Under The Hood: Automotive Storytelling

The Data Center on Wheels - Jeff Chou, CEO & Co-Founder of Sonatus - S2E13

🎙 WHEN SILICON VALLEY MEETS THE VEHICLE In this episode of Automotive Storytelling, Stéphane Lagresle sits down with Jeff Chou, the CEO and co-founder of Sonatus, to trace one of the more deliberate bets in automotive software: the thesis that the car would eventually become a data center on wheels, and that everything the IT industry had already learned about networking, orchestration, and AI could be translated to the vehicle. Today, Sonatus technology is deployed in more than 7 million production vehicles. Their whole product portfolio is now leveraging AI. This conversation covers how it got there. 🎯 KEY INSIGHTS Infrastructure Always Comes First  Before social media, there was the internet. Before cloud applications, there was networking. Before AI in vehicles, there was the software-defined vehicle. Jeff Chou draws a consistent thread from his data center years through to the automotive present: hardware infrastructure creates the conditions for software infrastructure, which creates the conditions for applications and AI. The SDV was not the destination. It was the foundation. The SDV Trough Was Real. AI Is What Got OEMs Out.  Jeff speaks candidly about the "trough of disillusionment" on software-defined vehicles. OEMs had invested thousands of engineers and more lines of code than anticipated, but the promised revenue streams and cost savings didn't materialise as expected. AI changed calculus. Where SDV value was difficult to quantify, AI collapses to two metrics that every OEM understands: time and cost. Sonatus's AI Technician tool is a working example — cutting vehicle diagnostic cycles from weeks to days on the Nissan programme. The Connective Tissue Between Human and Machine  Cars don't speak English. Vehicles generate data that engineers, developers, and eventually drivers can't easily interpret without translation. Jeff describes the role Sonatus plays as the connective tissue between the human and the machine: enabling an engineer to interrogate a vehicle in natural language, from anywhere in the world, and get a structured diagnostic response. LLMs, he argues, are what make this human relationship with technology finally possible. China Is Running a Different Race  Jeff's account of how Chinese OEMs and tier ones adopt new technology is unusually direct for a CEO speaking on record. The adoption speed is staggering, he says, and the work culture behind it runs on what he calls "007" — midnight to midnight, seven days a week. His assessment: incumbent Western OEMs still have the brand equity, the distribution, and the customer base. It is their race to lose, but they need to act. 💡 PRACTICAL TAKEAWAYS * Frame AI value to OEMs around time and cost, not capability. SDV failed to deliver on the revenue promise partly because the value proposition was framed around potential, not measurement. AI tools that demonstrably reduce diagnostic cycles or compress time-to-SOP speak a language finance leadership understands. * Build your team's cultural DNA before your customer relationships. Sonatus explicitly built a mixed team of Silicon Valley technologists and automotive industry veterans before approaching OEMs. The cultural bridge has to exist internally before it can exist externally. * Do not position China as a competitor to dismiss. Jeff's observation is that Western OEMs should treat the pace of Chinese adoption as a signal, not a threat to minimise. What ships there first, is often a preview of where the industry is heading. * Treat SDV infrastructure as the prerequisite, not the product. The SDV is what makes AI in vehicles possible. Companies and OEMs that frame it as an end destination misunderstand its role in the technology stack. 🌟 ABOUT YOUR GUIDE Jeff Chou is CEO and co-founder of Sonatus, a Silicon Valley software company specialising in in-vehicle network management, data collection, and AI-driven diagnostics. Before founding Sonatus in 2018, he built his career in the data center industry at companies later acquired by Cisco and Brocade. He holds engineering degrees from UT Austin and Stanford. Sonatus technology is deployed in more than 7 million production vehicles, with Hyundai Motor Group as a flagship customer and partner. Automotive Storytelling is an independent editorial platform. "Under the Hood: Automotive Storytelling" uncovers the human narratives driving innovation in an industry that impacts lives worldwide. Hosted by Stéphane Lagresle, this podcast explores how the power of storytelling ultimately connects technology to humans.

The Island That Changed Connectivity Twice - Stacuity - S2E12

🎙️ WHEN THE RACE CIRCUIT BECOMES THE NETWORK In this episode of Automotive Storytelling, Stéphane Lagresle travels to the Isle of Man during TT Race Week to examine one of the most structurally underexplored problems in connected vehicles: what actually happens to a car's data between the antenna and the application. Filmed on location with the founders of Stacuity, a software-defined connectivity company, this conversation moves from a 37-mile racing circuit to the engineering reality beneath the SDV transition. 🎯 KEY INSIGHTS The Tromboning Problem A Latency Risk Built Into Most Connected Vehicle Architectures Today A car in Australia connects to a mobile network. The data leaves the country, routes to Europe, and comes back. That round trip adds hundreds of milliseconds to every session. Brazil has already legislated against it. India is moving in the same direction. More markets are following faster than vehicle programmes can respond. And the cars already in the field cannot be recalled to fit new SIMs. Fleet Retrofits Without Hardware Changes What APN Repointing Actually Means The most commercially significant detail in this episode is also the least intuitive. Existing fleets can be redirected to in-country infrastructure without touching a single vehicle. No SIM swap, no over-the-air update to the device itself. John Freeman walks through the mechanism: you repoint an Access Point Name inside the network, and every existing subscriber follows. For OEMs facing sovereignty regulation in markets they are already operating in, this changes the nature of the problem entirely. Software-Defined Connectivity Compresses Market Entry From Months to Weeks  A partner approached Stacuity with a test request: half a million subscribers, edge connectivity validation for a Chinese customer. Traditional infrastructure: six to nine months. With Stacuity's software-defined layer, the APN was configured and traffic routed in four minutes. The full live solution went live four and a half weeks after the request arrived. John Freeman's framing: the connectivity layer should never be the variable that slows an OEM's market entry. The Marshals as a Network Architecture Model  Laura Sawyer describes how more than five hundred marshals manage a 37-mile public road circuit with no single point of failure. Each node passes information forward, flags anomalies, and routes around failure. The episode uses this as its central analogy: handover, edge intelligence, and redundancy, running as a human distributed network since 1907, long before anyone gave it a technical name. It is the clearest non-specialist explanation of what software-defined connectivity is actually trying to replicate. 💡 PRACTICAL TAKEAWAYS * Audit your data routing paths before regulation arrives. If your vehicles route connectivity data through servers outside the country of use, the legal exposure is already building. Brazil and India have acted. More markets are moving. The audit is easier than the retrofit. * Do not assume hardware changes are required for sovereignty compliance. If your fleet uses traditional SIM-based routing, an APN-level redirect may resolve the regulatory exposure without vehicle recall. Understand the mechanism before scoping a programme. * Evaluate connectivity infrastructure against deployment speed, not feature parity alone. A six-to-nine-month connectivity deployment timeline is not a technical constraint. It is an architecture choice. Software-defined alternatives exist and are in production. * Treat connectivity as a core SDV design variable, not a commodity. The software-defined vehicle requires a software-defined network layer. Connectivity decisions made at programme start will determine what is achievable at launch and in the field. 🌟 ABOUT YOUR GUIDES Chris Hall is Chairman of Stacuity. In 2001, he was part of the team who secured Europe's first 3G licence and launched the Western Hemisphere's first 3G network from the Isle of Man, competing directly with Japan's DoCoMo. His route to the licence: a letter, a 19-pence stamp, and a week's wait. John Freeman is CEO of Stacuity. He leads commercial strategy and partnership development for a platform designed to give OEMs and operators the network-layer flexibility that traditional mobile infrastructure cannot provide. Mike Bromwich is CTO and co-founder of Stacuity. During lockdown, he built a complete mobile core network from first principles, software-only and without proprietary hardware, because the existing architecture could not answer the questions the industry was beginning to ask. His explanation of what software-defined connectivity means in engineering terms is the clearest in this episode. Laura Sawyer is Director of Marshals for the Isle of Man TT, responsible for more than five hundred volunteer officials across a 37-mile public road circuit. Her description of how the marshal network operates provides the episode's central analogy, and the reason this conversation was filmed here and nowhere else. "Under the Hood: Automotive Storytelling" uncovers the human narratives driving innovation in an industry that impacts lives worldwide. Hosted by Stéphane Lagresle, this podcast explores how the power of storytelling ultimately connects technology to humans.

Beyond Commands: When Your Car Learns to Listen - Cerence AI & Microsoft - S2E11

with Jan Wehmeyer (Cerence AI) & Frank Kaleck (Microsoft) 🎙️ THE CONVERSATIONAL COCKPIT DECODED In this new episode of "Under the Hood: Automotive Storytelling", brought to you by The Storytelling Tribe, we sit down with Jan Wehmeyer, VP Account & Business Lead Europe at Cerence AI, and Frank Kaleck, Director Industry Advisory Automotive at Microsoft, inside a prototype car to explore how voice AI is turning the vehicle into an intelligent partner, and the dashboard into a boardroom. 🎯 KEY INSIGHTS Native Voice AI vs. CarPlay: The Data Advantage OEMs Can't Ignore Frank Kaleck reveals why automakers are moving beyond Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for their primary voice layer. It’s because a native assistant gives them something a smartphone mirror never can: real insight into what their customers actually want. That data flywheel is becoming a core competitive asset. The Hybrid AI Architecture Running Inside Your Next Car Jan Wehmeyer unpacks how Cerence AI pairs a Large Language Model (LLM) in the cloud with a Small Language Model (SLM) on-device, creating a system that handles free-form, multi-intent commands without structured syntax and routes sensitive data locally to protect driver privacy, even without connectivity. From One-Size-Fits-All to Market-Specific AI Agents Learn how the combination of Microsoft Azure's regional data center infrastructure and Cerence AI’s dedicated local teams makes it possible to serve fundamentally different user expectations — China's high-context, continuous conversation style versus Europe's preference for brevity — without multiplying vehicle variants or technical complexity. 💡 PRACTICAL TAKEAWAYS * Lead with use cases, not technology: Before presenting any new capability, anchor it in a specific driver scenario. The technology earns its place once the human problem is clearly visible. * Embed cross-partner teams early in the project: Rather than working in sequential handoffs between OEM, Tier 1, and technology vendors, co-locate dedicated agile teams from day one. The speed and alignment gains are substantial. * Leverage regional teams early: Cultural differences in how people interact with technology are as significant as regulatory ones. Build regional UX adaptation into the project plan from day one, not as a retrofit. * Tailor your AI architecture to your privacy constraints: Not every function needs the cloud. Identifying which capabilities can run on-device reduces data exposure and builds driver trust. 🌟 ABOUT YOUR GUIDES Jan Wehmeyer brings nearly a decade of experience building Cerence AI's commercial presence across Europe, having joined the company through its Nuance Communications Automotive roots in 2015. He is currently VP Account & Business Lead Europe, a role focused on translating voice AI capability into OEM partnerships at scale. Frank Kaleck has spent fifteen years at Microsoft watching the company transform from a Windows and Office provider into the cloud backbone of the automotive industry. As Director Industry Advisory Automotive, he works directly with OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to build vehicle experiences and enterprise-grade in-car productivity on top of Microsoft Azure. Ready to hear what the car of tomorrow actually sounds like? "Under the Hood: Automotive Storytelling" uncovers the human narratives driving innovation in an industry that impacts lives worldwide. Hosted by Stéphane Lagresle, this podcast explores how the power of storytelling ultimately connects technology to humans.

Wiring the Future: Inside Valeo's Electrification Revolution - Claudine Rochette S2E10

THE EV REVOLUTION DECODED In this new episode of "Automotive Storytelling", brought to you by The Storytelling Tribe, we sit down with Claudine Rochette, VP of Strategy and Communication at Valeo's Power Division, bringing over 20 years of experience at the heart of automotive electrification. From relaunching France's first EV ecosystem project in 2009, to leading global strategy across motors, power electronics, and thermal management, Claudine unpacks what the electric revolution truly looks like from the inside, and why she has always believed the shift is irreversible. Key insights Valeo's answer to the hidden range killer Claudine reveals how winter heating can cut an EV's range in half, and how Valeo's heat pump technology recovers over 25% of that lost range by managing electrical, mechanical, and thermal energy as one integrated system. The rare earth problem nobody is talking about Over 90% of today's electric motors depend on rare earth magnets sourced predominantly from China. Valeo's collaboration with Mahle on a brushless, inductively excited motor cuts the motor's carbon footprint by 40% while breaking the supply chain dependency. Software never stops: the SDV lifecycle revolution The software-defined vehicle has fundamentally changed development timelines. Valeo now maintains and upgrades motor software up to 15 years post-start of production, enabling OTA performance gains long after the car leaves the factory. Practical takeaways * Reframe range anxiety: The biggest EV performance gap is the energy management across electrical, mechanical, and thermal vectors combined. * Follow the TCO story: Valeo's data shows EVs already outperform ICE on total cost of ownership. That’s a narrative the industry still hasn't pushed loudly enough, especially in commercial vehicles and trucks. * Think B2B2C: Winning EV adoption means teaching dealers how to teach customers. The technology story only lands when the full chain understands it. * Stay agile: That’s Claudine's #1 storytelling advice. In a market shaped by geopolitical shocks, regulation U-turns, and technology disruption, adaptability is the only constant. About Claudine Rochette Claudine brings over 20 years of dedicated automotive experience, starting as an engineer at Johnson Controls on engine management systems before joining Valeo in 2005. She led the relaunch of France's national EV ecosystem in 2009 and has held senior leadership positions across electrification strategy ever since. As VP of Strategy and Communication for Valeo's Power Division — the company's flagship entity combining powertrain and thermal systems — she sits at the intersection of technology, sustainability, and market narrative. "Under the Hood: Automotive Storytelling" uncovers the human narratives driving innovation in an industry that impacts lives worldwide. Hosted by Stéphane Lagresle, this podcast explores how the power of storytelling ultimately connects technology to humans.

From Seatbelts to Robotaxis: Europe's Autonomous Awakening - Charlotte Eisner, Bolt - S2E09

THE LUCKY CLOVER DECODED In this captivating episode of "Automotive Storytelling" brought to you by The Storytelling Tribe, we sit down with Charlotte Eisner, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Bolt, co-chair of ECAVA (EU Commission), and strategic advisor on automated transportation to the NATO Science & Technology Organization, to explore how Europe is building its own autonomous mobility future, and on its own terms. 🎯 KEY INSIGHTS Europe vs. the World: Slow Is Not Behind  Charlotte reveals why Europe's rigorous three-layer approval approach (product safety + process safety + operational safety) is not a weakness, and why nobody, including Waymo, has actually cracked commercial-scale deployment yet. The "Blank Paper" Imperative  Discover why retrofitting Level 2 ADAS vehicles for Level 4 autonomy is a dead end, and how the engineering lesson from Bolt's Zicur experience demands starting from scratch to build vehicles that truly support autonomous drive systems. The Lucky Clover Strategy  Learn how Bolt's four-leaf framework — private ride-hailing, B2G municipality services (hospital rides, disabled transport, late-night safety), B2B partnerships, and public transport integration — is designed to make robotaxis a civic asset, not just a tech product. 💡 PRACTICAL TAKEAWAYS * Anchor your story in the past: Tailor your narrative to the lived experience of each audience — cities, OEMs, municipalities — before introducing disruption. * Know your "two-brain" problem: When bridging legacy automotive and new autonomy systems, recognize that evolution alone will not get you to Level 4. Rethink from zero. * Reframe "behind" as "rigorous": Europe's approval requirements create a defensible moat — the first player to clear them will have a durable European-scale advantage. * Design for the streaming generation: Today's riders don't want to own. Build services, not products — and price against the true cost of car ownership (100% cost, 2–5% utilization). 🌟 ABOUT YOUR GUIDE Charlotte Eisner brings over 15 years of experience at the intersection of electrification, autonomy, and European mobility strategy. Born into a family of automotive engineers in Gothenburg — her grandfather co-developed the Volvo three-point seatbelt — she brings a rare legacy of safety-first innovation to the frontlines of Level 4 deployment. After roles at Scandinavian Airlines, management consulting, and co-founding ventures, she re-entered automotive via the EV wave, led business development at Zicur, and now drives strategic partnerships at Bolt, where she is building Europe's answer to Waymo. "Under the Hood: Automotive Storytelling" uncovers the human narratives driving innovation in an industry that impacts lives worldwide. Hosted by Stéphane Lagresle, this podcast explores how the power of storytelling ultimately connects technology to humans.