Zinnov Podcast is for leaders who set direction, not follow it. Featuring CIOs, CTOs, and CEOs, the series examines how organizations scale amid data, AI, and growing complexity, through real decisions, trade-offs, and leadership at scale.
Episodes
Tuesday Mar 17, 2026
Tuesday Mar 17, 2026
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, and highlights how OEMs can unlock lifecycle value through software, services, and data.
If you are working on automotive software, vehicle platforms, or digital mobility transformation, this episode is for you.
Listen now.
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