SDV success requires a harmonised approach

Industry efforts to realise software-defined vehicles (SDVs) have proven far from smooth. Various automakers have reported their struggles to establish a proper strategy—a lack of cohesion and many disparate teams working on separate aspects of the vehicle are recurring themes. Even partial software integration has faced significant bottlenecks. “We have 150 different companies that develop software [for us],” remarked Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley on an episode of the Fully Charged podcast. “They’re written in over 100 different languages that don’t talk to one another, and we can’t even understand it all.” This decentralised and multitudinous approach to design has hamstrung the speed at which core software is created and updated.

In response, some automakers have made relatively drastic moves to shore up their developmental resources, sometimes to chaotic effect. For example, Volkswagen announced in July 2024 that it would invest up to US$4bn in pure electric vehicle (EV) brand Rivian as part of a new joint venture to create “next generation SDV platforms.” Volkswagen Chief Executive Oliver Blume noted it would help lower the cost of its software strategy, reducing its reliance on wholly-owned software firm Cariad, which struggled with overrun budgets and two-year delays. Amid threats of factory closures and mass redundancies, however, the investment has been received poorly by staff. Works council Chair Daniela Cavallo characterised the failures of Cariad as the result of “egoism” between Volkswagen’s competing brands. “Can we be sure this [joint venture] won’t be the next billion-euro grave?” she asked.

Since the automotive industry is still getting to grips with software development, realising the potential of SDVs may not be an easy task. Therefore, digital transformation consultancy Accenture is working to help automakers overcome this teething stage by introducing an ‘academy’ intended to provide the structural backbone for SDV development. This academy places talent transformation at the core of its vision of SDV realisation and eventual adoption, guided by a “digital native” mindset.

Supporting all parties

Accenture emphasises the importance of clear process and smooth communication to the success of SDVs. “It’s not only what to do differently, but how to do things differently,” explains Juergen Reers, Senior Managing Director, Global Automotive and Mobility Lead at Accenture. “This is what allows you to bring new features at speed and scale in a manner that’s very different to the delays you see today in software programmes.” Such struggles are the reason there is a timely and widespread need for a learning platform specifically geared towards SDVs.

Accenture’s LearnVantage academy for SDVs was established to help its automotive clients’ workforces meet the needs of intensive software development. It aims to educate technical teams, C-suites, and board members on how to succeed within this new framework. It will offer technology learning programmes; specialised, predesigned technology academies; ecosystem learning certification services; managed services for a client’s own learning capabilities; and nanodegree programmes, certified online programmes designed to provide users with hands-on experience and industry-relevant skills in specialised fields. All courses will be highly personalized with artificial intelligence (AI) to meet the specific needs of teams and individual users.

In March 2024, the company committed to investing US$1bn over three years into the academy, including the acquisition of digital learning platform Udacity. The platform uses AI to continuously adapt learning systems to meet the unique needs of both individual teams and team members, ensuring that every stakeholder has exactly what they need to thrive in a newly SDV-oriented environment. “This is a huge transformation for the industry. Education is an important component, and it begins with developing talent,” remarks Reers.

A practitioner’s approach

One of the most important aspects of this “talent transformation” will be the promotion of a pro-digital mindset. “Digital nativism is the ‘big ask’ in the automotive industry today across all functions, and the absence of this mindset is one of the key impediments to most automakers’ transformation,” explains Raghavendra Kulkarni, Managing Director for SDVs at Accenture. As he explains, it is “foundational” for automakers to have talent that exemplifies this mindset both in decision-making positions and throughout core teams to mitigate the need for expensive acquisitions and continuous talent hunts. These teams must work harmoniously towards shared goals with open communication in place and minimal space permitted for divergences in approach.

Automakers, Kulkarni continues, cannot become software companies in spirit alone: it is a shift that must touch upon every aspect of a company’s practice, including who it employs, the structure of its workflows, and how its employees approach every design challenge. “It’s not really about teaching particular knowledge sets; it’s about delivering a practitioner’s approach to SDV development via this academy.”

It’s not really about teaching particular knowledge sets; it’s about delivering a practitioner’s approach to SDV development

The relevance of Accenture’s learning platform extends beyond the realisation of SDVs for their own sake. For Reers, it will reflect his vision for a more sustainable, carbon-friendly future mobility sector. “It’s about offering the freedom to move both goods and people, not only without carbon emissions but also safely and affordably in the absence of congestion and irrespective of whether they have a driver’s licence,” he states, largely in reference to autonomous driving. “But more broadly, digitisation, software platforms, and digital services offer huge opportunities to accelerate this transformation.”

Accenture wants to situate itself as a “transformation partner” for automakers on this journey. Ultimately, what differentiates the LearnVantage Academy from more standardised educational programmes is that it helps break down the walls between different aspects of software development. “It is all about integrating the digital strategies of customer experience, product digitisation and enterprise-wide digital solutions,” concludes Kulkarni. “Stitching all of these things together into a unified vision is what the industry needs to move forward with SDVs.”