Today's guest is Firas Lethaus, Head of the Deep Learning Expert Center at the Volkswagen Group. Headquartered in Wolfsburg, the Volkswagen Group is one of the world’s leading automobile manufacturers and the largest carmaker in Europe. Each working day, around 630,000 employees worldwide across the group's 12 brands are involved in vehicle-related services or work in the other fields within the business. The group's goal is to make mobility sustainable for our world today and for future generations.

The Deep Learning Expert Center are responsible for the development and deployment of AI/data products within the Volkswagen group and their subsidiaries. These include  Elli, which develops solutions for private users and business at the many touchpoints between e-mobility and the wider transition underway in society to renewable energy, and CARIAD, which builds the leading tech stack for the automotive industry to make automotive mobility safer, more sustainable and more comfortable in a new way.

In the episode, Firas will discuss:

His background and interesting roles over the years,

The challenges with autonomous driving,

Advice on making the move from academia to industry,

The importance of communication and team dynamics, and

Generating ROI from data science projects in business