Every automaker is aiming to build and sell the so-called software-defined vehicle. Rivian may have actually done it, but getting there wasn’t easy. Just ask Rivian’s chief of software Wassym Bensaid.
In a bid to drive down manufacturing costs and improve the performance of its EVs, Rivian changed 600 parts on its flagship R1S SUV and R1T pickup truck. The company left the exterior mostly untouched and instead reworked the guts, including the electrical architecture and a redesigned software user interface that provides detailed illustration-like graphics using Unreal Engine as well as deeper integration with Apple and Google.
Bensaid, who joined the EV maker in 2019, drove the creation of the vertically integrated software stack at Rivian. In other words, Bensaid knows a thing or two about building a product from scratch in a high-stakes environment.
Lucky for us, Bensaid will join us on the Builders Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 to discuss what it takes to build a product from scratch — including how to navigate conflict and challenges — and how Rivian is trying to bring joy to customers through software. We might even learn what’s coming next at the EV maker.
Bensaid, who oversees the design of Rivian’s network architecture, security, data and analytics, battery management system and vehicle controls, has a long career in software and systems engineering. He started in wireless with NXP Semiconductors and Motorola and led the execution of research and development programs at Freescale and Intel. Most recently, Bensaid held senior engineering leadership positions at Intel and Silver Spring Networks, which was acquired by Itron.
His results at Rivian have been well received. Even Volkswagen Group has taken notice. The German automaker recently agreed to invest $1 billion into Rivian as part of a broad software development deal that could expand to as much as $5 billion.
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