Working with external engineering teams offers a lot of added value not just to OEMs, but to the consumer too. In a recent episode of the HARMAN Experiences Per Mile podcast, I explain how the demand for advanced connectivity features is changing the experience inside the car and how the Automotive Engineering Services (AES)​ team at HARMAN is addressing this change. This blog post highlights the discussion, but you can listen to the entire podcast episode here.

Leveraging software and technology service providers to support the building of vehicles has been a gradual journey for OEMs​. Over the last 10 to 15 years, ECUs in the car have increased exponentially. Not long ago we only had basic IVI, echo and noise cancellation, and maybe back seat entertainment. Today we have digital cockpits, Over-The-Air updates, ADAS features, electrification, connectivity, 5G—the list is endless. The promise of a connected vehicle is here and now, and those in the automotive ecosyst​em who can adapt, and scale will be relevant for years to come.

According to a joint study by McKinsey and IHS Markit of the Global Automotive market, the size of the software and integration market is more than $30 billion, but more interestingly, in the next 10 years it will grow more than three times its size. The biggest contributors to this growth will come in changing OS and middleware as the car and the ecosystems around it get rearchitected, digital cockpit and ADAS features improve, telematics incorporates 5G and other new features, and data becomes the fuel which holds this all together.

As the world around us becomes increasingly more connected, consumers have heightened expectations for connectivity and look for digital experiences to connect across all aspects of their daily lives. The value of a vehicle is moving from measuring RPM to EPM (Experiences Per Mile) making it critical for automakers to provide consumers with enhanced in-cabin experiences to drive more value into the vehicle. Meaning, they must connect at a human level. As a result, it's important for suppliers and OEMs alike to keep consumer expectations at the forefront of innovation.

The HARMAN AES team is comprised of more than 3,000 software engineers with deep, hands-on expertise in supporting automotive software programs, using sound system integration capabilities and platform design thinking. Our engineers provide accelerated engineering capabilities to support both OEMs and suppliers across the globe, whether they choose to lay the foundation and build capabilities in-house or partner with third-party suppliers to offer more integrated solutions to their consumers. In other words, engineering services provides the glue that holds both HARMAN and external assets together in every possible automotive domain.

AES also acts as a software integrator to stay ahead of the riding demand for innovation. Agile organizations can thrive in this time of incredible change. HARMAN can help them to stay relevant by using our human understanding to develop new opportunity spaces for innovation and help OEMs think about who the customer is, what they want, and build a vehicle around those desires. To do this, OEMs need to innovate—and fast. The oncoming wave of software complexity will require tighter collaboration amongst OEMs, suppliers and software integrators to prevent chaos.

This is where AES provides three unique value adds: Expertise, Agility and a Cost Advantage. Tying it all back to the end consumer, AES can create a sense of accomplishment for drivers and passengers. Today, an average car user faces frustration around parking, accidents, loss of signal, and not being able to interact with the technology inside the car like they do with their phone or smart homes. To be able to address these concerns, we need to first dig deeper and understand the user better. Learning who they are, what they care about, and how the car can satisfy those desires is vital. Only then we can drive accomplishment and improve their Experiences Per Mile​.

This can only be achieved with the right software, and that is exactly where our expertise provides value. AES is responsible for making everything within the vehicle work smoothly for consumers to use various features seamlessly to feel more accomplished during the mobility journey, because ultimately, we are in the business of building high performance, software engineering teams for OEMs and their ecosystems.

 
To hear more from me on this topic, listen to this episode of the Experiences Per Mile podcast.​​