AV Value Chain — Data Perspective

Part 2 — Integration by Reference Design

Due to the complex and evolving landscape of the AV Industry at present, we must look deeper at each company in order to understand how the Data sub-tier specifically feeds into the AV Value Chain. This can be done by starting at the top of the value chain and drilling-down to draw a more detailed picture of the company’s alliance strategy.

Here is the second corresponding alliance model characterized by McKinsey that can help depict how data will be fed into the AV Value Chain:

2. Integration by Reference Design

An example of this alliance model is Waymo, who has partnered with Fiat Chrysler as its main AV Manufacturer (OEM 1), Jaguar as its Premium AV Manufacturer (OEM 2) and Lyft as its mobility service provider.

Due to large economies of scale — a benefit by virtue of being an Alphabet Inc. subsidiary — Waymo has managed to develop most hardware and software in-house. In terms of Data Collection solutions, Waymo has created its own simulation software and HD Maps. In other situations, this software would have been integrated from external providers in the Data sub-tier to the AV System creator which would be a Tier 2 supplier. The Data Management and Storage solutions are also vertically integrated. In other situations, these would have also been provided by external suppliers in the Data sub-tier. Lastly, once again the Data Labelling solution is outsourced — even by Waymo — as the scale of data annotation needs a fully dedicated company, which can handle the capacity and efficiency that needs to be achieved. The data labelling solution for Waymo is provided by Scale, the same company that provides data labelling solutions for Cruise.

This is the third post in a series of articles exploring the data value chain in Smart Mobility. Caliber AI is a design and deployment partner for AI Pioneers in Smart Mobility, Legal & Compliance and Utilities & Resources. Start building your AI here.