Best of LinkedIn: Next-Gen Vehicle Intelligence CW 39/ 40

00:00:00: brought to you by Thomas Allguyer and Frenness.

00:00:02: This edition highlights key LinkedIn posts on next-gen vehicle intelligence in weeks thirty-nine and forty.

00:00:08: Frensa supports automotive enterprises and consultancies with market and competitive intelligence decoding disruptive technologies, customer needs, regulatory change, and competitive moves.

00:00:19: So product teams and strategy leaders don't just react, but shape the future of mobility.

00:00:25: Okay, let's unpack this.

00:00:27: Welcome back to the deep dive.

00:00:28: Hey there.

00:00:28: Yeah, we're diving into a stack of insights from calendar.

00:00:31: weeks thirty nine and forty focused pretty squarely on next-gen vehicle intelligence.

00:00:36: And what really jumped out?

00:00:38: Well, the clear, I'd say, overwhelming focus across all the LinkedIn conversations we curated was this ongoing, really complex, and frankly, hugely expensive transformation toward the software-defined vehicle, the SDV.

00:00:51: Right.

00:00:51: It feels like it's moved beyond just a technical transformation now.

00:00:55: It's become a strategic reckoning, hasn't it?

00:00:57: We saw the discussions kind of cluster into three major themes.

00:01:00: First, we probably need to look at the core architecture and what the SDV really means, especially when the financial stakes are getting so high.

00:01:08: Second, we should examine the evolution of ADS, autonomy, and that fierce fight for compute sovereignty that's going on.

00:01:17: Yeah,

00:01:18: that's a big one.

00:01:19: And finally, let's look at the crucial operational challenge.

00:01:22: How the industry is trying to master development speed and security through new ecosystems and validation methods.

00:01:28: It's a lot to juggle.

00:01:30: Definitely.

00:01:31: Our mission for you today is basically to pull out the most important nuggets from these industry experts, give you a shortcut to understanding where the mobility sector is facing its biggest challenges and maybe making its most critical strategic pivots.

00:01:45: Okay, sounds good.

00:01:46: Where do we start?

00:01:46: Let's

00:01:47: start right at the foundation, how the industry is even defining the car now, the whole SDV definition itself.

00:01:53: Okay, here's where the definition gets, well, a bit contentious, right?

00:01:57: The industry seems to be arguing about the fundamental nature of the product itself.

00:02:01: Yeah, you saw that with Robert Faye, for instance.

00:02:03: He gave a pretty hard reality check.

00:02:05: What did he say?

00:02:06: He argued that treating the EE architecture as the product is essentially denial.

00:02:11: Strong word.

00:02:11: Denial.

00:02:12: Wow.

00:02:12: Okay.

00:02:13: Unpack that.

00:02:13: What's fascinating is how clear his pushback was.

00:02:17: Robert Faye states explicitly that EE is merely infrastructure or, you know, plumbing, as he put it.

00:02:23: Just

00:02:23: the plumbing.

00:02:24: Right.

00:02:24: The product is the software, but, and this is key, only if you achieve true abstraction.

00:02:30: Abstraction.

00:02:31: He segments this into the north side, which is the reusable functional platform, and the south side, the hardware abstraction layer.

00:02:39: Basically separating the software functions from the physical hardware.

00:02:41: Okay.

00:02:42: If you don't get that separation, you don't get reuse.

00:02:44: And ultimately, you don't get a true SDV.

00:02:47: No extraction, no SDV.

00:02:48: Simple as that, in his view.

00:02:49: Right,

00:02:50: okay.

00:02:50: And that requirement for abstraction, it ties directly into those radical architectural shifts Garov-Dingrolia highlighted, doesn't it?

00:02:57: Exactly.

00:02:58: Moving from like hundreds of individual electronic control units, ECUs, down to centralized compute zones.

00:03:05: Which we hear about all the time.

00:03:07: And adopting service-oriented architectures, leveraging over-the-air or OTA updates.

00:03:12: Yeah.

00:03:12: That centralization.

00:03:14: That's really the only way to enable continuous monetization to get features out in weeks, not years.

00:03:18: Makes sense.

00:03:19: But we also saw a really necessary counterpoint from Dr.

00:03:22: Gabriel Cyberth.

00:03:24: Oh, yeah.

00:03:25: What was his take?

00:03:26: Well,

00:03:27: he agrees, software central, obviously.

00:03:29: But he argues pretty forcefully that the V, the vehicle itself, that's what still drives sales.

00:03:35: Ah, don't forget the car part of the software-defined car.

00:03:39: Precisely.

00:03:40: He emphasizes that mastering the complexity of a modern car requires excelling in both software and classical vehicle engineering.

00:03:48: Because you know at the end of the day all that revolutionary software still runs on metal.

00:03:51: It's still a car.

00:03:52: The car remains the ultimate complex mobile device.

00:03:56: You can't just treat it like a server rack on wheels.

00:03:58: Okay, so the complexity is immense, but what does that complexity cost when you try to bring it all in-house?

00:04:03: That kind of brings us to the financial reality check.

00:04:06: Why?

00:04:06: Absolutely.

00:04:07: We saw that massive cautionary tale from Matt Damascino regarding Volkswagen's carry-at unit.

00:04:12: Yeah, the numbers there are staggering.

00:04:14: Delays and operating losses estimated to cost VW more than, what was it, sixteen billion dollars?

00:04:20: Sixteen

00:04:20: billion

00:04:21: dollars!

00:04:22: Ouch!

00:04:22: That number isn't just like... a financial footnote, it feels like an existential crisis for that build-it-all-in-house mentality that was so strong a few years ago.

00:04:31: And

00:04:31: the fallout was real, wasn't

00:04:33: it?

00:04:33: Totally.

00:04:34: This failure led directly to a strategic pivot, slowing the EV rollout, pushing core projects like Project Trinity way out into the twenty thirties now.

00:04:44: So the most profound implication here is really the shift in strategy then.

00:04:47: I think so.

00:04:48: Andja Roerbeck analyzed the nuanced VW Rivian joint venture.

00:04:53: Right, the partnership model.

00:04:54: And she showed how these targeted partnerships are now becoming the industry blueprint.

00:04:59: After the carry-at lesson, it seems OEMs realize they have to collaborate on foundational platforms to scale their SDV ambitions.

00:05:06: While still keeping sovereignty over the software that really differentiates them.

00:05:09: Exactly.

00:05:10: You simply cannot afford to rebuild every single piece of the puzzle from scratch internally anymore.

00:05:16: The cost is just too high, the risk too great.

00:05:19: Okay, so that realization what you must master yourself versus what you can share.

00:05:24: that moves us neatly from the foundational architecture to the intelligence applications, right?

00:05:30: Yeah, perfectly automated driving AD and advanced driver assistance systems, ADS.

00:05:36: These are now huge strategic battlegrounds.

00:05:38: Especially around the compute platforms.

00:05:40: and who actually owns the IP.

00:05:41: Definitely.

00:05:42: We saw a great example of this push for strategic ownership in the post from Sharif Hussein about BMW choosing Qualcomm.

00:05:50: Right, for their automated driving super brain, as they called

00:05:53: it.

00:05:54: Yeah, and this isn't just, you know, buying a chip off the shelf.

00:05:56: It's framed as a strategic move to co-develop and actually own the Core AD

00:06:01: stack.

00:06:02: what the industry keeps calling compute sovereignty.

00:06:04: Exactly.

00:06:05: The ability to control the core tech, have flexibility, manage power efficiency across their full vehicle lineup.

00:06:12: Rather than just seeding control to a turnkey supplier, it's about owning your destiny, technologically speaking.

00:06:18: And this choice, it reflects a key insight from Henry Guino, doesn't

00:06:21: it?

00:06:22: It really does.

00:06:22: He argued that the STV crown, it goes to contracts, not just TOPS, you know, Terra operations per second.

00:06:30: Raw power isn't the only game anymore.

00:06:32: So what are the winning models then?

00:06:34: Well, the market seems to be splitting.

00:06:36: You have the comprehensive platform providers like Qualcomm with their digital chassis concept.

00:06:41: Offering

00:06:41: a whole

00:06:42: stack.

00:06:42: Right.

00:06:43: And then you have the high-performance specialists like NVIDIA really focused on that heavy L-three and L-four AI compute.

00:06:50: Interesting.

00:06:51: And he noted mobilized revenue seems to be stalling.

00:06:54: Yeah, he connects that to the market now.

00:06:56: demanding more open, high compute, sensor-fused platforms, which maybe isn't modally's traditional strength compared to these newer, more open approaches.

00:07:05: Okay, speaking of sensors, Dr.

00:07:07: Matthias Traub had a critical observation from the autonomous event.

00:07:11: What's that?

00:07:11: He talked about the fragility of trust in autonomous systems, basically saying redundancy has to be baked in absolutely everywhere, compute, power supply, and crucially, sensors.

00:07:22: Can't have single points of failure when safety is paramount.

00:07:25: exactly and he quoted missy Cummins who stated it really plainly There will be no autonomous car relying on cameras.

00:07:33: only never never never.

00:07:34: Wow,

00:07:35: that's pretty definitive.

00:07:37: a full stop on the vision-only approach.

00:07:39: Yeah

00:07:39: reinforcing the need for robust sensor fusion for safety and importantly for public trust

00:07:44: and the immediate market impact of just ADAS, never mind full autonomy, is already tangible, isn't it?

00:07:50: Frank Turlett pointed this out.

00:07:51: How

00:07:51: so?

00:07:52: Well, ADAS is reshaping auto insurance and collision repair right now.

00:07:57: On one hand, these systems are projected to cut annual loss costs, maybe two to three percent by twenty thirty, just because of fewer low-speed accidents.

00:08:04: Fewer fender benders, good news.

00:08:06: But on the other hand, when accidents do happen, the repairs themselves are becoming far more technically demanding.

00:08:11: Ah, because of all the sensors and calibration.

00:08:14: Precisely.

00:08:15: It requires higher skill, more precision, extensive documentation.

00:08:21: It's a whole new ball game for the repair industry.

00:08:23: Meanwhile, looking globally, we saw ambitions accelerating.

00:08:26: Mady Al's Bizarra shared some insights from the Dubai World Conference.

00:08:30: Dubai is always pushing the envelope.

00:08:31: What's their goal?

00:08:32: Automating twenty-five percent of all transportation by twenty-thirty.

00:08:36: Pretty bold.

00:08:37: Very ambitious.

00:08:38: But what stood out globally wasn't just the driving automation goals.

00:08:42: It was the powerful, immediate integration of advanced AI, specifically generative and agentic

00:08:49: AI.

00:08:49: How's that being used?

00:08:50: To transform business processes.

00:08:53: She mentioned GE Eli connecting virtual design and manufacturing using AI, achieving remarkable speed and cost savings.

00:09:00: The focus has really moved beyond just the driving tabs.

00:09:02: Optimizing the entire development lifecycle with AI.

00:09:05: Interesting.

00:09:06: Yeah, and that focus on radical development speed, that leads us perfectly into our third theme, doesn't it?

00:09:11: It does, because given the complexity and those high-performance demands we just talked about, the traditional way of building automotive software simply won't cut it anymore.

00:09:19: So the conversation around how we build the SDV is almost as revolutionary as the SDV concept itself.

00:09:26: You could say that.

00:09:27: Marcus Rettstat highlighted a major mindset shift that really defines this theme.

00:09:32: Code first.

00:09:33: Code first.

00:09:34: Okay, what does that mean in practice?

00:09:35: It means the old way, where engineers manually maintain detailed specifications in interface documents.

00:09:41: That's kind of out.

00:09:42: Okay.

00:09:43: Instead, the specs and interfaces are derived from the code itself.

00:09:47: Automatically, in many cases.

00:09:48: Ah, so the code becomes the single source of truth.

00:09:51: Exactly, which fundamentally speeds up iteration and, crucially, reduces human error in keeping docs and code aligned.

00:09:59: And this code-first agility, it's being heavily supported by open source initiatives, right?

00:10:04: Yeah, definitely.

00:10:04: We saw the Eclipse Foundation's S-Core project mentioned.

00:10:07: That's that about.

00:10:08: It's modular, designed for safety critical systems, and importantly, it's backed by major OEMs like Mercedes, BMW, and VW.

00:10:16: So

00:10:16: the big players are collaborating on the foundation.

00:10:18: Yes,

00:10:19: and it shows how industry quality standards like AceBice are having to evolve.

00:10:23: Validation is still absolutely key, but it has to be embedded into the continuous development flow, not something tacked on at the end.

00:10:31: And we saw other examples of collaboration targeting this development speed problem too.

00:10:35: Like

00:10:35: what?

00:10:36: Sirat Maitin introduced Horizon, that's the open source platform from Google and Accenture.

00:10:41: Google and Accenture, interesting pairing.

00:10:43: What's Horizon designed for?

00:10:45: Basically, to streamline the heavy lifting stuff like code integration, build processes, test pipelines, the generic stuff.

00:10:53: Okay,

00:10:53: handling the non-differentiating infrastructure.

00:10:56: Exactly.

00:10:56: The goal is simple.

00:10:58: Offload that generic work so OEMs can focus their precious engineering resources on actual product differentiation.

00:11:05: That's where their competitive IP really lives, after

00:11:07: all.

00:11:07: Makes sense.

00:11:08: And this focus on platform development, it connects directly back to the need for both speed and robust security, doesn't it?

00:11:14: Absolutely.

00:11:14: Nithin Bhaskar Alamana discussed turning the vehicle into essentially a cloud application platform.

00:11:20: Using things like service-oriented architecture, OTA.

00:11:23: Right, and principles like GAIX, which focus heavily on controlling data access and ensuring privacy-first data handling.

00:11:31: So secure modular updates.

00:11:33: Yeah, he showcased a remote-controlled speed limiter app as an example, something that can be securely deployed and updated remotely as a modular function without touching the whole vehicle software.

00:11:43: With all that connectivity and continuous updating comes pretty profound risk, right?

00:11:48: Huge risk.

00:11:49: Christian Zimmerman used Cybersecurity Awareness Month to really emphasize the operational reality of those UNESCO regulations, R-one-fifty-five and R-one-fifty-six.

00:11:59: Which mandates cybersecurity management across the life cycle.

00:12:02: Exactly.

00:12:03: And he stressed the need for integrated IT plus OT defense.

00:12:07: It's not just IT security anymore.

00:12:09: It has to cover the entire vehicle lifecycle.

00:12:11: and that regulatory pressure, it requires specific, deep technical solutions down in the weeds.

00:12:16: For

00:12:16: sure.

00:12:16: Chrivan Suryanarayana discussed some foundational requirements.

00:12:20: Like

00:12:20: what?

00:12:20: Things like the necessity for robust approaches for software authenticity and integrity checks, effective key management, and hardware trust anchors.

00:12:28: Especially regarding secure bootloaders, right?

00:12:30: If you don't control the foundational hardware boot process, then

00:12:34: everything running on top of it is potentially vulnerable.

00:12:37: You need that root of trust.

00:12:38: And that security defense?

00:12:40: It needs to match the incredibly rapid release cycle of the SDV we were just talking about.

00:12:47: You can't have security be the bottleneck.

00:12:49: Exactly.

00:12:50: Mostafa Alchemy of VX Labs frames security not as a bottleneck, but actually as an accelerator.

00:12:55: Oh,

00:12:56: so.

00:12:56: Well... by pushing solutions like intrusion detection and prevention systems, IDPS for in vehicle defense and continuous monitoring through things like extended detection and response XDR.

00:13:08: Okay, right.

00:13:09: You can actually keep pace with the massive speed of the SDV release cycle.

00:13:13: The automation required by code first development actually enables the kind of continuous security monitoring needed for compliance and safety.

00:13:20: So it all ties together.

00:13:21: It's clear that everything from the foundation, the architecture to the execution, the development practices, it's all moving towards these integrated systems, rapid iteration and shared open platforms.

00:13:30: Driven by complexity and let's be honest, cost.

00:13:33: Okay, so wrapping this up, what does this all mean for you, the listener?

00:13:38: Well, I think we've seen the SDV narrative really solidify.

00:13:41: It's moved way beyond just a conceptual buzzword.

00:13:45: Now it's about tangible architectural and organizational change.

00:13:48: Change that often involves massive financial bets and these crucial strategic partnerships we talked about.

00:13:54: Right.

00:13:54: And it feels like the industry has really absorbed the lesson of that, uh, that sixteen billion dollar carrier challenge.

00:14:00: Yeah,

00:14:00: that number hangs heavy.

00:14:01: So the focus now is less on if software is defining the car.

00:14:06: It almost entirely on how to execute that definition safely, securely and crucially profitably at scale.

00:14:13: And the trend seems clear.

00:14:14: absolute collaboration to solve those common problems, middleware, validation tools, open source foundations.

00:14:20: While

00:14:20: still retaining sovereignty over the highly differentiating features like ADAS performance and the unique cockpit experience, you collaborate on the plumbing, compete on the features.

00:14:30: And the

00:14:30: constant theme running through all these sources is that massive shift needed in an internal competency, isn't it?

00:14:35: Definitely.

00:14:36: As Stefan Faye noted, particularly for the European industry.

00:14:40: There's a need to move definitively from merely commissioning critical software layers.

00:14:45: from suppliers

00:14:46: to actually mastering them internally themselves, taking ownership.

00:14:50: Exactly.

00:14:51: But if we connect this to the bigger picture, we have to talk about the revenue side.

00:14:54: Ah,

00:14:55: yes, the money.

00:14:56: We saw Augustine Friedel state pretty bluntly that revenues from digital services and features on demand are still being significantly overestimated by many industry stakeholders.

00:15:07: Really?

00:15:08: Even with all the hype.

00:15:09: Yeah, he said willingness to pay and actual conversion rates are way lower than expected even for some of those cutting-edge AI use cases.

00:15:17: That raises the final maybe provocative question for you, the listener, doesn't it?

00:15:21: Go on.

00:15:22: The industry is spending billions, literally billions, to transform the vehicle into a digital platform.

00:15:28: We've seen the enormous cost of that organizational transformation.

00:15:32: But when will the digital revenue finally validate that massive investment?

00:15:36: Right.

00:15:36: When does the SDV turn from the expensive cost center we saw on Theme One into the profitable digital service engine it has always promised to be?

00:15:45: Something

00:15:45: to mull over as you shape your next strategic roadmap.

00:15:48: Definitely food for thought.

00:15:50: So if you enjoyed this deep dive, new additions drop every two weeks.

00:15:53: Also check out our other additions on electrification and battery technology, future mobility and market evolution, and commercial fleet insights.

00:16:02: Thank you for listening and don't forget to subscribe.