Developer Experience @ Volkswagen Group
How does the largest automotive manufacturer unify software development efforts across the globe?
With a world class developer experience.
The big idea
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Volkswagen Group owns some of the most recognizable brands in automotive. While racing to compete in the connected vehicle space, the need to unify tech resources amongst the vast brand portfolio became increasingly clear.
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An innovative developer platform cultivated a space for partners and creators to harness the power of vehicle data and APIs.
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With a standardized approach, access could be streamlined, processes simplified, and duplications consolidated. Observability ensured the platform offered transparent, self-service diagnostics and logs so developers could debug across distributed services without needing constant handoffs.
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With an established developer platform, we could further integrate brick and mortar internal tools that were critical in scaling the development of connected vehicle services such as virtual vehicle testing, Infotainment SDKs, and vehicle function APIs.
Create efficiency. Unlock potential.
Achievements:
Streamlined access and cut developer onboarding time from weeks to hours by providing self-service provisioning tools, templates, and standardized environments.
Increased transparency and ownership with docs-as-code framework and source connectivity.
Provided an interface for observability tooling (e.g. dashboards, alerting, trace logs) that gave teams full visibility into connected services, helping diagnose issues 2x faster.
Integrated with key services to increase reach and inclusivity.
Enabled code and service reuse across multiple business units, reducing redundant development efforts and improving consistency
Established single sign-on and RBAC across cloud tools and environments, ensuring secure and auditable developer access.
Codified compliance, security, and data handling rules into the platform to meet regional regulatory requirements without slowing development.
Skills Used
Product Strategy
Defined vision and translated it into actionable roadmaps for complex systems like connected car development and automotive cloud services.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Aligned diverse teams across software, product, legal, and program management.
User/Stakeholder Discovery
Worked closely with internal stakeholders (engineering, data, CS) and external ones (OEMs, platform partners) to gather requirements and feedback
Systems Thinking
Comprehended interdependencies within technical ecosystems (cloud infrastructure, vehicle software, data flow), as well as DevOps best practices.
Technical Fluency
Communicated effectively with engineers and understood cloud infrastructure, connected vehicle APIs, and data privacy/security.
Risk & Impact Analysis
Evaluated trade-offs between product features, timelines, and regulatory constraints.
