Driving Innovation: Maruti Suzuki's journey with Accenture in the automotive industry

The automotive industry stands at the forefront of innovation with new technologies emerging each passing year, promising to revolutionize the driving experience, enhance safety while also keeping in check, the environmental impact. Starting from the iconic Maruti 800, Maruti Suzuki has become one of India’s most trusted car manufacturers. Driven by the technological expertise of Accenture, Maruti Suzuki has ventured into various innovative endeavours. At the inimitable Maruti Suzuki Innovation Gym in Delhi, Rajesh Uppal, CIO & MEB (HR, IT, Safety and DE), Maruti Suzuki India Limited and Ankur Aggarwal, Managing Director and Growth Lead, Accenture in India, tell us about their partnership and the exciting future of the Automotive sector.

“To foster the innovation in the company. We thought working with start-ups is very critical for us.” said Rajesh Uppal, “and we started this innovation team to ensure that we work with start-ups and incubate them to build solutions for the industry”. Maruti Suzuki MAIL (Mobility and Automobile Innovation Lab) is one such programme where young startups are challenged with problem statements for which they provide innovative solutions. “Till now, we have worked with almost more than 60 start-ups out of them, 20 of them are already become our vendors”. Said Rajesh Uppal.

Maruti Suzuki stands out from all the OEMs for their culture of fostering innovation and their data strategy. Accenture has driven Maruti’s digital growth since their partnership began. From data strategy, to ownership to gen AI, Accenture is backing Maruti in this industry defining Digital transformation. “I think the digital transformation that Maruti is undergoing right now is also phenomenal. It is to drive a lot of productivity improvement within the organization, as well as foster and drive more innovation through leveraging that stable digital core” said Ankur Aggarwal.

Maruti has used this digitization to enhance their customer service as well. So far, 24 out of 26 touchpoints have been digitized, tracking each and every point of interaction. This openness of adopting technology to enhance efficiency can also be seen in the Auto OEM space as more and more companies shift from traditional hardware driven cars to software defined vehicles and operating models. While earlier the focus on technology was only kept on the manufacturing side, post covid, the focus has shifted to the supply chain side.

Talking about Gen AI, Accenture’s Ankur said, “We believe that generative AI can drive significant reinvention of businesses rather than pockets of interventions and every business should move towards being an AI led business”. He added that Gen AI drives significant reinvention of businesses, from performance control to customer experience and customer support.

In conclusion, the discussion with Rajesh Uppal and Ankur Aggarwal underscores the pivotal role of innovation, digitization, and data-driven strategies in navigating the evolving landscape of the automotive industry. Their insights highlight the imperative for companies to foster cultures of innovation, collaborate with startups, and embrace digital transformation to remain competitive in a volatile and rapidly changing environment. Maruti Suzuki's partnership with Accenture exemplifies this approach, demonstrating how companies can leverage external expertise to drive innovation and enhance customer service. As the industry continues to evolve, embracing dynamic strategies that adapt to technological advancements and changing consumer demands will be essential for sustained success in the automotive sector.