Zipline adds Tesla, Waymo and Uber veterans as drone deliveries scale

Zipline has appointed senior leaders from Tesla, Waymo and Uber as the drone delivery company expands in the U.S. and prepares for additional international markets. The South San Francisco company says its autonomous aircraft have made more than 2.5 million commercial deliveries, with about 1 million of those completed in the past 12 months.

Chief executive and co-founder Keller Rinaudo told CNBC that Zipline is now completing a delivery roughly every 20 seconds, compared with about one a minute in early 2025. The company said about 70% of its daily volume now comes from the U.S., a shift for a business that began by flying medical supplies and humanitarian goods to clinics and farms in Rwanda and Ghana.

Zipline’s drones are fully electric and autonomous, and can carry packages weighing as much as 8 pounds. Customers typically order through Zipline’s app. The aircraft have been used for medical products such as vaccines, blood and antivenom, as well as restaurant and retail orders including burritos and pizzas.

The company works in the U.S. with businesses including Little Caesars, Chipotle, Cleveland Clinic and Walmart, along with more than 100 small businesses, according to CNBC. In Cleveland, Zipline plans this month to begin a home healthcare delivery service with Cleveland Clinic in a suburb, initially offering prescription delivery to patients at no additional cost.

New executives for a larger network

Sendil Palani, a former Tesla vice president of finance, is joining Zipline this month as chief financial officer. Palani spent about 17 years at Tesla and told CNBC he sees similarities between the two companies in areas including precision manufacturing and charging infrastructure.

Zipline’s previous chief financial officer, former Tesla finance executive Deepak Ahuja, remains an adviser to the company and recommended Palani for the role, CNBC reported. Zipline’s factory in South San Francisco can produce 24,000 drones a year, according to the company.

Zipline also named Kevin Vosen as chief legal officer. Vosen previously worked at agricultural biotechnology company Ohalo and spent seven years as chief legal officer at Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle business. Allen Penn, a former vice president at Uber Eats who helped develop Uber’s food delivery and international ride-hailing operations, has joined as head of commercialization and markets.

Rinaudo said the leadership additions are intended to support wider U.S. deployment after Zipline gained traction in Dallas, its first major metropolitan market. The company is preparing to start operations in Austin, Houston and Cleveland, but has not disclosed the next U.S. cities. Rinaudo told CNBC he expects Zipline’s U.S. business to grow 15 times this year and referred to plans for “many tens of metros across the U.S.” and new large international markets in 2027.

Competition and market growth

Zipline faces rivals including Wing, Alphabet’s drone unit, as well as startups such as Flytrex and Matternet. Other companies are developing cargo drones for military applications.

PwC researchers estimate the U.S. drone market will grow 65% annually from 2024 to 2034, with delivery volumes rising from about 13 million this year to more than 800 million in 2034, according to CNBC.

Rinaudo said the sector is reaching an inflection point after years of development. He told CNBC that drone delivery is becoming more familiar to consumers as companies look for alternatives to sending small parcels by car or truck.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.