Personnel Articles

DAIMLER AG’s Mercedes-Benz has announced that its chief technology officer Sajjad Khan will leave the company to form his own technology-venture capital fund.

He will be succeeded by Magnus Oestberg who will join Mercedes-Benz and assume overall responsibility for the MB.OS – the band’s vehicle operating system – as chief software officer.

Research and development activities for CASE (connected, autonomous, shared and services, and electric) will be brought together under Markus Schaefer, Mercedes-Benz Cars’ current chief operating officer, as part of the car-maker’s electric direction.

Mr Khan, who is also a member of the Mercedes-Benz management board, will leave at his own request on September 1.

Mr Ostberg, who has a master’s degree in electrical engineering, was most recently the vice-president of software platform and system at automotive supplier Aptiv in the US.

He was responsible for development and launch of the ADAS ‘Satellite Architecture’ at multiple automotive manufacturers.

Mr Khan has been responsible for advancing digitisation at Mercedes-Benz and significantly shaping the product portfolio.

Daimler AG supervisory board chairman Bernd Pischetsrieder said that with MBUX, Mr Khan created a system that “defines a new benchmark in the automotive sector.”

The company’s chairman of the management boards of Daimler and Mercedes-Benz, Ola Kallenius, said there was “a clear strategic decision for the future of Mercedes-Benz: to apply our own software-platform for our vehicles, for which we are now creating a specific software position to bring together the responsibility for all related development tasks”.

“Mr Khan laid the foundations for MB.OS – with technological expertise, strategic farsightedness and an excellent team. I thank him and the entire CASE organisation on behalf of the whole company.

“I wish Sajjad all the best with founding his technology venture capital fund and am pleased that we, as Mercedes-Benz, are able to accompany him in this innovative project as an angel investor.”

By Neil Dowling

Manheim
Manheim
Manheim
Gumtree
DealerCell
MotorOne
Gumtree
AdTorque Edge
PitcherPartners
Schmick