Vice President & GM of Applications, Cerence
Search every verified Nils Lenke interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Nils Lenke, Vice President and General Manager of the Applications Business Unit at Cerence, discussed the company's role in automotive AI on the AI in Action podcast in September 2021. He stated that Cerence's speech and other technologies have been integrated into more than 300 million cars historically, and that roughly 50 million cars shipped in the prior year contained Cerence technology, representing one out of two cars shipped. Lenke described a shift from purely embedded systems to hybrid cloud-based architectures, enabled by car connectivity, which he identified as a major trend. He noted that this connectivity allows for telematics services, over-the-air updates, and the collection of interaction logs in compliance with GDPR. Lenke emphasized that the company focuses on solving specific problems with data science rather than starting with a data science solution and searching for a problem. He cited in-car commerce features such as ordering restaurants in advance and contactless fuel payment as growing applications. Lenke also remarked that conversational interaction with machines, including cars, has become normal and no longer exotic. He addressed the organizational impact of replacing business systems with data-driven systems, stating that it may cost some jobs, create new ones, and make existing jobs more interesting, requiring consideration of the entire picture including processes and organizational impact.
“We have put speech and other technologies into more than 300 million cars historically and last year we shipped roughly 50 million cars, so one out of two cars shipped has some Cerence technology in it.”
“Today people really expect they can speak to their phones, their television, and their cars; having an interaction with a machine is now really normal and nothing really exotic anymore.”
“We are building smart domains where you can search for restaurants, gas stations, make purchases, play games in your car, and speech is just a natural way of doing that.”
“One out of two cars shipped last year has Cerence technology in it, which shows the scale and impact of our AI systems in the automotive industry.”
“When we look at data science projects, depending on who you talk to, around 10% actually make it into production and the rest fail; but for us, it's not true because we start with a problem and then apply data science to solve it.”
“If you start with data science as a solution and then look for a problem, you are likely to fail; instead, start with a problem and then use data science to solve it, which reduces failure risk.”
“Replacing business systems with data-driven systems impacts people, may cost some jobs, create new ones, and make jobs more interesting; you need to look at the entire picture including processes and organizational impact.”
“Our technology used to be embedded only in the past; today we have a hybrid system with a cloud component because cars are connected, allowing us to collect interaction logs for specific purposes while complying with GDPR.”
“Connectivity is a major trend; most cars hitting the road today are connected, enabling telematics services, over-the-air updates, and keeping infotainment systems fresh and evolving.”
“In-car commerce is growing with features like ordering restaurants in advance, contactless fuel payment, and staying connected with friends and family while driving.”
Welcome to episode 179 of the AI in Action podcast, the show where we break down the hype and explore the impact that Data ...
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