Engineering Leadership · Coaching · Advisory
Leading teams. Shipping product. In autonomy, robotics and AI.
I'm Spyros Zafeiropoulos. For more than 12 years I've led engineering teams and taken technology from proof of concept to product, in autonomous driving and robotics at Cruise, Aptiv, Allegion and AeroVect. That combination — academic research, industrial R&D and product development, each at real depth — is what clients bring me in for. Through STEPS, I coach engineering leaders and advise startups and technical founders on doing both: building the team and shipping the product, one deliberate step at a time.
Previously at Cruise · Aptiv · AeroVect · AllegionMS Aerospace Engineering, Georgia TechUS patents & peer-reviewed research in autonomous systems
Outcomes
Selected Outcomes
12 → 65+
Engineers
Scaled a startup's engineering team in two years
140 → 250+
Engineers
Grew a global algorithms group across 7 sites in 18 months
50% → ~100%
On-time delivery
On-time project delivery after redesigning how work was planned and tracked
Who I Work With
Three Ways I Help
Engineering leaders
Stepping into a bigger role? I help you build the judgment, systems and presence it asks for.
Leadership coachingStartups
Team outgrowing its structure, or technology stuck between prototype and product? As a fractional VP of Engineering or CTO, I design the org and the path to ship.
Fractional leadershipTechnical founders
Building something hard and want a seasoned sounding board, from technical strategy to the leap from PoC to product? That's where I help.
Founder advisoryThe STEPS Way
One Deliberate Step at a Time
STEPS rests on a simple belief: meaningful change happens one deliberate step at a time. It's the discipline I used to scale autonomy teams, applied to people and organizations.
Uniqueness
No two leaders or teams are alike. We start from your context: your strengths, constraints and ambitions, not a template.
Start & End
Progress becomes measurable when you're honest about where you stand today and clear about where you want to arrive. We define both.
Path
Then we design the route: the few decisions and habits that matter most, sequenced into steps you can actually take.
Audit → Design → Execute. See how an engagement works →
Latest Writing
From the Journal
"Σὺν Ἀθηνᾷ καὶ χεῖρα κίνει."
Along with Athena, move your hand too.
Let's Talk
Ready for your next step?
Whether you're stepping into a bigger role, scaling a team or building something hard from scratch, let's talk about where you are and where you want to go.