The Garage by Sonatus

Recorded live at AutoTech 2026, this episode of The Garage features Sonatus host John Heinlein and Mobileye VP Nimrod Brickman discussing the evolution of ADAS and autonomous driving technologies. They explore Mobileye's growth into a comprehensive tier-one supplier, its advanced AI approaches, and how the integration of safety-critical features is making autonomous capabilities more accessible fo...

Recorded live at ACT Expo 2026, this podcast episode features Matt McLelland of Covenant Logistics discussing how the company evaluates diverse fleet technologies, from autonomous vehicles and electric trucks to data analytics. He highlights practical implementations like electric APUs and shares how combining data sources provides the context needed to proactively improve driver safety and wellbe...

Recorded live at ACT Expo 2026, host John Heinlein interviews former UPS fleet manager Lawrence Bader on the evolution of fleet technology, including keyless systems, AI-driven predictive maintenance, and autonomous trucking. Bader emphasizes that to remain competitive, fleets must start small, iterate quickly, and integrate technologies across all operational departments.

In this podcast episode recorded live at the COVESA meeting, host John Heinlein interviews Roger Lanctot about how the automotive industry can leverage vehicle data to transition from a B2B to a B2C model, prioritizing driver personalization over data monetization to enhance customer engagement and loyalty. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction to Vehicle Data and Personalization 1:12 Introducing Roger Lanc...

In a live recording from COVESA all-member meeting in Porto, Portugal, John and Omdia analyst Maitê Bezerra discuss the 2026 SDV survey, which reveals the industry expects to reach SDV level 3 by 2030. Key findings highlight a shift toward data-driven value creation and predictive maintenance, though organizational readiness still lags behind technology deployment by several years. Chapters: 0:00...

In this episode of The Garage podcast recorded live at CES 2026, host John Heinlein interviews Derek De Bono, Vice President of Software Defined Vehicles at Valeo, a major tier one automotive supplier. The conversation explores how software defined vehicles (SDVs) are transforming the automotive industry, moving beyond simply adding more software to creating a holistic system approach that decoupl...

In this podcast episode, filmed at CES2026, Ajit Chander, Associate Partner and Mobility Practice Leader at Frost and Sullivan, discusses a comprehensive research report analyzing the impact of cloud and edge AI in the automotive industry with host Dr. John Heinlein, Chief Marketing Officer, Sonatus. The conversation covers key findings from their analysis, including market projections showing AI...

This episode from CES 2026 features Michael O'Shea, CTO and COO of MOTER Technologies, discussing the company's approach to usage-based insurance through in-vehicle AI deployment. MOTER Technologies, backed by a major Japanese insurance company, places software directly in vehicles to analyze sensor data and generate fair driver risk scores while maintaining privacy through edge computing. O'Shea...

In this podcast episode recorded at CES 2026, Jeremy Vayssettes, Chief Technology Officer for Tire Digital Twin at Michelin, discusses how the company is expanding beyond traditional tire manufacturing into AI-powered software solutions. Jeremy explains Michelin's innovative tire digital twin technology, including SmartWear and SmartLoad algorithms that monitor tire condition in real-time using ex...

In this episode of The Garage podcast, recorded live at CES 2026, host John Heinlein interviews Augustin Friedel, Associated Partner for Software Defined Vehicles at MHP - A Porsche Company. Augustine shares insights from his extensive study 'The Power of Partnerships' and discusses why partnerships have become critical for success in the automotive industry's transformation. The conversation cove...

Recorded live at CES 2026 at the Sonatus booth, host John Heinlein interviews Takayuki 'Terry' Nakamoto, Director of Electrical, Electronics, and ADAS Engineering Department at Nissan Technical Center Europe. The conversation explores how NTCE develops vehicles manufactured in the UK for global markets and discusses the challenges of traditional vehicle development processes that rely heavily on p...

Neel Mitra, the Worldwide Solutions Architecture Leader for Data and AI at AWS, discusses the evolution and applications of AI in the automotive industry. He highlights the transition from classic AI to large language models and agentic AI, emphasizing their potential to enhance vehicle diagnostics and performance. With over twenty-one years of experience, Neel shares insights on the importance of...

Our guest today is Marc Fecker, CEO of Robo. Robo is an engineering firm focused on the future of connected transportation. In our conversation, we discussed how Robo worked with Winnebago to deliver their new Winnebago Connect platform, an innovative application of the SDV concept to RVs. Robo was able to deliver a solution that adds value and shows the future of RVs across their Winnebago Connec...

In a live recording from AutoTech 2025 in Novi, Michigan, Suat Kasafalou Global Solutions Director from Capgemini shares insights on the evolution of software-defined vehicles and the journey to advanced vehicle technology. Drawing from his two decades of experience, he highlights the evolution in vehicle architectures, such as the shift from discrete ECUs to integrated solutions, emphasizing the...

In a live episode from AutoTech Detroit, Stephanie May, director of the Women Automotive Network, discusses the organization's mission to attract and retain female talent in the automotive sector, which currently sees only 20% of its workforce as women. With 40,000 international members, the network offers mentorship and networking opportunities to combat issues like loneliness and the lack of rol...

Christoph Loytved, product manager from COMPREDICT, describes their innovative virtual sensor technology. Virtual sensors can offer cost reduction and system optimization by using existing data from the vehicle to derive data points instead of needing a dedicated hardware sensor. Christoph describes a number of example applications of virtual sensors and COMPREDICT's progress with investors and co...

Today's guest is Joe Capuano, is head of technology for Bosch Mobility Americas. A seasoned expert in the automotive industry, Joe discusses the evolution towards software-defined vehicles (SDVs) and the increasing complexity of vehicle systems. He highlights the critical role of AI in managing vehicle data and enhancing development cycles, while also addressing the need for scalable and standardi...

William Dalton, VP and Managing Director for North America and Europe from VicOne, the automotive cybersecurity subsidiary of Trend Micro, talks with host John Heinlein, Ph. D., Chief Marketing Officer of Sonatus about the state of automotive cybersecurity. He addresses the unique challenges and opportunities posed by software-defined vehicles (SDVs), how to enhance vehicle security with proactive...

Filmed at the COVESA All-Member Meeting in Berlin, Germany,  Maitê Bezerra, senior principal analyst, software-defined vehicles for Wards Intelligence (now part of Omdia), shared insights on the automotive industry's shift towards software defined vehicles (SDVs) with host John Heinlein, Ph. D., Chief Marketing Officer of Sonatus. The SDV survey, newly expanded to seven countries, highlights the g...

In a live recording from the COVESA meeting in Berlin, Steve Crumb, COVESA's executive director, discusses enhancing connected vehicle value through collaboration and innovation with John Heinlein, Ph. D, Sonatus's CMO. He emphasizes the Vehicle Signal Specification (VSS) for simplifying data communication among OEMs, benefiting data users. Despite challenges for OEMs transitioning from legacy sys...

In this episode, recorded live at the Sonatus booth at CES2025, Tomm Clarke, EV Product Manager from Parkopedia talks with host John Heinlein, Ph. D., Chief Marketing Officer from Sonatus.  Parkopedia works with over 30 OEMs for in-car payments as well as improving the experience for EV-charging ranging from more authoritative charger information, easier payments and more.  Chapters: 00:00 Overvie...

In this episode, filmed live at the Sonatus booth at CES2025, Prashant Gulati, CEO of SDVerse, talks with host John Heinlein, Ph. D., Chief Marketing Officer from Sonatus about the SDVerse vehicle software marketplace. Prashant explains the goals of SDVerse, its member companies, and explains their business model. He shares some success stories about how this marketplace is gaining traction. Chapt...

Martin Krantz, CEO and Co-founder of Smart Eye talks with host John Heinlein, Ph. D., Chief Marketing Officer of Sonatus about their incredible occupant monitoring system. Martin explains how their technology has evolved with new computational capabilities and the growth of AI to discern distraction, fatigue, intoxication, but in the future mood, stress and intent. Recorded live at CES 2025 in the...

Francis Chow, VP & GM, In-Vehicle Operating System and Edge, Red Hat speaks with host John Heinlein Ph. D., Chief Marketing Officer, Sonatus about the many changes in software-defined vehicles, with a particular focus on vehicle operating systems. The conversation explains Red Hat’s journey towards a safety-certified Linux, and shares many of the opportunities SDV can bring to the entire vehic...

James Roberts, President of IOT and Analytics and Ronaldo Castillo, Software Engineering Manager, both of LHP, talk with host John Heinlein, Ph. D., Chief Marketing Officer of Sonatus. A special focus of this episode is functional safety and safety certification. Sonatus recently achieved ISO26262 ASIL-D functional safety rating for our Automator Safety Interlock module, which was developed in col...