Audi 2015 Annual Report Download - page 62

How deep does this “learning through
digitalization” go at Audi ?
STROTBEK : Digitalization speeds up
processes to the benefit of our custom-
ers. So flexibility and agility are the
order of the day for us. Our response
needs to be to create the backbone of an
ecient, future-proof IT landscape into
which all existing systems are integrated.
That is the prerequisite for making com-
plexity controllable. We will then create
scope for addressing the topic of data
analytics – how to identify connections
whose existence we are still currently
unaware of. And use them to identify
new business models.
FLEISCH : Yes, that’s definitely a key part
of exploiting the eects of the digital
network economy. A company can learn
from every piece of information and every
transaction that customers request or
conduct in the digital world ; it can then
AXEL STROTBEK
Born in 1964. Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG with responsibility for
Finance and Organization since 2007. He studied Industrial Engineering at the Universities
of Karlsruhe and Linköping (Sweden). After earning his MBA at the University of Illinois at
Chicago, he joined the Volkswagen Group as Board of Management Assistant for Controlling
and Accounting in 1991. After holding various positions within the Group, Axel Strotbek
served as Executive Vice President of the Volkswagen Group China in Beijing from 2004 to
2007. He is married with three children.
optimize its services, products and prices
accordingly. Bit by bit, an increasingly
accurate and ultimately even intelligent
system capable of meeting a wide
variety of customer expectations will take
shape. Amazon is an impressive example
of how to achieve that.
STROTBEK : A fundamental receptive-
ness to cooperative ventures is also
important – both globally and with
re gional partners. The joint takeover of
the HERE platform in our quest for digi-
tized mobility and our initiative with the
Chinese IT company Baidu are compel-
ling examples of this trend. If you main-
tain networks with other companies,
you will often enjoy an advantage. The
bigger the network, the broader the
data basis and the greater the potential
benefit for the customer. On top of that,
customers expect us to create interfaces
with other providers and systems. They
wish to use everyday items such as smart-
phones and apps in their car as well.
You’ve just mentioned flexibility and
agility. How are you equipping your
own Finance and Organization division
specifically for the challenges of the
future ?
STROTBEK : We have launched a whole
raft of measures and projects across all
divisions to harmonize and accelerate
operations and structures. These also
span the Group’s entire Finance area,
right down to the level of Audi produc-
tion and sales companies. In essence it
is about integrating Finance even more
closely with the other divisions so that
it can respond faster and more flexibly.
FLEISCH : There’s a saying often heard in
this context that aptly summarizes the
crux of the matter : “You can only man-
age what you can measure.” In other
PHOTOS : Christian Vogel