‘We have a dedicated team that innovates with data science and AI’
Daimler Truck Innovation Centre of India (DTICI) in Bengaluru is the engineering and software hub for Germany-based Daimler Truck, the world’s largest commercial vehicles (CV) maker. RAGHVENDRA VAIDYA, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO), DTICI, talks about how the centre is driving innovation for the firm in an email interview with Ayushman Baruah. Edited excerpts:
What is the role of DTICI in driving innovation for the company? DTICI serves as the backbone for all innovation and technology developments for Daimler trucks and buses globally. It’s a dedicated product engineering and IT centre that focuses on future innovations. It provides a competitive advantage by developing innovative solutions to make products better, especially in the zero-emission and software and electronics areas. Our primary focus revolves around engineering and IT. We can categorise our work within the engineering domain
into two main areas. The first category is product engineering, encompassing traditional mechanical and electrical engineering disciplines. The second involves the integration of software and electronic components into our trucks.
How is DTICI addressing the growing importance of data and artificial intelligence (AI) in the automotive industry?
At DTICI, we recognise the transformative potential of data analytics and AI in the automotive industry. We have established a dedicated team that innovates with data science and AI… India boasts an incredible talent pool and a rapidly growing innovation ecosystem. We have hired data scientists, data analytics experts, and data engineers to further strengthen our team. We constantly invest in upskilling our current talent pool to align them to technology shifts and the evolving market landscape to future-proof them.
Can you give examples of innovation from DTICI?
As a centre committed to innovation, our strategy revolves around two fundamental pillars. Firstly, the concept of “intelligence to drive” underscores the development of software and the utilisation of intelligent technologies. Secondly, “power to drive” connotes our evolution from diesel-powered engines to zeroemission technologies. In software, we have extreme depth in the areas of connectivity and active safety. The most dynamic one is on the connectivity side, what we call “onboard” and “offboard”. Onboard is what we do for connectivity inside the truck. Offboard is once the truck is on the move — where it gets connected to the Cloud. We do deep work in computer science in writing the algorithms for trucks. On the safety side, it is about creating new algorithms to come out with new features like cross-traffic assist, which helps in avoiding collisions. So, the teams in Bengaluru make major contributions in the entire value chain of engineering.
What are some of the new-age technologies like AI that DTICI is leveraging to solve the problems stated above?
With data availability, AI and analytics have proven a gamechanger in garnering actionable insights, predictive maintenance, and superior customer experience. At DTICI, we are committed to leveraging new-age technologies like AI to drive tangible business value in the CV industry. One of the key ways we are doing this is through predictive maintenance. Traditionally, addressing warranty claims and part failures had been a costly and reactive process. However, by harnessing the power of AI, we are shifting our approach to focus on predictive maintenance.
Traditionally, addressing warranty claims and part failures had been a costly and reactive process. However, by harnessing the power of AI, we are shifting our approach to focus on predictive maintenance"
RAGHVENDRA VAIDYA, MD & CEO, DTICI