SiMa.ai: Well Poised to Scale ML at the Embedded Edge and delight customers
We started SiMa.ai nearly 4 years ago with a vision to build a purpose-built platform to enable our customers to scale ML effortlessly across the Embedded Edge. We were very deliberate in what problem we would choose to solve, and we focused on addressing the needs of computer vision applications. Today, I am proud to say that our mission remains unchanged, and we have been maniacally focused on executing it. Our market focus, our unique software-centric approach, our focus on enabling legacy applications to support ML, our innovative MLSoC architecture, our value proposition, and our obsession to do right by customers has paved our way to success, as we bring it all together to delight customers. We knew that to be successful we would have to commit to this path and deliver, in everything we do, and I am thrilled of what we have accomplished as a team.
We recently started shipping our purpose-built MLSoC platform which is delivering to our “any, 10x, and push-button” vision. We are reshaping what’s possible at the embedded edge with industry leading customers and it would be fair to say that we are consistently exceeding our customers’ expectations.
We believe we are now well positioned to delight customers globally, disrupt the embedded edge market and over time, build a multi-billion-dollar business. We are now committing to build upon our current success in the embedded edge, expanding our market focus by taking on the automotive challenge.
Building on our strength and scaling ML in Automotive: The Next Frontier for SiMa.ai
We believe automotive is the next big step for SiMa.ai, a large and important market that has a desperate need for scaling and adoption of ML. Much has been said and hyped about ML adoption in the automotive market and sadly, it has yet to really scale in a meaningful way . We know this is a long game and will take time to bear fruit, but we are committing to start the journey now.
Automotive is a massive market and consumes >$30B semiconductor content annually, making up 40% of the embedded edge market. Based on my previous experience in building a successful Automotive business, we knew this would be a tough challenge to take on from Day 1, for any startup. Though the Automotive market is large, we consciously chose to manage our risk and focus on Automotive after we had delivered proven ML architecture and software. We ferociously debated this as this was not an easy choice, but in hindsight it was a really good choice for us.
With the beachhead of success we are building for ourselves in the embedded edge, the strength of our technology, ML expertise, and proven execution, we want to build upon this momentum and increase the SAM of our market opportunity by adding automotive to our focus. There are many reasons why the automotive market is a difficult market to succeed in, but at SiMa.ai we believe strongly in our product offering, and in partnership with key customers, we will be creating a value proposition and a purpose-built platform to address the inherent needs of scaling ML in the automotive industry.
Over my career, I have been fortunate enough to build a network of business relationships across many industries, including automotive, and I have developed a genuine trust and friendship with many experienced individuals. What I learned in my years of servicing the automotive business is that it is a business of relationships and trust. Given that human lives are at stake – credibility, track record, and a deep industry experience is vital to foster partnerships. Automotive does not operate on the thesis of ”If you build it, they will come.” The deep connections and understanding of the inner workings is key. It became abundantly clear for me, that this is not a journey I should start unless I found the perfect leader that could successfully take SiMa.ai into automotive.
I had been in the pursuit of finding a person who had deep automotive expertise, a passion for technology, one who had industry connections, with a track record of success and above all someone who would be willing to join a startup and be able to position SiMa.ai as an automotive leader and scale ML across the entire industry. The questions I grappled with were: Who is the best in the industry? Who can open doors at CXO levels at global Automotive OEMs and Tier 1s? Who has a full stack view of what will be needed to win? Who can truly understand the strategy of what it takes to commit and deliver? One person in particular who I thought was the very best in the industry, came to mind: Harry Kroeger.
Harry Takes SiMa.ai into Automotive
I had known Harry as the person heading the automotive division for Bosch for a few years. He was managing 100K people and managed a P&L of $20B+. What was strikingly wonderful about Harry was how much he enjoyed being a hands-on technologist and a fantastic people person. He shared our passion and frustration in how hard it has been to scale ML in the Automotive market.
A few months ago I reached out to him to seek his advice in helping me find someone who will fit my profile for an automotive leader for SiMa.ai. We met at one of Harry’s favorite coffee shops in Stuttgart and Harry listened patiently to my thoughts and aspirations and told me he would give it some thought and come back to me with his recommendation on who could possibly help us in our efforts.
Harry called me a couple of weeks later and to my extreme positive surprise, told me that he wanted to be the one to help SiMa.ai get into automotive. He initially debated joining our board and then rationalized that for this venture to really work well, he needed to join us in a full capacity role as well. I have to confess I was taken aback that someone of Harry’s stature and experience would be willing to join a startup and take the risk. Ironically, Harry spent more time convincing me that this was the right choice for him, he believed in what we were doing from an ML perspective and for the embedded edge. We have a truly unique game changer solution that we can now apply to the automotive industry. Harry could have easily chosen to be a CEO at any large company in the automotive industry and I am honored that he believes in us so much that he would choose to join SiMa.ai to help us scale ML in Automotive.
Harry is starting the journey with us, and no one is better qualified in this industry to lead the charge for us. I warmly welcome Harry Kroeger to our Board of Directors, and as our President of Automotive Business. Harry brings deep industry connections, a wealth of knowledge and experience in the automotive industry as a C-level executive at Bosch and Daimler and board roles at Tesla and Rivian.
Closing Thoughts
The automotive market consumes >$30B in semiconductors on an annual basis and over the next decade, every single chip shipped into Automotive will be built with ML capabilities. A huge transformation for the industry is ahead. The opportunity is massive! Our potential to win big in the embedded edge market has never been greater than it is now, and with Harry’s leadership we will extend our focus and we know we will win big in automotive too.
Welcome to the SiMa.ai family Harry! Honored and thrilled to have you lead the charge to take SiMa.ai into Automotive!
Krishna
Harald Kroeger, automotive industry expert and seasoned executive, has joined SiMa.ai as President of Automotive Business and to the SiMa.ai Board of Directors.
Previously, Mr. Kroeger served five years as president and member of the board of management of the automotive division of Robert Bosch GmbH. He had P&L responsibility for car multimedia, body electronics, automotive steering, chassis control, driver assistance, automated driving, cross domain computing, and automotive electronics. During his tenure, he was the driving force behind the setup of the pioneering Cross-Domain Computing Solutions division and the expansion of Bosch’s semiconductor business. He was responsible for more than 100k employees and more than $20B in Revenue for the automotive division at Bosch.
Prior to Bosch, Mr. Kroeger served 21 years with Mercedes-Benz where he held a variety of positions including Head of Quality and Head of Development of batteries, motors and power electronics for pure battery powered cars and plug-in hybrids. During this time, Mr. Kroeger was also a member of the board of directors at Tesla Motors for two years. He recently joined the Rivian Board of Directors in August 2022.
A native of Muenster, Germany, Mr. Kroeger is married with three children. He studied engineering and economics at the Leibniz University of Hannover and holds a MSEE from Stanford University in the United States.