Scott Runner to become US CEO of Volkswagen's CARIAD

Santa Clara, USA / Wolfsburg, Germany, May 2, 2023 – Automotive software company CARIAD today announced the appointment of Scott Runner as CEO for the US. An engineering executive with more than three decades of software, hardware, and semiconductor experience, Runner will lead a team of approximately 250 software and engineering experts in Santa Clara and Redmond, focusing on hardware development, cloud technologies, and connected infotainment for the automotive industry. Runner previously served as Vice President and Global Practice Leader, Embedded Software, EE & Semiconductors for Autonomous, Connected, and Electric Vehicles at Capgemini.

The appointment of Runner as US CEO marks another leap forward for CARIAD’s US strategy and follows the establishment of its new US tech hub in January 2023. With its presence in two major technology ecosystems, Silicon Valley and the greater Seattle area, CARIAD is actively developing automotive technology solutions in the areas of hardware design, automotive cloud and connected infotainment.

"The US is a hotspot within the global automotive market and is a focus market for Volkswagen Group at the powerful intersection of industry trends: major technology innovations, a highly competitive ecosystem and an enormous pool of tech talent,” said CARIAD CEO Dirk Hilgenberg. “Scott’s tremendous expertise in establishing and leading cutting-edge technology teams makes him a crucial addition to our leadership team. He and his team will be responsible for providing innovative technology and software products in hardware and cloud technologies to our Group brands, enabling them to inspire and excite customers with new digital experiences in the US and the rest of the world."

"CARIAD is a unique endeavor in the global automotive industry that marries the quality and legacy of the Volkswagen Group with a new and growing team that will be agile and innovative to deliver the promise of tomorrow’s software-defined vehicles,” said Runner. ”I'm looking forward to helping leverage CARIAD's position in the US, combining the innovation of Silicon Valley and Seattle with the power of Volkswagen’s scalable technology and software platforms. I’m excited to unlock the opportunities of bringing software, automotive, semiconductor, and cloud expertise together in one automotive platform to create iconic customer experiences that will make them love to drive and ride in the Volkswagen Group brands in North America and beyond."

US-born Scott Runner has more than 30 years of software, hardware, and semiconductor experience in the global automotive and mobile communications industries. He also has extensive leadership experience in digital and cultural transformation. Runner began his career in 1985 at Fujitsu with subsequent positions at Synopsys, Conexant, and a start-up company consulting to ARM Ltd. In 2003, Runner joined Qualcomm to help build the US and India teams and methods that delivered the first and subsequent integrated smartphone SoCs. In 2012, Runner helped found the team that delivered Qualcomm’s first two generations of automotive-grade infotainment and telematics products. Subsequently, Runner joined what became Capgemini Engineering as the Global Practice Leader for embedded software, EE, and semiconductors responsible for consulting, solutioning, developing, validating, and testing of in-vehicle infotainment, ADAS/AD and telematics products and systems for OEM and tier1 clients.

He has a B.S. in applied physics and did graduate work in computer science and engineering management.

About CARIAD

CARIAD is an independent automotive software company in the Volkswagen Group that is consolidating and further expanding the Group's software competencies. The company is developing the leading technology stack for the automotive industry with the mission to make the automotive experience safer, more sustainable and more comfortable for people. Established in 2020 under the name Car.Software Organization, CARIAD now has more than 6,500 experts worldwide working on a scalable technology stack for all Volkswagen Group brands, comprising a software platform, a unified electronic architecture and a reliable connection to the automotive cloud. The company is also developing digital functions for the vehicle, including driver assistance systems, a standardized infotainment platform, software functions for linking powertrains, chassis and charging technology, as well as the new digital ecosystem and digital services in and around the vehicle. CARIAD has software competence centers in Wolfsburg, Ingolstadt, the Stuttgart region, Berlin and Munich, and has subsidiaries in China and the USA. For more information, visit https://cariad.technology.