Sharad Bairathi, Managing Director at Embitel Technologies, details Embitel’s strategy to grow with purpose, balancing quality, innovation, and ethical AI while building IP in EVs, ADAS, and connected mobility. The goal: to be a global leader in shaping next-gen digital and automotive solutions by 2030.
CIO&Leader: What are the key pillars of Embitel’s Vision 2030 strategy and how are you aligning operations to support such rapid scale?
Sharad Bairathi: Our vision 2030 strategy is built across three key pillars, which are Aspiration, Independence and Relevance. By the end of the decade, we want to be 4,000 people strong and achieve a turnover of 250 million euros.
We aspire to transform ourselves from a service provider to a learning company by investing in newer technologies and market. While we are part of the Volkswagen Group, we do cater to external clients, allowing us the independence and freedom to adapt to the rapidly evolving mobility landscape.
In line with this, we are continuously aligning our operations which includes heavily investing in upskilling our employees, bringing in people with specialised knowledge into our system, recruiting leaders to help achieve new growth and having all structures and processes including ISO 270001, ISO 9001, CMMi, TISAX certifications and OKRs in place.
CIO&Leader: How do you plan to balance the growth with quality, especially while scaling to 4000 engineers across complex domains like EVs, IoT?
Sharad Bairathi: We have taken a very strategic approach, towards on-boarding engineers especially in complex domains like EVs, IoT and AI. We avoid bulk hiring just to ramp up numbers; instead every engineer on-boarded is aligned towards adding long-term value.
At Embitel, we also invest heavily in internal talent development via certification courses and compliance training programs. This allows us to maintain a high standard of engineering, despite a fast growth rate. We are also building our own IP in areas like ADAS, energy management, charging systems and IoT-powered digital systems. This ensures accelerated development, reusability, scalability and consistency across teams.
By keeping quality at the centre of everything we do, we are scaling with purpose, rather than just volume.
CIO&Leader: And what geographies or markets will play a central role in this expansion strategy?
Sharad Bairathi: Germany and a few other markets in Europe play a crucial role for us. In terms of expansion, with most of our third-party businesses based in Europe, USA and India, these regions are of key focus for us.
CIO&Leader: What are some of the biggest talent challenges you foresee in scaling to 4000 engineers and how are you addressing them?
Sharad Bairathi: One of the biggest challenges we have lies in how we attract and retain top-tier talent. To address this, the first and foremost step is to bring in the right leadership to set the tone towards building scalable teams and mentoring future leaders.
We are also evaluating different ways to showcase the complexity of our work. Building software which powers over 8 million vehicles across premium brands in the Volkswagen Group is one definite way to attract world-class talent.
At Embitel, we recognise that Gen-Z bring a fundamentally different set of expectations to the workplace, respecting transparency, autonomy and purpose-driven work. To meet these expectations, we are continuously evolving our workplace environment centred around empowerment, trust and freedom. One of the key focus points for us is to balance our talent strategy, we’ve achieved this by combining young managers with well experienced leaders, which not only help bridge the generation gap, but also create a more collaborative culture.
Also, while remuneration isn’t the sole driver to attract talent, we do rigorously benchmark against the industry standards, ensuring we are competitive and fair. Beyond this, we also have a pay-for-performance model that ensures merit is recognised and rewarded with a well-defined purpose for every role. In addition, we are also investing in Enterprise tools, systems and process excellence initiatives which help provide a holistic experience to all our engineers.
CIO&Leader: How are you investing in upskilling or cross skilling your existing workforce in evolving technologies like AI, edge computing or model-based design?
Sharad Bairathi: From day one, we have invested a lot towards learning & development for our employees via a three-pronged approach: project-specific technology learning, futuristic technology learning and personally-driven technology learning. This ensures that our employees aren’t just aligned with immediate projects, but also constantly evolving with the technology landscape. We expect our workforce to be multi-dimensional, hence we’ve made skill diversification and learning a part of every individual’s KPI.
For example, if an individual with a background in cybersecurity is interested in AI, we not only support the transition but also see how we can integrate AI directly to cybersecurity solutions.
Embitel has been developing and investing in solution accelerators for the past 10-15 years, currently used in live projects. In terms of EVs, we have built solid solution accelerators for on-board chargers, battery management system (BMS) and motor controllers. These have been built from the ground-up over the past 1.5 years by bringing in leaders from the EV tech domain, while also investing towards R&D resources.
CIO&Leader: What role will AI and automation play in shaping Embitel’s next-gen product development and service delivery?
Sharad Bairathi: AI and automation play a key role in the company’s vision in developing next-generation products. Embitel has taken significant strides in integrating AI and automation across projects such as Verification & Validation (V&V) processes, ADAS and digital solutions.
In automotive projects, we have successfully integrated automation into our Verification & Validation (V&V) processes. This has allowed us to significantly reduce validation time for HMI/UI and embedded ECU systems.
We are also working on Edge AI in telematics to implement machine learning services, driving smarter mobility solutions. We have a large ADAS team working across multiple business units, with AI at the core.
In the digital solutions space, we have developed a range of AI-powered tools. These tools include conversational chatbots, sales assistants and virtual try-on experiences, offering measurable value to customers across various projects and segments.
CIO&Leader: As technologies converge, EV, IoT, AI, how is Embitel positioning itself to lead in innovation rather than just delivery?
Sharad Bairathi: Since the beginning, innovation has been the engine which drives our growth. With technologies like EV, IoT and AI converging, we aim to position ourselves as a strategic leader in innovation. Our ability to deliver cutting-edge forward-looking solutions is precisely the reason why global organisations have chosen Embitel to lead innovation across critical technology areas.
Internally, we also offer various programmes like Innovation Drives and Tech Day celebrations, which help provide an open platform for engineers to explore ideas, prototype solutions and provide demos. Some of the successful innovation projects that have been executed include virtual try-ons, GenAI based product description development for ecommerce brands, media and calling services integration in digital instrument cluster in vehicles. These projects have been developed in a way that helps teams in rapidly delivering solutions for related future projects.
CIO&Leader: Do you see Embitel venturing into product IP creation or platform development in these domains?
Sharad Bairathi: Absolutely. We are working towards becoming a creator of proprietary platforms, particularly in domains like EV, IoT and AI. We have already built modular and configurable platforms for EVs like battery management system and vehicle control units, which are designed as pre-certified solutions for OEMs to reduce time-to-market, while meeting global safety and compliance standards.
Similarly, our teams are also building reusable software components in areas like ADAS and connected mobility. Additionally, we are developing scalable frameworks for cloud-based data management and AI-powered insights across sectors.
CIO&Leader: How is Embitel preparing for the ethical and regulatory landscape around AI and connected systems by 2030?
Sharad Bairathi: We understand that as AI and connected systems scale, the responsibility to develop them in a regulatory-compliant and ethical manner also increases. We have embedded global compliance standards across our processes, ensuring traceability, safety and data-protection are built into the development cycle.
We are also building governance frameworks around data privacy and transparency, especially in evolving geographies like EU, US and India. For projects we are currently working on, we check AI regulations followed by our clients and adhere to that.
We believe ethical AI isn’t just a compliance requirement, but a differentiator.
CIO&Leader: What leadership principles or philosophies guide your approach to transformation at this scale?
Sharad Bairathi: Our fundamental leadership principle is empowerment through trust. We believe that responsibility must always be matched with authority, as they enable real ownership and scalable leadership.
As part of our philosophy, we have pushed decision-making authority down to each business unit level, giving them full accountability and control to deliver the outcomes. They are also responsible for making strategic decisions from hiring talent to managing their P&Ls, driving agility, fostering innovation and instilling a strong sense of ownership towards the brand.
Our leadership model is built on trust, accountability and empowerment. This creates leaders at every level and drives transformation.