Driving the Future: Accelerating the Shift to Software-defined Vehicles Ft. Naveen Kichili, HCLTech

About this episode

Naveen Kichili discusses the transition to software-defined vehicles and the necessary changes for OEMs in the automotive industry.

The automotive industry is undergoing a once-in-a-generation shift as vehicles evolve from hardware-centric machines to software-defined vehicles (SDVs). This transformation is redefining how cars are built, updated, and improved across their lifecycle. In this episode of the #ZinnovPodcast, Naveen Kichili, Global Head – Software-Defined Vehicle at HCLTech, joins Vijaykumar Hegde, Partner at Zinnov, to explore what it takes for OEMs to transition toward software-driven vehicle platforms. Drawing on more than two decades of experience in automotive transformation, Naveen shares deep insights into the architectural, operational, and business changes required to make SDVs a reality. The conversation unpacks why SDVs represent a structural shift for the automotive industry, the move from distributed ECUs to centralized and zonal compute architectures, and why over-the-air (OTA) capabilities go far beyond a feature to require a secure, end-to-end software pipeline. It also delves into the challenges of managing legacy complexity while modernizing vehicle platforms, outlines the SDV roadmap for the coming decade, from building foundations to scaling and enabling closed-loop evolution…

People in this episode

Host: Vijaykumar Hegde

Guest: Naveen Kichili

Topics covered

• software-defined vehicles
• automotive transformation
• vehicle platforms
• over-the-air capabilities
• legacy complexity
• digital mobility

Keywords

• software-defined vehicles
• automotive industry
• HCLTech
• over-the-air updates
• vehicle platforms
• digital mobility
• OEMs
• automotive transformation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: HCLTech

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