"Complex Systems Only Function on the Basis of Trust"

Florian Meier: Brand loyalty is dying out. This is not a trend; it is a reality. Those who are under 35 today do not ask "Which car do I buy?", but "How do I get from A to B?" For industries, this marks a real turning point. Suddenly, a car manufacturer is no longer competing only with other manufacturers, but also with public transport, Uber, or the e-scooter on the corner. Mobility as a service means that as a customer no longer necessarily buys a product, but primarily pays attention to reliability, sustainability and comfort.

Nils Büring: Previous approaches to "Mobility as a Service" often failed not only because of the technology, but also because of a lack of economic incentives, unclear responsibilities and a lack of cooperation. Many sharing and booking offers existed side by side without creating an integrated user experience. Today, the conditions are better: cloud technologies, real-time data and AI enable the coordinated control of complex mobility systems for the first time. At the same time, companies are thinking more about ecosystems. Nevertheless, the challenge remains great. Sustainable mobility as a service only works if technology, business model and user trust go hand in hand.

Anja Jany: The key is to look at this value chain as an overall system, rather than continuing to think in silos. In such a system, a car, for example, is then only a hub in a large network of services, energy, software and data. For this integration to succeed, clear interfaces, uniform data models and real-time capability across the entire value chain are needed.

In addition to these technical prerequisites, however, a change in thinking must also take place in people's minds. In future, it will no longer be a question of perfecting every element in the value chain, but of orchestrating the interaction between the elements perfectly. This requires collaboration and real trust among the partners.

Florian Meier: That is right, because the days when a manufacturer sold a car to a customer every ten years and then perhaps had it in the workshop every two years for inspection or for the main inspection are over. Today, it is about keeping customers permanently in their ecosystem, creating opportunities for interaction repeatedly and then actually using them.

Especially when it comes to mobility, many factors play a role that are directly influenced by live data. In my view, it is therefore worthwhile for car manufacturers to look at the aviation industry, which has had to master mobility for much longer than a complex overall structure. For example, every slight shift in the take-off and landing slots immediately triggers a chain in which air traffic control, ground service providers and, of course, other airlines must be coordinated for connecting flights.

Anja Jany: AI optimizes mobility, but humans shape it. Artificial intelligence is significantly faster than humans when it comes to recognizing patterns, forecasting demand behavior, planning capacities, or optimizing processes. When combined with expert knowledge and human experience, data-based analytics and actions provide the perfect foundation for better, more informed decisions. This makes AI the control layer for topics such as availability, charging and energy planning, route planning, and proactive maintenance.

At the same time, however, humans remain indispensable: wherever value-based decisions are concerned, to be placed in context, to empathy or to exceptions that cannot be depicted in data models. This combination enables a system that is not only efficient, but also trustworthy.

In regular surveys that we carry out among customers at LHIND, it consistently shows that they appreciate the benefits of AI but continue to attach immense importance to the human factor and a trust relationship based on it. One’s own car used to be seen as an expression of individuality. Will hyper-personalization replace this ownership in the future?

Nils Büring: Mobility is not about owning an object, but about controlling their life and time. Your own car was the most reliable means of doing this for decades. Now this equation is beginning to shift. Wherever confidence in a new system is already strong enough to replace that control.

Hyper personalization is not a technical feature, but a promise: "I know you, I never let you down and I will make sure that you get from A to B quickly, safely and conveniently." What is important here is that personalization is not perceived as surveillance. Users must be able to understand what data is being used, what concrete added value they always receive and retain control over their information.

Anja Jany: By not immediately automating as many processes as possible, but by taking a targeted approach where value creation arises. So not just more digitalization, but the right one. This involves identifying those entities that have a direct impact on revenue, risk, or customer experience. The most sensible way to start is therefore to create transparency first. Which processes are really mission critical? Where do the most important customer contacts arise today and in the future? A structured first step here is an automation assessment to set clear priorities along the lines of business relevance.

Florian Meier: Take the example of car dealerships. Here, too, the following applies: Not every digital measure automatically creates added value. The key is to identify the points of contact that determine customer loyalty and revenue. Younger customer groups expect digital services and at the same time electric mobility eliminates central sales in the after-sales area. Against this backdrop, car dealerships must redefine their role: away from the pure distribution point, towards an active part of a networked mobility ecosystem. Here, too, the focus shifts from a one-time transaction to a permanent customer relationship.

Anja Jany: The biggest problem is rarely technology, but data quality. AI can only be as good as the data it receives. Many companies have silos, duplicates, missing standards, patchy documentation, or incomplete data sets. In addition, IT is often aging and stifling innovation. Systems that were never originally intended for real-time requirements or data-driven services, for example, are difficult to fit into modern mobility architectures.

Other obstacles are often organization and culture: Digital projects fail due to unclear responsibilities or a lack of understanding of end-to-end processes. Many departments continue to optimize in isolation. But mobility as a service only works if departments work together and together focus on customer benefit.

Florian Meier: In addition to the technological prerequisites already mentioned (networking, data architecture, etc.), all companies must be clear about their respective roles in the future system. What are my strengths? Who can I join forces with on one or the other topic? Will previous patterns of behavior continue to lead to economic success? I am convinced that there must and will be new forms of cooperation here. Complex systems only work based on trust. We know from our daily work that a lot is already happening here.

Nils Büring: The key is to use the existing business as a financing basis for transformation and not as a brake. While, for example, vehicle sales and the after-sales area continue to be operated, a clearly defined portfolio of digital services with its own logic, its own KPIs and its own culture is created at the same time. This "dual speed" model sounds like a textbook but often fails in practice. The reason: Many companies allow two speeds, but not two ways of thinking. The stability and efficiency of the existing business on the one hand and the speed, openness and experimentation of new digital models on the other.

Anja Jany: The complexity behind transport from A to B must no longer be recognizable to the customer. So, he should only have to make decisions that are relevant to him. And this is not in the sense of a black box, but in the sense of comfort and the desired relief.

Florian Meier: The moment we did it is unspectacular – and that is precisely the point. I tell my digital assistant, "I have to be in Zurich by 2 p.m. the day after tomorrow." The rest happens. The taxi arrives at the right time, the seat on the ICE is reserved, the connecting flight is booked, and if the train is delayed, the flight is rebooked before I even think of getting nervous. Others book this route via app, website, or phone with the same result. If complexity becomes invisible and every channel works equally – then we have won.