Raghavendra Vaidya, the Managing Director and the Chief Executive Officer of Daimler Truck Innovation Center India (DTICI) in Bengaluru, is responsible for all of DTICI’s Operations in India. He holds an additional responsibility of leading the Vehicle Connectivity globally for DTAG, which entails leading a global team spread across Germany, USA and Japan.
Vaidya has more than 25 years of professional experience and his expertise ranges across technology leadership, digital strategy. Most recently, Vaidya was the Senior Vice President- IT at Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India (MBRDI). He has also held various leadership positions for several GE business divisions, including GE Money, GE Capital, GE Energy, and the GE India Technology Center.
Vaidya holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the R.V. College of Engineering, Bangalore, and Master of Technology degree in Software Systems from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS).
In an interaction with THE WEEK he talks about the uniqueness of this centre and how significant it will be for the overall strategy of Daimler Truck.
What are the unique aspects of this technical centre and how will it be different from the rest of Daimler's centres in the world, particularly the one in Germany?
As one of the leading global commercial vehicle manufacturers, Daimler Truck decided to create a dedicated product engineering and IT center in Bangalore, India. This centre will serve as an epicentre for future innovations and leverage the talent capabilities in the region. The automotive sector is evolving at a very fast pace. Disruptive automotive technologies and high-quality next generation vehicles will be paramount for companies to create a differentiation in the industry. With the launch of Daimler Truck Innovation Center India (DTICI), we will be able to empower the commercial vehicles segment with cutting-edge technology and innovation to stay ahead of the curve. DTICI will focus on product engineering and IT capabilities to empower all business units and brands of Daimler Truck worldwide, including Mercedes-Benz Trucks, Freightliner, Western Star, Thomas Built Buses, Fuso, Bharat Benz, and EvoBus GmbH.
What kind of innovations will this centre be working on, and will it be generating a few patents?
DTICI will provide a competitive advantage by building deep engineering and IT capabilities to achieve zero emission and industry leading innovations in software and electronics for all Daimler Truck and Bus brands across the globe. Our combined strength in product engineering ranging from design, computer aided engineering (CAE) to Mechatronics and IT, coupled with a talent pool, will bring new technologies to the road even faster than before and more efficiently. We will be a company like no other in our industry which will represent CO2-neutral, automated and connected transport of the future. Innovation is at the core of what we do and we encourage our employees to push the boundaries and redefine the future of the commercial vehicle industry.
Are there a few unique platforms that are being developed by this centre?
At Daimler Trucks, we are aware of the fact that future innovations will be centred around Zero emission technology and software. Daimler Truck Operating System (DTOS) is the future platform on which we will build software for our vehicles which will enable us to create software-only features and shorten the innovation cycle. DTICI is an integral part of the global team and will serve as the technology backbone to develop this unique operating system.
What kind of people will be hired for the centre and what kind of professionals will be preferred for hiring? Anything on the number of people that would be hired for the centre?
We are looking to build a rich talent pool with the primary purpose of expediting the process of on road adoption of technology. With that in mind, we will hire committed professionals that possess the required expertise in the fields of Mechatronics, IT, software development and CAD. We would train them to hone the skills required specifically for Daimler Truck. We are looking to increase our workforce by 35 percent by next year.
Please elaborate on the latest innovations in truck technology that is out in the market?
One of the bigger breakthroughs in the commercial vehicle industry is the development of autonomous trucks and their potential affordability in the near future. While still in the prototype stage, there is concrete progress being made in terms of improving purpose-made AI and sensor-based technology. Route optimization over large distance/heavy cargo transportation is another important issue that companies have been addressing via dynamic routing, a technology that utilizes a combination of hardware and software frameworks to collect real-time data and determine the best possible route. Over an extended period, this translates to incredible savings on both fuel and maintenance costs.
What kind of futuristic technologies in trucks are being developed at this centre?
The golden standard that all companies aspire to is to develop an automotive product with zero emissions – it is in both, the planet’s interest and ours. However, the challenges to be tackled in this regard are far greater for commercial vehicles. Range anxiety is a more pressing concern considering the heavy payloads CVs (Commercial Vehicles) haul across long distances. This is one of the primary areas we will be addressing at the centre. In terms of IT, we are working on re positioning our key platforms to serve as standalone pillars for the business. Within the center, we will also be focusing extensively on advanced analytics and data science to extract every bit of intelligence from the data we have collected from our trucks – which are 100 percent connected.
