While the automotive industry is undergoing radical shifts, from software-defined vehicles to AI-powered manufacturing, Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India (MBRDI) has emerged as a critical engine of innovation for the luxury carmaker’s global ambitions. In an exclusive interview with Express Computer, Umang Dharmik, Head of IT, MBRDI, offers a detailed look into how the India centre is driving high-impact technology initiatives. From embedding AI across the value chain and enabling digital twins for smarter manufacturing to fostering a culture of lean coding for sustainability, Dharmik shares how the IT function is not only enabling transformation but actively shaping the future of mobility, technology, and talent at Mercedes-Benz.
You’ve been leading the IT function at Mercedes-Benz R&D India during a time of significant transformation in the automotive industry. Can you walk us through your current priorities and how your role is evolving to support the company’s global innovation and digitalisation agenda?
As a global capability centre, our success depends on channeling our energies toward initiatives that deliver the highest value to Mercedes-Benz globally. The WHAT (aka strategic objectives) is defined centrally for the organisation. As for the HOW, we have defined our operational priorities to achieve those objectives.
Our work portfolio strategy ensures we have the right engagement model aligned to key areas of business for the organisation, and allows us to take the India advantage for creating maximum impact for Mercedes-Benz. Creating a mindset of transparency, efficiency and continuous improvement and looking for opportunities to ‘do the same with less’ or ‘do more with the same’ is among our prime drivers.
We encourage ideation and breakthrough thinking, creating space for experimentation with new ideas and technologies. While we have regular hackathons and shark tanks, a large part of our efforts is focused on exploring newer technologies. Our people-first approach recognises that an engaged workforce is our greatest asset. I believe any organisation is only as strong as the people working in it. We focus on career development, skills management, and training, ensuring our teams are equipped for the challenges of tomorrow and ensuring that MBRDI is a great place to work.
Our determined focus on these key aspects has helped create a fundamental mindset shift in the organisation on our ways of working. We are not only contributing to today’s goals but also building an organisation that is ready to take on greater challenges and deliver at the highest levels for Mercedes-Benz’s global ambitions.
Mercedes-Benz is known for blending luxury with innovation. How is the R&D centre in India contributing to the brand’s global vision, particularly in areas like software-defined vehicles and next-gen mobility?
Our teams at Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India (MBRDI) are contributing to rearchitecting the entire technology stack for software-defined vehicles (SDVs), from embedded and onboard systems to enterprise software and cloud-native platforms. These advancements are aimed at achieving a harmonised IT landscape with standardised solutions offering best-in-class digital capabilities for our organisation.
The future of mobility mirrors the smartphone experience—intuitive, personalised, and ever-adaptive. At Mercedes-Benz, with in-car features like the integration of ChatGPT into the MBUX infotainment system, offering customers natural, conversational AI interactions, we are making our products more personable for our customers.
MBRDI’s impact extends beyond vehicle software, helping reshape the entire mobility experience. Our IT expertise spans the complete Mercedes-Benz value chain—from concept and CAD design to manufacturing, sales, after-sales, financial services and enterprise governance functions. We are optimising capabilities, advancing automation, implementing GenAI, and deploying automation to drive efficiency and develop advanced solutions. At the same time, we are standardising diverse technology landscapes to streamline operations and reduce complexity.
By combining deep technical expertise with a culture of ideation and ownership, MBRDI supports Mercedes-Benz in delivering the most desirable cars in the world.
With increasing focus on digitalisation in the automotive sector, how is Mercedes-Benz R&D India leveraging emerging technologies such as AI, cloud, and digital twins to drive efficiency and customer experience?
MBRDI plays a pivotal role in Mercedes-Benz’s digital transformation, shaping the future of automotive technology through advanced technologies like AI, cloud computing, and digital twins.
We are deeply embedding AI across the Mercedes-Benz ecosystem—from product development to manufacturing and customer engagement. AI is being used to optimise planning and production processes, enhance predictive maintenance, and even assist developers in understanding and modernising legacy systems
We have helped develop and continue to support the Mercedes-Benz Intelligent Cloud, which is the backbone of the brand’s connected car platform and MB.OS software journey. It enables seamless real-time data processing, and integration of digital services across the vehicle lifecycle. This cloud-native infrastructure supports everything, from in-car apps to backend analytics, aimed at offering a consistent and personalised customer experience.
We are also deploying digital twin technology across manufacturing and supply chain operations. Through our digital platforms like MO360, the team creates virtual replicas of vehicles, plants, and processes to simulate, test, and optimise before physical implementation. This approach reduces costs, shortens development cycles, and ensures that every Mercedes-Benz vehicle meets the highest standards of quality and performance.
These technologies are not siloed—they work in concert to deliver a seamless, intelligent, and luxurious experience for customers.
Sustainability and decarbonisation are key priorities for automotive giants today. How is your IT strategy aligned with Mercedes-Benz’s global sustainability goals?
Our approach to sustainability focuses on analysing our software engineering practices in addition to the standard energy conversation measures of reducing the data centre footprint and improving lifecycle management of our electronic assets.
Our engineers at MBRDI have built a tool which measures the carbon footprint of our web applications. The algorithm not only informs the developers of the carbon footprint of the checked in code it also suggests changes to lower it. By optimising code efficiency and architecture design, we reduce the computational power required to run our systems.
For example, a poorly written database query might consume excessive processing power, while an optimised query accomplishes the same task with minimal resource usage. We are adopting this optimisation mindset in our software engineering practices, training our developers to write leaner, more efficient code. This builds cumulatively. When each application reduces its carbon footprint, we need fewer servers, smaller data centres, and less overall energy consumption.
Additionally, our global IT strategy includes radical standardisation, which directly also contributes to sustainability, as a key lever. Instead of running 40 separate systems performing similar functions, consolidating to one system reduces energy consumption, hardware requirements, and operational overhead.
Through these coordinated efforts, our approach accelerates Mercedes-Benz’s Ambition 2039 vision, a crucial component of our business strategy aimed at achieving net carbon neutrality across the entire value chain by 2039.
As a senior leader in India’s growing technology ecosystem, how are you nurturing future-ready talent and building a culture of continuous innovation within your teams?
Technological freedom and growth opportunities are key priorities for today’s workforce. We support both through diverse project experiences, advanced technology exposure, and structured learning programmes.
At MBRDI, we have established frameworks that encourage entrepreneurial thinking. Team members can pitch ideas, secure funding, and pilot solutions with organisational support. Several successful initiatives have evolved into permanent programmes and new team structures, demonstrating the tangible value of this approach.
We have committed dedicated time for skill development, providing a measurable framework for our learning investment which we can scale upon. Most importantly, we create space for experimentation where ideas are allowed to fail and get the time and resources to be tested. The result is a motivated, skilled workforce that drives Mercedes-Benz’s technological leadership while building India’s reputation as a global automotive technology hub.