Empowering Teams For Powerful Technology

In an upfront interview, Latha Chembrakalam, Head of Technical Centre India, Continental Automotive India speaks to Deepti Thore about taking the India technical centre to the next level of growth and innovation.

- Latha Chembrakalam

Q. How challenging has the new role for you been and how do you expect to lead the innovation and growth drive at the Technical Centre?

A: I have always been passionate about building powerful and empowered technology teams who create innovative solutions to provide value and differentiation for the business. Continental believes innovation defines the future of mobility and is the ideal place for R&D given the scale of operations and where we are positioned in the value chain. With the number of emerging technologies and their innovative use cases, we are inspired to develop the next big breakthrough in automotive technology and provide software services for Continental's Automotive business.

It has been exciting to immerse myself in what the Technical Centre India (TCI) has been working on and I look forward to leading them to the next level of growth and innovation, including infrastructural expansion, and expansion of engineering competence for both global and local markets with the highest focus on value growth, innovation, and content. I am also an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion so it is heartening to witness how Continental champions the cause. I firmly believe that organisations should encourage bringing in diversity of thought-in my view innovation happens when experiences, backgrounds, ideas, and concepts converge. This has also sculpted me to practice equal opportunity employment across the board.

Q. How are the R&D operations powered at TCI? What is the role at the group level?