In Progress: From Munich
I came to Munich with 3 objectives:
- Identify industry trends and use cases that really put the customer, first.
- Meet my new colleagues.
- Gain a better understanding of our "to C" in our "B to B to C" offering.
Bonus: Experience the city and its people I love, from a completely different context than all the times before.
A Work, In Progress
I will update periodically throughout my week here, to share raw content and share observations in real time.
Upon my return to the US, I'll synthesize and write a summary, like I do :)
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Sunday September 5
Although I didn't come from as far this time, it was a long travel day that included:
- Closing up (and packing!) after a month in the French capital
- Traveling it's suburban airport to 2 different destinations for both my travel companion and I
- Following the more complex than usual check in process
- Experiencing travel delays
- And some 11 hours later around 17h00 , checking in at my abode for the next 5 nights - the H4 hotel
I arrived exhausted, but I had come too far, it had been too long and I was too excited to call it a night. I'd seen announcements about events by my clients - you guessed it, the German automakers, around the city on Linked In. I was eager to check it all out. Plus, Laetitia was available and game to meet me anywhere and do anything. We set Odeonsplatz - my favorite Munich place - as our rendez-vous point.
While I remembered how to get around on the U-Bahn almost immediately, I got out of the Odeonsplatz at the wrong exit. Some things never change :).
I knew the city would be transformed for the hybrid event. But I had no idea how bananas it would be.
200 meters further.
Personal Space: it gives this special location quite a different look...
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Strolling around the city center after a lemonade with Laetitia, I spot a Ferris wheel. "One of the reasons I love Bavaria: there is ALWAYS a party going on."
After dinner @ Cafe Luitpold, we walk the few blocks to check it out, after I convince her that I am confident there are Instagram moments waiting for us there. Follow me on @thisisCaro BTW!
Sure as shit, it's part of the IAA Mobility Hub. This week, Königsplatz will be completely transformed into a place where everyone in the community can experience mobility, Bavarian-style.
Monday September 6
Here is the scene to showcase how close I am to the action. It's super convenient, especially given possible impending transportation strikes that could impact the U-Bahn. That would have a really detrimental impact on how people get around here this week, so great timing...
Later in the afternoon, I got my pass for the fair. Ask me how that happened, I won't be documenting it ;)
I swing by the office on the way back and meet my first Capgemini colleagues from Capgemini Engineering, Ralf Nikolaus and Ioannis Mariggis. They are showcasing their work with sensors intended for autonomous driving.
And so begins the search for customer use cases :)
For autonomous, what's in it for customers (WIIFC) is accelerating the adoption of the technology (and all the benefits that come from getting somewhere, autonomously - think of the first time you ever drove) and safety. It's TRUST. We capture, manage, maintain (hygiene) our OEMs clients' data, a capability they often don't have in house. We help them simulate all kinds of situations so they don't have to test them in real life. We help them scale so that they can develop their products more reliably and safely.
Note to self: we hear a lot about the one accident that involves an autonomous car in Arizona, California or Michigan; we don't hear about the magnitude more about motorist accidents that occur every single day.
We also help our clients with their own DevOps methodology: continuous integration, continuous development and deployment, continuous engineering. WIIFC: better products that get to them faster.
Ralf connects me with Alican Sahan, who gives me a tour of the Invent office. This is the scene set up for the events this week.
I'll meet Alican again because he is doing something right up my alley later this week...
Everyone at the office was in a meeting, looking real sharp in their dark blue suits. I just waved at a couple of them. I'll be back after the show.
Tuesday September 7
I’m gonna play a little buzzword bingo today. I have a loose plan, the Pokémon approach, but I’m gonna note how much I see the same words over and over again. It started with over-the-air-updates. And of course, sustainability. For how Herbert Diess. I got here early enough to get a seat!
Herbert Diess. Decarbonization. It’s more than electric! Dan Ram looking good.
Moving is a basic human need. NTS: See recording. WIIFC?
Energy creates the most carbon footprint. It’s a top priority. MAN energy solutions. Transforming the plant in Wolfsburg.
Carbon capturing. Expensive. Not scalable. VC $300M investment. Green infrastructure. Financial business case accelerated the change. Sweden shifted and consumers follow. Idea: If you build it they will come. Because consumers really want it. The us per Capita is double Germany for emissions per Capita. Jesus. All of this makes things more affordable. Politics delay transition.
Better utilization is also a solution that accelerate the change. virtual key on a smart phone. Opp to talk about WIIFC. Add that to Frank’s agenda? Prepare VW + customers for a global shared fleet.
CEO alliance. Francisco. 🇮🇹 Energetic leader. Awww. Cross-sector collaboration. Enel contact for charging network. Energy production, infrastructure, automotive.
Flip the model. Your car earns you money while it’s parked.
Will we have enough power? Yes. If the network is digitized quickly. Change change change the network of changing points to meet the change cadence of cars. Oh! Everything has to evolve around the experience of the driver! Alleluia!!! The experience of charging omg customer experience in the keynote!!!
HD: we need to change faster. Procedures, process that drive investment across Europe. Habits of the past. Omg. Change governance that rule. Opportunity for investment and accelerate growth! Omg. bottleneck, let’s work on that. All this creates wealth.
We video by Porsche. Sooooo good. Reminds me of “We are Capita” and the frog video 🐸
Passion of our customers.
NTS: The future. What about now? what will move is next. What about now?
Oh. Are you talking to me Oliver?
“Strategy”?
Meh. 👎🏼
👌🏼 Mate Rimac. Born 1988. Thanks for telling us. Youth is amazing. Porsche investment. Automotive facility open to the public. Better performance than ICE. Electrification is a game changer but it’s only a small one compare to what is coming. See image.
A toy for rich people. A tool for big change.
Invent what’s possible. We did what we thought was right. No consultants with innovation management frameworks 😂
Partners.
Bosch. Lufthansa. Daimler.
SH: Transform faster, sustainably. It’s not a defense strategy. Tech has to be safe and exciting. NTS: look him up cuz I like him. Fertilize innovation. Keep bringing the new ideas.
OK: The decisions have been made. Now it’s about execution.
Carsten is the 3rd guy.
Tim Leberecht. Recording. LinkedIn + IG post. Follow up with Agnes when I get home.
Then I hit the IBM booth. Russell killing it, still with his CX demos. In fact, the very little content I could find in the program about customers is by IBM. Matt Candy, Holger, slaying.
I visited the BMW stand. I gotta say, I’m really confused about what’s going on. Although they are the only ones talking about now, and not just the future. because I’ve been wondering, why we gotta wait for the future. Why not now?
I was a little naive to think that I could attend the Angela Merkel session 😂. Special invite only. I’ve never seen so many Polizei and I saw her heli. Not very sustainable…. I ran across the street to catch it virtually in my hotel.
If the IAA app is a mess the virtual experience is a disaster. I couldn’t login so I ended up putting my feet up, creating some content, and resting up a bit before I headed to my evening event.
I went to a talk with Mercurial Udavi. Post on Linked In. I would recommend them if we need any executive talent search support.
Wednesday September 8
It’s a nice day, I’m headed to the Open Air sessions. I wanna be with the people that experience these brands. And I’ll be at the office and the fair tomorrow most of the day.
BMW
Nice garden.
Lunch. It’s too long of a story to share here but remind me to tell you. And it resulted in a client meeting tomorrow. BMW.
Sustainability. Software. Over the air.