No single company can deliver a software-defined vehicle alone anymore. Partnerships are quickly becoming a competitive necessity, not just a nice-to-have.

In this episode, host Bernd Graef talks with Eugen Beslic, ETAS's North American Partnership Manager, about how automotive companies are moving away from traditional supplier relationships toward deeper, more collaborative partnership models built on trust, flexibility, and shared goals.

Eugen and Bernd discuss why speed and knowledge gaps are pushing OEMs to lean on partners rather than building everything in-house, what separates a strong partner from just another vendor, and how customer conversations have shifted with the rise of AI. They also dig into where the industry most needs partnerships today, including AI, cloud, over-the-air capabilities, and open-source collaboration models like Eclipse S-CORE, along with how business models are evolving from one-time software purchases toward SaaS and pay-as-you-go pricing.

Whether you're building a partner strategy, evaluating potential collaborators, or simply trying to understand where the automotive software ecosystem is headed, this episode offers a candid, practical look at what it takes to build partnerships that actually work.

In This Episode:
00:00 - Introduction: Welcome to the Empowering Tomorrow's Automotive Software Podcast
01:24 - Why Partnerships Are Becoming Essential in the SDV Transformation
03:26 - From Supplier to Partner: How Customer Expectations Have Shifted
07:09 - The Rise of AI and What's Changed in Customer Conversations 
09:16 - Building a Partnership Culture: Advice for Companies Entering the Ecosystem
13:06 - Where the Industry Needs Partners Most: AI, Cloud, OTA, and Open Source
17:54 - How Business Models Are Evolving: From One-Time Sales to SaaS and Pay-as-You-Go
21:33 - Finding the Right Partner and Navigating “Frenemy” Relationships
24:10 - Making Technology Work Together: API-First Tools and Standardized Interfaces

Thanks for listening!

  • Email us at: contact.us@etas.com
  • Learn more about ETAS on our website 
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