{"id":5468,"date":"2026-02-10T07:58:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T07:58:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/?p=5468"},"modified":"2026-02-10T07:58:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T07:58:37","slug":"automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/","title":{"rendered":"Automotive Becomes Software \u2013 Leadership Becomes the Key"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Widukind Baier, Managing Partner and Global Head of the Practice Group Automotive & Mobility at InterSearch worldwide<\/em><\/p>\n

The latest insights from McKinsey<\/a> make it clear: while the traditional vehicle market is only growing moderately, the importance of software and electronics is exploding, with significant double\u2011digit billion\u2011dollar potential. SDVs, zonal architectures, OTA updates, and AI integration are no longer future visions \u2014 they already define the required competency profiles for key roles within OEMs, Tier 1s, and tech partners. AI\u2011enabled functions further increase complexity, making data\u2011driven competency profiles even more critical.<\/p>\n

As someone who has supported leaders and experts along the global automotive value chain for many years, I see three central developments:<\/p>\n

Leadership at the intersection of software, electronics, and product strategy<\/strong><\/p>\n

The next generation of vehicle architectures requires leaders who can orchestrate complex, software\u2011centric development environments. What\u2019s needed are individuals who can interlink hardware and software roadmaps, consistently manage priorities, and align cross\u2011functional teams toward shared objectives \u2014 far beyond traditional functional responsibilities.<\/p>\n

Leadership in ecosystems rather than value chains<\/strong><\/p>\n

The role of the \u201cclassic\u201d OEM is evolving: collaborations with tech companies, semiconductor manufacturers, cloud providers, and start\u2011ups are becoming decisive success factors. This requires leaders who can strategically develop partnerships, manage dependencies, and navigate confidently within open, global networks. Especially in the context of AI\u2011based services, the need for exchange and interdependence is rising \u2014 leadership becomes active platform shaping.<\/p>\n

Scalability and speed as a leadership mandate<\/strong><\/p>\n

Modern E\/E architectures and Software\u2011Defined Vehicles demand continuous updates, faster releases, and iterative improvements. Leaders must be able to build agile organizational structures, maintain scalable architectures, and enable teams to deliver in shorter cycles \u2014 without compromising quality or safety.<\/p>\n

My conclusion:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The competition of the future will not be decided between companies, but between their ability to attract, develop, and retain the right people.<\/p>\n

The transformation is profound \u2014 but for those who make bold HR and organizational decisions today, it presents a tremendous opportunity. Do you have the right leaders on board for the technological shift?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Widukind Baier, Managing Partner and Global Head of the Practice Group Automotive & Mobility at InterSearch worldwide The latest insights from McKinsey make it clear: while the traditional vehicle market is only growing moderately, the importance of software and electronics is exploding, with significant double\u2011digit billion\u2011dollar potential. SDVs, zonal architectures, OTA updates, and AI […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAutomotive Becomes Software \u2013 Leadership Becomes the Key - Intersearch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Automotive Becomes Software \u2013 Leadership Becomes the Key - Intersearch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Widukind Baier, Managing Partner and Global Head of the Practice Group Automotive & Mobility at InterSearch worldwide The latest insights from McKinsey make it clear: while the traditional vehicle market is only growing moderately, the importance of software and electronics is exploding, with significant double\u2011digit billion\u2011dollar potential. SDVs, zonal architectures, OTA updates, and AI […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Intersearch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-10T07:58:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ulrike Knief\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ulrike Knief\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ulrike Knief\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/#\/schema\/person\/daf6e81e34716c5f025eaa5c48946c81\"},\"headline\":\"Automotive Becomes Software \u2013 Leadership Becomes the Key\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-10T07:58:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/\"},\"wordCount\":351,\"commentCount\":0,\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/\",\"name\":\"Automotive Becomes Software \u2013 Leadership Becomes the Key - Intersearch\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-10T07:58:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/#\/schema\/person\/daf6e81e34716c5f025eaa5c48946c81\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Automotive Becomes Software \u2013 Leadership Becomes the Key\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/\",\"name\":\"Intersearch\",\"description\":\"Personalberatung\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/#\/schema\/person\/daf6e81e34716c5f025eaa5c48946c81\",\"name\":\"Ulrike Knief\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe842cf2659183bb37db81e4ced5263b6c567063d2102d8f626d684afc3af8d1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe842cf2659183bb37db81e4ced5263b6c567063d2102d8f626d684afc3af8d1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe842cf2659183bb37db81e4ced5263b6c567063d2102d8f626d684afc3af8d1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ulrike Knief\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/author\/ulrike-knief\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Automotive Becomes Software \u2013 Leadership Becomes the Key - Intersearch","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Automotive Becomes Software \u2013 Leadership Becomes the Key - Intersearch","og_description":"by Widukind Baier, Managing Partner and Global Head of the Practice Group Automotive & Mobility at InterSearch worldwide The latest insights from McKinsey make it clear: while the traditional vehicle market is only growing moderately, the importance of software and electronics is exploding, with significant double\u2011digit billion\u2011dollar potential. SDVs, zonal architectures, OTA updates, and AI […]","og_url":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/","og_site_name":"Intersearch","article_published_time":"2026-02-10T07:58:37+00:00","author":"Ulrike Knief","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ulrike Knief","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/"},"author":{"name":"Ulrike Knief","@id":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/#\/schema\/person\/daf6e81e34716c5f025eaa5c48946c81"},"headline":"Automotive Becomes Software \u2013 Leadership Becomes the Key","datePublished":"2026-02-10T07:58:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/"},"wordCount":351,"commentCount":0,"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/","url":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/","name":"Automotive Becomes Software \u2013 Leadership Becomes the Key - Intersearch","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-02-10T07:58:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/#\/schema\/person\/daf6e81e34716c5f025eaa5c48946c81"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/automotive-becomes-software-leadership-becomes-the-key\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Automotive Becomes Software \u2013 Leadership Becomes the Key"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/#website","url":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/","name":"Intersearch","description":"Personalberatung","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/#\/schema\/person\/daf6e81e34716c5f025eaa5c48946c81","name":"Ulrike Knief","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe842cf2659183bb37db81e4ced5263b6c567063d2102d8f626d684afc3af8d1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe842cf2659183bb37db81e4ced5263b6c567063d2102d8f626d684afc3af8d1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe842cf2659183bb37db81e4ced5263b6c567063d2102d8f626d684afc3af8d1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ulrike Knief"},"url":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/author\/ulrike-knief\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5468"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5469,"href":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5468\/revisions\/5469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intersearch-pb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}