Honeywell Automation appoints Atul Pai as MD for India operations

Honeywell Automation appoints Atul Pai as MD for India operations

Honeywell Automation India (HAIL) has announced the appointment of Atul Pai as its MD, effective May 16. He succeeds Ashish Gaikwad who will is now taking on a broader responsibility as India Leader for Industrial Automation, one of Honeywell International Inc’s strategic business groups. 

Ganesh Natarajan, Chairman & Independent Director, HAIL said, “Atul brings more than two decades of Honeywell experience in various regional and global roles across Honeywell and its finance division. In his new role, he will provide strategic direction on HAIL to help strengthen our growth, enhance value for our customers and further build our local brand. Atul’s deep understanding of our business combined with his extensive expertise in building automation will be invaluable for HAIL.”

Ashish Modi, Non-Executive Director & President, Honeywell India added, “As an experienced CFO and proven business leader, Atul has the right experience, leadership qualities and business acumen to lead HAIL forward. Atul’s 20 plus years tenure at Honeywell combined with his unique knowledge of our business make him a natural successor to Ashish Gaikwad, and I am confident in his ability to drive superior stakeholder engagement and corporate governance across our business. I also want to thank Ashish Gaikwad for his leadership and invaluable contributions to HAIL over the last several years.”

Pai joined HAIL in 2001 and has held several leadership roles across the business. He spent eight years serving as Global CFO for Honeywell Building Solution and served as Operations Controller for Honeywell. He has been a Member of the HAIL Board of Directors since 2021. Pai is a qualified Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Mumbai University. 

Atul Pai stated, “It is an absolute privilege to have the opportunity to lead HAIL, which has pioneered the industrial & building automation journey in this country for three decades to support the government’s ambition to Make in India. Honeywell’s technology capabilities across automation, digitalisation and sustainability, our team of experienced professionals and our excellence in execution give us a competitive edge to lead in the industry.”

Honeywell Automation India is a leading player in integrated automation and software solutions, including process solutions and building solutions. It has a wide product portfolio in environmental and combustion controls, and sensing and control and provides engineering services in the field of automation and control to global clients.

The company was established in 1984 with its manufacturing, design, and engineering facilities located in Pune. Today, it is a Fortune India 500 company with more than 3,000 employees spread across Pune, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Gurgaon, Kolkata, and Jamshedpur. 

Wayve, NVIDIA, And Stellantis Collaborate To Develop Autonomous Vehicle Ecosystem In France

Stellantis - Wavye - NVIDIA

Wayve, NVIDIA and Stellantis have announced a joint collaboration alongside the French government at the Assises du Véhicule Autonome to support the deployment of autonomous vehicles in France and across the European Union.

The initiative combines Stellantis’ L4-Ready Platforms with the Wayve AI Driver system, integrating NVIDIA Halos OS on the NVIDIA Hyperion compute and sensor architecture. The collaboration aims to establish an autonomous vehicle value chain in France, spanning silicon development, software integration and vehicle manufacturing.

Local transport partners will engage with trade unions, municipal authorities, and mobility stakeholders to address regulatory alignment, safety requirements, and operational deployment.

Philippe Tabarot, French Minister of Transports, said, "I am pleased to see this collaboration between Wayve, NVIDIA and Stellantis launched at the Autonomous Vehicle Forum in France. France is committed to adapting its regulatory framework to accelerate the development of autonomous vehicles while maintaining strict safety and data sovereignty requirements. By bringing together trade unions, city authorities, and mobility stakeholders, this collaboration embodies the collaborative spirit of the Assises du Véhicule Autonome, as well as the approach required to transition from trials to real-world deployment."

Kaity Fischer, VP Autonomous Mobility & Operations, Wayve, said, "France is leading the way in preparing for autonomous vehicles, and we’re proud to enter this collaboration at such an important moment. By working directly with the French Government and our partners, we can help shape how this technology is deployed safely and responsibly and accelerate its development across the country and entire EU."

Anne Laliron, SVP of Technology Research, Stellantis, said, "This collaboration will help accelerate the delivery of autonomous driving technologies that make mobility safer and more convenient for customers. While its impact is global, France is one of Stellantis’ key centres for engineering and technology development, making it a natural home for advancing the future of AI-powered mobility."

Ali Kani, VP of Automotive, NVIDIA, said, "Bringing safe autonomous mobility to Europe requires deep collaboration across AI, computing and vehicle engineering. NVIDIA Hyperion platform, combined with Wayve’s embodied AI and Stellantis’ automotive expertise, provides a foundation for that ambition. Together with the French Government and local partners, we can help build an ecosystem that brings the benefits of autonomous driving to communities across France and Europe."

Audi Debuts Curved Digital OLED Lighting Technology On New Q91

Audi Q91

German luxury carmaker Audi has introduced third-generation digital OLED rear lighting technology on the Q91, marking the production debut of three-dimensionally curved digital OLED panels in the automotive industry.

The lighting system incorporates carrier glass measuring 0.1 millimetres in thickness, allowing a bend radius of up to 200 millimetres to match the vehicle's body contours. The Q91 uses six digital OLED panels housing 512 individual segments, including an outer curved panel with 99 segments.

The curved positioning extends light visibility to wider lateral angles and incorporates warning symbols within the communication light system to alert surrounding traffic to breakdowns, emergency braking or accidents. Up to eight digital light signatures are available across static, active and semi-active display settings.

The vehicle also features digital Matrix LED headlights utilising a 13-millimetre micro-LED module containing 25,600 individual micro-LEDs. The headlight system projects high-resolution lane lighting, orientation paths and dynamic turn signal graphics directly onto the road surface to assist lane centring and indicate directional changes to pedestrians and other vehicles.

Audi first introduced OLED technology on the TT RS in 2016, followed by segmented digital OLEDs on the Q5 in 2020 and second-generation panels on the Q6 e-tron in 2024.

Stefan Berlitz, Head of Lighting Development at AUDI AG, said, "At Audi, light means safety first and foremost – seeing and being seen. Digitalisation opens up entirely new possibilities for further enhancing road safety. The curved digital OLED technology in the Audi Q91 impressively demonstrates this technology’s potential. It combines design freedom, personalization, and communication with the vehicle’s surroundings at a new level. Our vision is to gradually transform light into an intelligent means of communication that makes interaction between the vehicle and its surroundings even safer and more intuitive."

Bolt Selects NVIDIA To Power European Autonomous Ride-Hailing Fleet

Bolt - NVIDIA - Lucid

European ride-hailing platform Bolt has selected the NVIDIA Alpamayo Stack autonomous driving software to operate its vehicle fleet in Europe, starting with Lucid automobiles.

The deployment commences in Madrid in 2027, with subsequent deployment planned in Germany and France. The initiative supports the integration of at least 25,000 Level 4-ready Lucid vehicles equipped with NVIDIA Hyperion compute and sensor architecture. The program contributes to Bolt's objective of deploying 100,000 autonomous vehicles across Europe and the UNECE region by 2035. The system integrates reasoning artificial intelligence with perception and planning modules alongside NVIDIA Halos safety controls.

Jevgeni Kabanov, President and Head of Autonomous Driving, Bolt, said, “Autonomous driving will change how people move around cities, and Europe should play a major role in how that future is built. Our ambition isn't to bring autonomous driving to just a handful of cities. We want to make autonomous ride-hailing available at scale across Europe, with 100,000 vehicles on our platform by 2035. We're bringing together some of the best technologies in the world to make that possible. Following our first autonomous mobility launch in Luxembourg, our next step with NVIDIA and Lucid is to begin a programme in Madrid in 2027. The Region of Madrid is pioneering a structured framework for commercial autonomous mobility in coordination with national authorities. Germany will also be a priority for what comes next, with cities already setting out clear ambitions for autonomous mobility.”

Rishi Dhall, Vice-President of Automotive, NVIDIA, said, “Robotaxis will scale when every vehicle is built on a common, safety-engineered foundation. NVIDIA Hyperion standardises the compute and sensor architecture across vehicle platforms, while NVIDIA Alpamayo Stack and Halos provide the driving intelligence and safety foundation. Bolt’s European platform, operational experience and work with cities and regulators make it a strong partner to bring autonomous ride-hailing to market at scale in Europe.”

Valeo Collaborates With NVIDIA To Develop Autonomous Driving Compute Platforms

Valeo - NVIDIA

French tier 1 supplier Valeo has announced plans to develop and industrialise high-performance compute platforms utilising the NVIDIA Hyperion reference architecture and NVIDIA Halos safety system.

The initiative combines Valeo's vehicle integration capabilities with centralised computing architectures to support software-defined mobility systems. The platform utilises the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor architecture to deliver processing performance and redundancy for Level 4 autonomous driving, commercial trucking and robotaxi applications. The development framework enables automakers to integrate features and deploy autonomous technologies across vehicle models.

Marc Vrecko, Chief Executive Officer, Valeo Brain Division, said, "Our work with NVIDIA marks a significant milestone in our mission to make autonomous driving a safe, scalable reality. By seamlessly integrating NVIDIA’s advanced compute power into our next-generation platforms, we are delivering the flexible, centralised intelligence vehicle manufacturers require to redefine the driving experience and meet the evolving demands of tomorrow’s intelligent vehicles."

Rishi Dhall, Vice-President of Automotive, NVIDIA, said, "Valeo’s expertise in high-performance computing, vehicle integration and automotive-scale industrialisation will help automakers adopt NVIDIA Hyperion and NVIDIA Halos at production scale. Together, NVIDIA and Valeo are providing the AI performance, functional safety and scalability needed to accelerate the development of Level 4 autonomous vehicles and robotaxis."