The Garage by Sonatus

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 covers Augustin's diverse background from mechanical engineering to startups like Uber Germany, and his current role helping automotive companies navigate connected vehicle solutions and AI integration. They explore different types of partnerships, from enterprise IT to product partnerships, and discuss how companies can measure partnership success through KPIs like speed to market, cost reduction, and customer satisfaction. Augustin emphasizes that no OEM or supplier can handle the complexity of software-defined and AI-defined vehicles alone, making partnerships the key differentiator. The discussion also covers partnership risks, cultural alignment challenges, and how companies can develop better partnership proficiency. Throughout the conversation, they highlight how AI is expanding across vehicle subsystems and requiring new approaches to data management and infrastructure partnerships.
Augustin Friedel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/friedel/
The Power of Partnerships study: https://www.mhp.com/en/insights/what-we-think/the-power-of-partnerships

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction to Partnerships in Automotive
0:38 Guest Introduction: Augustine Friedel
3:29 Augustin Friedel on LinkedIn
4:55 The Importance of Partnerships
6:38 Balancing Standardization and Differentiation
7:58 Types of Partnerships in Automotive
9:12 SDV to AI-Defined Vehicle
12:24 Measuring Success in Partnerships
13:53 Partnership Proficiency and Skills
17:18 Risks and Downsides of Partnerships
19:38 Conclusion and Future Outlook

Creators and Guests

Host
John Heinlein, Ph.D.
An experienced technology and marketing leader, John brings his background from startups and established companies to Sonatus. He worked for 14 years at Arm, most recently leading Automotive Partnerships for North America where he engaged OEMs, Tier-1s, and others to deploy Arm-based solutions into automotive applications, including autonomous vehicles. His team was integral to launching the SOAFEE industry initiative for software-defined vehicles of which Sonatus is a member. Earlier he served as VP and Chief of Staff to the CEO and led a group responsible for competitive strategy. For three years, he was VP of Corporate Marketing where he led centralized outbound marketing, spanning marketing campaigns, press, events, web, digital marketing, ecosystem programs, and working closely with investor relations. Prior to Arm, John had an 11-year tenure at microprocessor startup Transmeta where he held several senior roles spanning business development, marketing, and customer success, among others. John earned his B.S. in Computer Engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University and an M.S. and Ph.D., both in Electrical Engineering, from Stanford University.

What is The Garage by Sonatus?

The Garage Podcast from Sonatus brings you conversations with thought leaders from around the vehicle technology space discussing far-reaching topics about software innovation in vehicles.

These episodes will include industry experts, whether from Sonatus, or from our amazing partners across the industry, all of whom will share their Ideas and their outlook for the most important topics in vehicle technology. Episodes span from more technical topics, to business evolution, and market trends. Join us and learn about the future of vehicle in The Garage.

Today in The Garage, our
guest is Augustine Friedel.

Augustine is Associated Partner
for Software Defined Vehicles

at MHP - A Porsche Company.

In today's discussion, we focus
extensively on partnerships.

Augustine wrote along
with some collaborators,

an extensive study of
partnerships and how they can

benefit the industry.

Companies large and small
can be successful at partnerships

and why it's such an imperative
for the automotive industry.

Let's go!

Welcome to The Garage.

I'm John Heinlein, Chief
Marketing Officer with Sonatus.

We're recording live at
CES 2026 at the gigantic

Sonatus booth, and we're
thrilled to have with us today,

Augustin Friedel from
MHP - A Porsche Company.

Augustine welcome to The Garage.

Tell us a little bit about
yourself and your background.

Thanks for having
me here today, John.

So my background,
I'm from Germany,

originally from the
south, from the Alps.

Now I live with my family in
Berlin or close to Berlin.

And then basically my history
is in I'm a mechanical engineer.

I I spent a lot of time in
the startup ecosystem building

companies like
Uber in Germany or,

like Rocket Internet
before I ventured into,

automotive OEMs and
then now in consulting.

And, like, everything linked to
mobility and transformation of the

transportation space is
basically my personal passion.

Yeah, you have a very
diverse background.

We don't get a
lot of mechanical engineers.

We had about one or two,
usually electrical engineers.

That's very exciting.

And you got to tell us
a fun fact about you.

Oh, my fun fact is, yeah,

it's was was very
hard to to find one,

but it's one one I'm very
proud of is that I managed to

exercise every day in 2025.

Every day.

Despite all traveling to the
US or to China or within Europe

and despite having
like three kids.

So that's probably you imagine
how exhausting this or like how

much time it also takes
to take care of the kids.

That's a fun fact about me.

That's an incredible
achievement.

I'm a big actually,

exercise buff...I always like to
have a fun fact to match our guests.

I'm a big exercise buff as well.

My team knows at five o'clock on
Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday,

get out of the way because
I'm gonna go to the gym. But

every day in 2025, that's
quite an achievement.

So hats off to you. Thanks.

So you work at MHP, which
is a Porsche company.

Can you tell us about MHP and
also your role there? Yeah.

So MHP, as you mentioned,

we are a hundred percent
owned by Porsche,

but we were founded
independently,

and then Porsche took us over
over the last couple of years.

We work with the automotive
industry and and beyond on

either, like,
enterprise IT topics.

And, like, one topic
that connects also, like,

the both of us is connected
vehicles and basically how to

move the industry forward of
having more connected vehicles,

having more connectivity
between the vehicles and the

cloud, do, like, all the
data management as well.

So that's basically the
the core link to then ADAS

function, IVI, and then
cloud services as well.

Yeah.

So and we are owned by Porsche,

but we work with
the whole ecosystem.

Yeah. So we work with
other OEMs as well.

We work a lot with suppliers,

and there is basically make a
difference in the in the whole

ecosystem in Germany, in Europe.

But we also have, like, a team
here in the US in Atlanta.

Yeah.

And in Detroit as well.

So we are the automotive
customers here as well.

And, of course, then also
China because China is, like,

one of the major source of
innovation and pressure, then,

also for, like, the
legacy OEMs at the moment,

and we are there as well.

That's great. That's great.

And you're kind of a
famous guy on LinkedIn.

You publish these incredible,

I don't wanna say like
summaries of industry facts

and trends and customer
announcements and so on.

Where did you start this idea
of doing this...it's a kind

of a personal project of
yours, I think, right?

Yeah. So it's my
personal passion.

So that's what I do
basically early mornings

and then also on the weekends.

And, yeah, so it started
roughly ten years ago,

I would say.

So I perfectionized the
sourcing of all the relevant

information so that it's very efficient
and to put everything together.

And, yeah, it's great to to see
and to hear that the style of

compiling information, maybe
also looking beyond, like,

the the marketing speech,
etcetera, is, like,

very valuable for
for the industry.

And so this is basically
always public information,

so it's not out of our
projects that we do at MHP.

It's more like all
available information,

but in a very condensed
and very, let's say,

typical way so that it's easy to consume
for probably you or your colleagues,

but a lot of other players
in the automotive space.

Well, it's incredible
information.

And I know our colleagues
and I are voracious readers,

we're always studying
the things you put out.

We always learn things because
we we follow the industry

closely, but you always
point out things that...add

value.

So we're thrilled to have it,
and thank you for your service.

And we're jealous of how you're
able to put together such

incredible information
with such high quality.

So hats off to you. Thanks.

So partnerships,

one of the things we'll
probably talk about in this

podcast is partnerships.

You just were the lead author
of a study at MHP called

"The Power of Partnerships".

It's an incredible, quite a long

study that looked at
partnerships in many ways.

Yeah.

Can you tell us about what were
your goals there and what were

some of the maybe the
top line conclusions?

Then we'll go into some details.

Yeah.

So the goals of why we
wrote the study with my two

colleagues, Jan and Alex,
was that, it's okay,

partnerships is really becoming
the make or break for the

automotive industry in
this transformation.

Yeah.

So all the different topics
we are facing linked to AI,

linked to data, linked to
ADAS, to software platforms,

architectures, No OEM and no supplier
can basically do it on their own.

They need partners.

And you maybe have been
here around at CES as well.

It's also like a the
core topic of the show.

Yeah?

So, basically, every player
here in automotive is pushing

the partnerships linked to SoCs,

maybe linked to then also
data platforms like Sonatus,

and then also, like, some other
players, software platforms, etcetera.

So basically, based
on our belief,

and we see it here and we see
it also by the traction that we

get about the study,

is that partnership is really
the differentiator in this

transformation towards software defined
vehicles and AI defined vehicles.

We totally agree.

And Sonatus, we care a
lot about partnerships.

Many people know I was
at Arm for 14 years.

Partnerships and
Arm is in the DNA.

And I've tried to bring that
and Sonatus has that as well.

I was on a panel yesterday here
at CES talking about that and

we were discussing
differentiation and success and

how do you have standardization
versus differentiation.

And one of the feelings is
partnership is one way to go

because you don't have
to reinvent the wheel.

You don't have to do everything.

But with sensible,
smart partnerships,

you can get efficiencies while
still maintaining differentiation.

I think that's almost the
holy grail of the industry is

looking for that sort
of balance of the two.

Yeah.

It's like speed and then also like
value add for both parties then.

I think that's also important
to have this always in mind.

Yeah.

So we have the, like,

three phases of
partnership development.

So one is enlightenment and
execution and then evaluation.

Yeah.

So I think then that's it's
key for the first phase,

for the enlightenment phase
that both parties or if the if

it's a partnership with more
than two, that there's, like,

really a win win or, like,

a win situation for
all partners involved.

And then the most
critical part, of course,

is the execution part
where we, I would say,

need a bit more progress
in the industry, yeah,

to focus more on execution and
less on basically announcing

new partnerships, but
we are getting there,

especially now in 2026.

And then also super important
is always to have, like,

a clear set of agreed KPIs
to measure the partnerships.

Right.

And then also have, like,
the clear, let's say,

methods and tools in place to
to steer the partnership if you

see you're not
hitting your targets,

if you're not hitting your KPIs.

Yeah.

So that you're not flying
blind so that you have, like,

full transparency,

and then also that you're
able to act if you see that

something is not, like,

going in the direction
as it was intended.

That's great.

I mean, the the feedback loop
of evaluating and metrics of

success is important.

So everyone knows what to...

You know, in your study,

you talk about that there are
different types of partnerships.

There's more, you know, kind
of classic IT partnerships,

infrastructure, and then
there's more product partners.

Can you describe how are
some of the similarities and

differences in those two?

Yeah.

So I think the similarities is
there should be a value add for

all involved partners and
the outcome either for the

users, if you talk
about enterprise IT,

or then the customers,

if you talk about product a IT product
partnerships should be positive.

Yeah? So I think these
are the the similarities.

Our thinking is that we so
being the automotive industry,

you probably also know that we
love to talk about products,

about product partnerships and
how great, like, everything is.

We ship to the customers,

but we need to recognize we
can only deliver there and be super

good if we manage everything
linked to enterprise,

engineering, IT
partnerships as well.

Yeah.

So what we need as an industry,

need to look beyond
the products,

the solutions we ship to the
customers and really see, okay,

how can we enable
our IT enterprise IT,

engineering IT with
partnerships to deliver

everything of that.

Yeah.

So I think and that's one of
the the key topics we also

expect in 2026, yeah, so that we
move beyond products and say, okay.

Look. It's not about
SDV as a product.

It's SDV and AI-defined
vehicle as like,

okay, we also need to include
the development environment.

And of course, then also like
the enterprise IT and like

combining then enterprise
IT partnerships,

product partnerships,

we will then head there
where we want to go.

That's right. So two
things to say on that.

The first thing is you're
right that you can't...If you deliver

a feature, especially now
as vehicles are being more

connected, more software,
more data connectivity,

if you deliver the feature
sort of in isolation,

it's not going be
successful unless it has the

infrastructure and the
maintainability, whether it's

SaaS or however it
goes, the operation.

The second thing you
mentioned is AI and SDV.

I think we believe
it's so important.

That's a key focus for us here
at the show for Sonatus that

SDV is great, and
we're believers,

you're a believer in SDV.

But you also need to see
how are we using SDV.

It's not just generically good.

How do we come up
with specifics?

And we find and we're
believing in our customers,

it's resonating with our
customers that AI is one of the

most attractive benefits
to use infrastructure

of SDV to deliver value.

Yeah. I fully agree there.

And with the race
to AI use cases,

this having this, like,

enterprise or engineering IT
partnerships is even becoming

more relevant because then
you are not...In the past,

we were talking about,
okay, the ADAS domain,

the IVI domain,
probably in isolation.

But now with AI and then,
like, with AI agents, yeah,

you need to think about, like,

cross functional in the
vehicle, like, across, like,

body in motion, ADAS, IVI.

Yeah.

So having there the infrastructure
ready is super critical.

And then also if you think
about vertical, yeah,

so you need to have then
also like a kind of like balancing

of cloud and edge
solutions and so on.

Yeah.

So, I mean, this is then also
something where we need to think about

beyond just the SDV.

I totally agree.

And we're kind of on an
AI tangent, but I like it.

It's a really good topic
because the AI for us,

what's interesting we found
is that before, I think,

people felt AI was very narrow
to, well, IVI or something.

And now we're seeing that AI can
really add benefit across the vehicle.

And as you say, within
different subsystems,

one of the things we're showing
is how we're making it easy for

AI model vendors to access
data they need for their models

across the vehicle without
custom integration.

So I think it's really smart
what you're saying about how AI

is broadening and diversifying.

Yeah. And you also mentioned
a super relevant point.

So none of us knows, okay,

where AI in automotive is in
six months or one year from now.

So, I mean, there as an OEM,

you always need to be able to
then maybe swap a model from an

old one to the new one
because it's more performant.

Maybe it's cheaper. Yeah?

So and then you can only do
that in a very efficient way if

you have the,
like, the base set.

Yeah?

So if you have the
clear data pipelines,

if you have then clear APIs,

and then basically that you
have the flexibility in your

system to adopt to what's
changing around you.

So and I think
that's super crucial.

And you only get this
through partnerships. Yeah.

Fantastic. And that's
a great conversation.

We could probably have an
entire episode about that.

Maybe you come back next time
and we'll talk about that.

But how do we measure success?

Numerically, what are some of
the ways that we can assess

the benefits of partnerships and
are you able to quantify that?

Yeah.

So what we are looking at,

like two high level KPIs that
the automotive industry is

looking at, it's like,
could we speed up processes?

Yeah.

So this is how can we maybe
faster on time to market and

how can we reduce costs?

Yeah.

So these are the two main
drivers that the automotive

industry has in mind at
the moment and, like,

to to face all the
challenges that we have.

Yeah. So that's made more
on the enterprise side.

And then if you talk more
about the customer, yeah,

so if you're then in the
product partnership space,

it's a lot about customer
satisfaction, usage rates.

Yeah.

So basically there, again,

you need to define the
different KPIs and then you

need to really have,
like, I would say, like,

a full loop or, like,
closed loop to, like,

ship them maybe new
features, functions,

new products to the customers,

but then be also able
to measure the customer

satisfaction score or
NPS and then see, okay.

Did you hit the nail or do you
need to basically do another round?

Yeah.

So there, if you you stay
more in the in the enterprise,

engineering team, it's more cost
down, time to market, speed up.

If you are more
towards customer,

it's like usage KPIs, then
it's satisfaction KPIs.

So these are some

KPIs that we use to
measure then the success.

You mentioned in your
study about how partnership

proficiency, it's kind
of an interesting term.

It's like being good
at being a partner.

That's a skill that I
think different companies,

I find in my experience,

different companies are differently
good at being a good partner.

What are some of the metrics
that make for good partner

proficiency?

Yeah. So I think there it's a
right, or you're totally right.

I also see it the same way.

There are some companies that
have partnership DNA in the

blood and some OEMs, so
the customers we work with,

they need to really
learn how to partner.

Yeah, So to avoid that
they're then like OEM-supplier

relationships, that's
really partnerships.

And and there, it's basically
KPIs or basically things

we we we use to measure
then the success is, okay,

how good could you leverage
basically the different cultures?

Yeah?

So how could you align
on different culture?

How is the communication?

So and then also, okay,

how do you streamline and
automate the, basically,

the different systems or the
different solutions from, like,

the OEMs and the
partners you work with.

Yeah.

So basically to have them there
like a smooth execution and,

like, have, like,
really hit there, like,

the the goals that you that you
want to set or what what that

you want to achieve on like the
cost reduction, on the speed,

on the value you want add.

Do

you think companies can
learn to be better partners?

Because my experience is it's kind
of a value for the company or not.

Yeah.

But then as we said
and, as many people are discussing,

how there's a need
for more partnerships,

especially in a world where
there's more software,

I think companies who aren't good
at that somehow need to learn.

Are there ways they can improve?

Yeah. So definitely they
need to learn that. Yeah.

Because like partnerships or
like and to manage partnerships

will become like a
super relevant skill.

It's already today the case,

but even more relevant
in the future.

And you're right.

I mean, there needs to be
active enablement because,

like, telling your employees,
okay, tomorrow, you need to be,

like, the best one
in partnership.

That's not working. Yeah.

So there, the corporates,

the companies really need
to either basically build,

let's say, a new organization,
which which just then has, like,

the partnership approach as
part of the DNA of the culture

or actively basically then
educate and enable the team

or the different teams to
to be good at partnerships.

And that's across all
the departments. Yeah.

So it's in in the
business units then,

but also in purchasing.

It's also in financing.

And this is it's not
like a, let's say,

a challenge for a single
unit, business unit, or team.

It's across the company then.

Yeah. So many great
points you made there.

I think there's always a
risk in many companies,

and I've seen this in
my career in the past,

that companies may
be concerned that

if they haven't invented
the things there,

"not invented here" is
the famous term, right?

Not invented here,
then it's not good.

And I think the first
is to help people understand that

that's just a
fundamental fallacy.

Yeah.

And then you also talked about
KPIs and you talked about it in

many ways is I think the KPIs
for partnerships, I think,

and this has been
my experiences,

you need to establish that
we're going to judge you on

whether you are

being a good partner.

And the metrics of success
will be the partnerships,

not just the overall results.

Yeah, yeah.

Fully agree on that.

Well, it's clear that I'm an advocate
and you're an advocate for partnerships,

but it's also the case that
there's risks in anything and

there's risks when you
go outside your company.

So if we think about
the other side,

what are some of the possible
downsides or some of the

possible concerns
from partnerships?

Yeah.

Of course, partnerships could
have a negative impact as well,

or there could be risks
linked to that as well.

So one is partnerships
could also fail. Yeah?

So, also, we need to consider
this scenario in our, like,

partnership strategy.

What do we do if
either we as, like,

an OEM are not able to fulfill
this partnership or if our

partner is dropping out
because of whatsoever reasons,

being out of business or they
focus on a different, like,

industry or whatsoever.

Yeah.

So I think that's something
where we need to plan for.

What do we do if this
kind of partnership is is is failing?

Then we did also,
like, the study, like,

an interview with around six
hundred decision makers Six

hundred decision makers.

That's around the globe.

So in China, in the US,
and then also in Europe.

And then also some risk of
fears they are seeing is, okay,

they lose or that they they
they have fears or they see the

risk of losing
IP, control on IP,

and basically then
owning the IP.

Yeah.

So I think that's something
that needs to be considered.

They also see the risks of that
they can't match the different

cultural levels.

Yeah.

So especially if you
talk about, let's say,

traditional OEMs partnering
with new kids on the block

linked to IVI, linked to data, linked
to AI, ADAS, etcetera, you name it.

Yeah?

So they often add a different
culture so that they've the

risk or the risk that is seen
by the decision makers is that

they can't match it.

And then the third one
is then also, okay,

that they can't find a
common ground on enterprise

IT. Yeah.

So basically to match maybe
different systems and and so on.

Yeah.

So and there but these are
often known risks and you can

plan for the risks.

And I think that's the key
factor so that you see the

risks and then you have a plan B
for everything that could happen.

I think that's exactly right.

And any smart business
leader always needs to have

contingency plans.

I think my worry is,

and I've seen this in the past,

is that people use those
excuses as to sort of set the

partnership up to fail.

I think having a contingency
plan and setting the

partnership up for fail
are two different things.

You want to have a backup plan,

but then you want to use your full
effort to try to be successful.

And then of course, if you
need the backup plans there.

So the study is incredible.

We'll put a link in the
show notes to the study.

People can find it
easily on your webpage.

And also we'll put a
link to your incredible LinkedIn and

other feeds that people can
see the stuff you publish on a

practically daily basis.

I don't know when you sleep.

Between having three kids and
working out every day and doing

your thing, I don't
know when you sleep,

but we benefit from all
the great work you do.

And it's been such a
joy to have you here.

Thanks for coming
by and seeing us.

Thanks for having me here, John.

Really a pleasure to talk to
you about the exciting topic of

partnerships and yeah, looking
forward to what we do next.

Thanks so much.

If you like what you're
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Thank you for watching. We'll
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