Oliver Achten’s Post

I usually do not actively engage on LinkedIn, but I think that today is the right occasion, because I'd like to announce my departure from CARIAD after 5 years to my network. I always used to joke that "5 years of CARIAD feel like 10 years in any other company", but it expresses the enourmous challenges and personal growth that many of us have faced since we took on this extraordinary journey. Coming from the semiconductor industry, starting a dedicated team at the OEM at this point in time when Automakers realized the importance of software, has been the most logical choice. Not to reinvent the wheel, but to make sure all the wheels we order are in supply, and manufactured according to our specifications. Semiconductors are obviously not wheels. Far more than a commodity being ordered, weighthed by price and soldered on a PCB, they define a complex ecosystem, the backbone of a modern software defined vehicle architecture.  Special responsibilities to be taken care of, for a market being dwarfed by consumer electronics, and rapidly facing the pressure of approaching similar short innovation cycles. As a result, this industry has been, and still is, exposed to many geopolitical vulnerabilities originating from the semiconductor supply chain. Back in 2020, these issues were suddenly forced upon us all by a terrible pandemic. Today, we are at a point that real, man-made politics, have taken an uncomfortable amount of precedence in sourcing strategies, choices of partnerships and collaborations. While politics have always been part of the game, new to us is the speed and the increasing pace the world is changing right in front of our eyes. What we all have learned to take for granted today, might simply not exist anymore tomorrow, if we are slow and careless. In that sense, the foundation of CARIAD, or "CSO" as it was still called when I started, was a tremendous act of foresight. Foresight in having belief in the importance of true ownership, where real value can be created. Not "owning" simply as a mean of acquisition, but as a mean to build responsibility, courage, endurance and the will to not settle for "good enough". With the consequence that ownership also includes the responsibilities to "owning up" to your own mistakes, because without mistakes, there can simply be no growth. During this period of personal and professional growth, I have been lucky to meet and work with extraordinary and courageous individuals, people who joined this journey exactly, because they strongly value and believe in their work. Being able to work in such an environment, goals previously deemed impossible, now have the chance of becoming reality. "Speed" not simply being a physical measure, but a measure of persistency, excellency and strong sense of collaboration. That is one of the biggest learnings I am taking with me on my next journey, and for which I am most grateful. And that is what I wish for CARIAD to sustain for the future.