs of the market. Discover more about how Plume is empowering ISPs by visiting https://www.plume.com.
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Plume Appoints Rebecca Stone as Chief Marketing Officer
