Under The Hood: Automotive Storytelling

🎙 WHEN SILICON VALLEY MEETS THE VEHICLE In this episode of Automotive Storytelling, Stéphane Lagresle sits down with Jeff Chou, the CEO and co-founder of Sonatus, to trace one of the more deliberate bets in automotive software: the thesis that the car would eventually become a data center on wheels, and that everything the IT industry had already learned about networking, orchestration, and AI cou...

🎙️ WHEN THE RACE CIRCUIT BECOMES THE NETWORK In this episode of Automotive Storytelling, Stéphane Lagresle travels to the Isle of Man during TT Race Week to examine one of the most structurally underexplored problems in connected vehicles: what actually happens to a car's data between the antenna and the application. Filmed on location with the founders of Stacuity, a software-defined connect...

with Jan Wehmeyer (Cerence AI) & Frank Kaleck (Microsoft) 🎙️ THE CONVERSATIONAL COCKPIT DECODED In this new episode of "Under the Hood: Automotive Storytelling", brought to you by The Storytelling Tribe, we sit down with Jan Wehmeyer, VP Account & Business Lead Europe at Cerence AI, and Frank Kaleck, Director Industry Advisory Automotive at Microsoft, inside a prototype car to ex...

THE EV REVOLUTION DECODED In this new episode of "Automotive Storytelling", brought to you by The Storytelling Tribe, we sit down with Claudine Rochette, VP of Strategy and Communication at Valeo's Power Division, bringing over 20 years of experience at the heart of automotive electrification. From relaunching France's first EV ecosystem project in 2009, to leading global strat...

THE LUCKY CLOVER DECODED In this captivating episode of "Automotive Storytelling" brought to you by The Storytelling Tribe, we sit down with Charlotte Eisner, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Bolt, co-chair of ECAVA (EU Commission), and strategic advisor on automated transportation to the NATO Science & Technology Organization, to explore how Europe is building its own autonomous mo...

Autonomous systems work, but proving they function safely across thousands of edge cases has become the defining challenge of our time. Instead of celebrating software milestones, the industry is slamming into a homologation wall, realizing that legal liability and digital validation are the true bottlenecks preventing autonomous deployment. Coming to you from the floor of Tech. AD Berlin 2026, th...

THE INVISIBLE ENGINE DECODED In this new episode of Automotive Storytelling, brought to you by The Storytelling Tribe, Stéphane Lagresle sits down with John Wall, President of QNX, the safety-critical operating system running silently inside over 275 million vehicles worldwide. From a one-click download for students to the beating heart of BMW's Neue Klasse, John reveals how the most importan...

In this captivating episode of "Automotive Storytelling", we sit down with two of the most influential figures in automotive audio: Andreas Ehret, Sr. Director Automotive at Dolby Laboratories, and Greg Sikora, Executive Director of Acoustic Systems and HALOsonic Engineering at HARMAN International. Together, they pull back the curtain on how sound becomes a core dimension of the driving...

 🎙️ Bonus | MWC 2026 – Andrew Till, Trustonic  Recorded live at Mobile World Congress 2026, this bonus episode features Andrew Till, General Manager of the Secure Platform Division at Trustonic — a company that has been quietly powering automotive security for years, and is now stepping into a new role: trusted advisor to OEMs navigating an increasingly complex landscape. Andrew makes a small but...

🎙️ Bonus | MWC 2026 – Andrew Richards, SoundHound AI Recorded live at Mobile World Congress 2026, this bonus episode gives you the full conversation with Andrew Richards, VP at SoundHound AI — one of the most advanced voice AI platforms deployed in production vehicles today. In just a few minutes on the show floor, Andrew unpacks a lot: the debut of SoundHound's Vision AI in Europe (yes, your...

In this special edition of "Automotive Storytelling" — the only podcast examining mobility through storytelling — we take you inside Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona for seven conversations with the people shaping automotive's next chapter. From semiconductor executives to voice AI pioneers, from security architects to standards leaders, this episode captures the two forces t...

🚨 THE COLLISION-TO-CARE REVOLUTION    In this compelling episode of "Automotive Storytelling" – the only podcast examining mobility through storytelling, brought to you by The Storytelling Tribe – we connect with Joe Custer, CEO of Intrado, the company that invented modern 9-1-1, to explore how data-rich vehicle communications can save over 2000 lives annually. From two Boulder County s...

🎪 YOUR BOOTH IS A STORY — OR IT'S NOISE  In this solo episode of Automotive Storytelling, the only podcast examining mobility through storytelling, Stéphane Lagresle, founder of The Storytelling Tribe, draws on years of CES experience, including his most recent visit in January 2026, to break down the five principles that turn a trade show booth from a product catalog into a story visitors w...

⚡ THE PITCH DECK PROBLEM In this focused case study from "Under the Hood: Automotive Storytelling," host Stéphane Lagresle reveals what happened when Stef Balkowiec, Co-Founder of GraphDome and former Managing Director at Cosworth Electronics, put his company presentation through the Evergreen process. This shows how strategic feedback transforms technology-focused decks into positionin...

🔧 THE FOUNDATION TRANSFORMATION In this compelling episode of "Under the Hood: Automotive Storytelling"—the only podcast examining mobility through the lens of storytelling—we sit down with Stef Balkowiec, Co-Founder of GraphDome and former Managing Director at Cosworth Electronics, to uncover what happens when a technical founder puts their company presentation through real scrutiny. T...

🎙️ THE REALITY CHECK: When Hype Becomes Hardware For three years at CES, we've heard the same promises: SDVs are coming, AI will transform mobility, the industry is converging. But at CES 2026, something changed. The buzzwords became bill of materials. The roadmaps became production deployments. The future tense became present reality. In this special Season 2 premiere, host Stéphane Lagresle...

For the season finale of "Under the Hood: Automotive Storytelling," we're going behind the scenes.  Frantz Lohier, the first guest of Season 1, reverses roles to interview Stéphane Lagresle about how 30 episodes with automotive executives actually get made. This isn't about interviewing techniques or podcast equipment. It's about the systematic approach to understanding wh...

The debate is over. 2026 is SDV execution year.   At We. Conect's SDV Europe 2025 in Berlin, seven industry experts revealed a fundamental shift: the companies that win won't have the most features—they'll tell the most honest stories about strategic focus, security vigilance, and what software-defined vehicles really mean for drivers. THE THREE SHIFTS DEFINING 2026: 🎯 From "M...

🔗 THE COLLABORATION REVOLUTION DECODED  Twenty-eight companies. Three years. One unified data standard that BMW, Mercedes, and Volkswagen all agreed to. Thomas Rösch, CEO of Cofinity-X and Board Member of Catena-X, joins "Under the Hood: Automotive Storytelling" to unpack this unprecedented automotive collaboration. 🎯 KEY INSIGHTS Centralized vs. Decentralized: The Trust Paradigm Shift...

How Many Slides Is Too Many? The Real Question Every Presenter Should Be Asking Are you asking the wrong question about your presentations? In this Quick Fix episode of Under the Hood: Automotive Storytelling , host Stéphane Lagresle reveals why "How many slides should I have?" is the wrong question, and what you should be asking instead. THE PROBLEM: You open PowerPoint. You start addin...

🚗 FROM 5 YEARS TO 6 WEEKS: THE SDV REVOLUTION  When Mercedes-Benz's software team achieved in weeks what traditionally took years, they proved that having an entirely new approach to automotive's software can bring incredible results. In this new episode of "Under the Hood: Automotive Storytelling" brought to you by The Storytelling Tribe, we sit down with Markus Rettstatt, He...

🚛 THE TRUCK CABIN REVOLUTION In this new episode of "Under the Hood: Automotive Storytelling" from The Storytelling Tribe, we connect with Carolin Schütt, Lead CMF Design Manager at MAN Trucks and Buses, who brings along two decades of automotive design experience from BMW to commercial vehicles, to explore how storytelling transforms engineering into emotional experiences that drivers...

🎮 WHEN STORYTELLING MEETS GAMING & AUTOMOTIVE In this captivating episode of "Under the Hood: Automotive Storytelling" brought to you by The Storytelling Tribe, we sit down with Anthony Cliquot, CEO of AirConsole, to explore how listening first became the foundation for transforming vehicles into social entertainment hubs and building partnerships with BMW, Porsche, Volkswagen, and...

Escaping PowerPoint Jail: Why Your 45-Slide Customer Deck Is Costing You Deals Are your sales presentations working against you? In this Quick Fix episode of Under the Hood: Automotive Storytelling , host Stéphane Lagresle reveals why automotive suppliers and technology companies are losing millions in opportunities, not despite their preparation, but because of it. THE PROBLEM: You've seen i...

THE WELLBEING REVOLUTION DECODED In this new episode of "Under the Hood: Automotive Storytelling", brought to you by the Storytelling Tribe, we connect with Thomas Stocker, key member of Gentherm's executive team, leading their European operations and former BMW infotainment integration leader. Thomas shares insights on leadership, team dynamics, and the importance of adapting to ch...