Robert Falck’s Post

Business Reinvention Alert!! Strategy "and" Execution Reflection: ✅ Is it an operating model that went wrong? ✅ Is it a differentiating strategy that needs the right talent for flawless execution? ✅ Does Toyota still need to adapt and evolve with technology? ✅ Is it a lack of innovation and technology standing committee to maintain forward thinking for value creation? ✅ Imagine if building a self-driving EV is so easy through AI; how hard it would be to fine-tune an LLM for your specific domain use case using your data? All these have capital allocation, feasibility, viability, and talent implications for value creation. What do you think? John Montgomery Helle Bank Jørgensen #CEO #KSgems #boardroom #boardofdirectors #boardgovernance #CIO #CTO #CISO #IfNothingChangesNothingChanges #ESG #EV

"Robotaxis" are the reason why businesses (like Tesla) need product specialists who can confidently challenge big ideas: 1. The logic is sound (cost/uniformity/regulation) - tick 2. Developers can make it happen eventually - tick But...no-one will ever trust an automated taxi enough to set foot in one (see previous "driverless" and "pilotless" innovations) - and that's what counts. Those pesky humans, huh? #innovation #technology #tesla #robotaxis

British company Wayve has secured $1.05 billion investment to develop and launch the first “embodied AI” technology which will power the next generation of self-driving cars. This marks the biggest ever investment in a UK AI company and cements the UK’s position as a world leader in these emerging industries, having created the economic and regulatory conditions for start-ups in the AI and self-driving vehicle industries to grow and thrive. As the self-driving vehicle industry grows in the UK, it is expected to be worth £42 billion and create 38,000 more skilled jobs by 2035. The AI sector also already employs more than 50,000 people in the UK and contributes more than £3.7 billion to our economy every year. By 2035, our AI market is forecast to grow to over $1 trillion. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/eAPhzg-9

This is interesting on 2 levels. 1) the commitment on AI and funding innovation from the UK, as a single nation, appears to be blowing the EU (a block of 20+) out of the water. 2) The embodied AI approach itself. For a LONG time, a subset of the field of psychology has long tried to kill the cognitive approach to psychology, which focuses on information processing, by asserting (without evidence) that the embodied approach to cognition undermines the information processing approach and therefore the brain can't be viewed computationally. This was never well supported and myself and others noted this 10+ years ago. Specifically, I noted that there is no reason that the information processing approach cannot account for embodied OR extended cognition, and in the Multi-Agent AI work that F. LeRon Shults and I have been pioneering at CulturePulse, demonstrates that you can, in fact, take into account aspects of embodied and extended cognition within an information processing paradigm. Seeing this done with AI in the real world with self driving cars only goes to put another nail in the coffin of that argument. Well done to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology for leading on this!

Book the date for The Future of Electrification Conference on February 7th & 8th. Looking forward to seeing you there! #batteries #battery #lithiumbattery #batterycharger #charger #motors #electricmotors #controller #autonomy

Reading Sequoia Capital's insightful article (link in the comments) on the AI investment landscape made me reflect on what's happening in the #autonomous #driving space. According to Sequoia’s David Cahn, current investments in AI hardware and infrastructure build-out need to generate around $600 billion in revenue - only to pay back the investments. That's quite a target to hit - especially investors have a high risk of being a loser in this game. Similarly, investment in the autonomous driving space in recent years has been enormous, with investors having high expectations of returns that need to be created through enormous revenues. So far, we have yet to see the commercialization of this technology at a level that justifies the massive investments. Autonomy is not a simple problem to solve, especially on open roads. While many favor moonshot approaches in the AV space that tackle the largest TAMs first with the promise of full autonomy, I firmly believe in our pragmatic, step-by-step method. Here's why FERNRIDE's strategy allows us to execute realistically and generate the best possible value per Euro invested: 🚛 We start in logistics yards, perfecting our solutions in controlled environments. 🧑🤝🧑 Utilizing human-assisted autonomy (1:n) ensures reliability and the best possible productivity gains per € invested 📈 We scale our initial use cases first, delivering value today. 🚗 Together with our customers, we venture onto the open road. Being pragmatic and cost-effective simultaneously, we deliver the product and hit our milestones step-by-step, all while delivering the desired value to our customers - starting from day 1. This approach doesn't just create great returns for investors; it’s optimal for our customers too, ensuring sustainable and scalable growth. When you change logistics operations from diesel and manual towards autonomous and electric the transition and change management for organizations is much more successful in a gradual way, then changing everything with a big bang. #AI #BusinessStrategy #LogisticsInnovation #AutonomousTrucking #FERNRIDE

🚀 Exciting News Alert! 🚀 The PitchBook Q4 2023 Mobility Tech Report is officially live on our platform! 📈 Dive into the latest insights and trends shaping the future of mobility tech. Highlights from the report: 🔹 Electric vehicle (EV) growth in the US saw a slowdown, with GM and Ford announcing cutbacks in production. 🔹 GM's Cruise faced setbacks, losing its license to operate its fleet in San Francisco, leading to significant headcount reductions. 🔹 VC investment flows in the sector saw fluctuations, with fleet management & connectivity segment witnessing growth, fueled by the notable Metropolis deal. 🔹 Automotive manufacturing is undergoing a transformative phase, with startups like Divergent, Machina Labs, and Hadrian revolutionizing manufacturing methods and processes. Don't miss out on the latest industry updates! Check out the full report now. 💡 #MobilityTech #IndustryInsights #InnovationInMotion

As presented in our recent FY2023 Earnings Results Briefing, in FY2023, SoftBank Group Corp. and the SoftBank Vision Funds invested a combined total of USD3.9 billion. By the end of March 2024, our total committed capital for strategic investments was USD5 billion. This combined total of nearly USD9 billion is approximately double that of FY2022. In FY2023, the sectors in which we made particularly high volumes of investments were #AI-driven industrial #automation, #robotics, and #autonomousdriving. Notable AI-driven investments include Symbotic and Berkshire Grey, each specializing in different aspects of industrial automation, such as end-to-end case handling, AI-powered picking and sorting, and modular AS/RS systems. Another highlight is our joint venture with Symbotic, GreenBox Systems. GreenBox provides "warehouse-as-a-service" solutions, with its first site in California already operational. For more details on our investments, follow the link: https://lnkd.in/g5K9Sd9T

This investment is not only a vote of confidence both in our status as an AI and innovation powerhouse, but in the broader steps we have taken to make the UK a magnet for investment and growth.    Wayve are a true homegrown success story, and today’s investment represents one of the largest ever backings for a UK start up. This injection of money will put the UK at the heart of driving forward new, cutting-edge AI solutions for self-driving vehicles, made possible by our pro-innovation approach to managing this generation-defining technology.    We are already a world leader in AI, and this is further evidence that the UK is now firmly the global destination for tech innovation and growth.

🚀 In this episode of “The Next Wave” with Young Sohn, two tech titans hold an intriguing conversation about the crucial role of #semiconductors and how the industry drives innovation across all aspects of society. Young Sohn (Founding Manager Partner of Walden Catalyst Ventures; co-founder of Extreme Tech Challenge; former Corporate President of Samsung; and HARMAN International Chairman of the Board) talks to Lars Reger, CTO and Executive Vice President of NXP Semiconductors and XTC Board Member. In 48 minutes, they covered a lot of territory, including the shortage of chips during the pandemic and the precariousness of the global supply chain. Changes in the political climate or environmental events such as floods or earthquakes can have catastrophic effects on the semiconductor supply chain. Everything can come to a dead stop. As Young put it, “The whole world is waking up and saying, 'Wow, 80 percent of all the chips are made in East Asia. If there’s a conflict there, we’re hosed!’ That’s the realization.” 🔋 Demand for applications such as AI, electric vehicles and autonomous driving is accelerating exponentially and along with the need for these applications is the voracious appetite – the necessity – for the chips that power them. It's fascinating to hear such an important discussion between these two brilliant minds – the future of the global semiconductor industry, the need for collaboration and cooperation, the importance of a global ecosystem, safety and security. 🌍 But they also touched on startups, impact and innovation. 💡 ❤️ Lars commented, “Tech for good: very close to my heart. We have moved a lot in the past and I think there is so much more to come.” Settle in and push play ▶️ https://2ly.link/1vyU2 #chips #semiconductorindustry #ecosystem #supplychain #startups #innovation #impact Victoria Bill Nicolas Amandine Constantijn Peter HighTechXL John Catherine Walden Catalyst Ventures