Audi 2015 Annual Report Download - page 23

But you just said throwing money at a problem isn’t the
solution. And the network e ect dictates that the benefi ts of
a platform are directly proportional to the number of users
and the volume of data. Surely you have to admit that
American platforms are miles ahead in this power struggle
because of their user numbers ?
KEESE : But when clusters become too complex they break down.
We’re already seeing such e ects in Silicon Valley. Labor is in
short supply, the costs that businesses are facing are too high and
investors are looking for other opportunities. STADLER : The
important thing is to remain agile. Businesses need to develop
new ideas. Five years ago we participated in the International
Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas for the fi rst time and
presented our Audi models as mobile devices. Today we are
drawing on a strategic cooperation with NVIDIA, a chip manu-
facturer from the games console industry. Without that alli-
ance we could not have o ered the virtual cockpit.
So you’re saying that all you need to do is bring together the
right constellation of people ?
KEESE : Look at the fi lm company Pixar. When the new head of-
fi ce was being designed, the then-boss Steve Jobs wasn’t content
just to have a communal canteen. He insisted on central restrooms
so that employees would be walking through the entire company
a number of times a day. That way they meet colleagues from
di erent departments. And that’s the key to fostering creativity.
So all German companies should get on with installing giant
central restrooms ?
KEESE : It’s simply that creativity has much to do with archi-
tectural concepts and paths. This is why corporate head o ces
will look radically di erent in the future.
Looking further into the future, what problems in individual
mobility do we still need to address ?
STADLER : Look at the tra c problems in megacities that are
su ering from gridlock. The solution is piloted driving. In certain
stop-and-go situations we o er time savings. The driver could
hold a video conference with family or business partners, for ex-
ample. People want to be mobile, and we can infl uence mobility.
But specifi cally when it comes to autonomous driving, the
public perception is that the breakthrough will be achieved
by less experienced companies such as Apple and Google.
STADLER : Google is testing sensor systems and camera tech-
nology, but that’s still a far cry from the self-driving automobile
“The best option for the
automotive industry is for
it to identify and exploit
the value-added streams of
the future.”
Christoph Keese
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