How AUMOVIO's co-pace counts adoptions, not pilots

co-pace at a glance

co-pace is the startup organization of AUMOVIO, Continental's former automotive business. It connects business areas with startups and VCs, so new technology gets tested in PoCs and then adopted.

Tools in the funnel

2 → 1

Scouting ran in one tool, PoC management in another, and findings were copied over by hand. Now the whole funnel runs in GlassDollar.

Business areas

Each has a venture manager who owns its projects in GlassDollar and keeps them up to date, instead of co-pace pushing topics in.

Plants per learning

1 → n

A PoC that worked in one plant is no longer a one-off. When the next plant has the same problem, co-pace shows it what was done and with which startup.

From counting pilots to counting adoptions

When AUMOVIO split from Continental, business areas started coming to co-pace on their own. The team used that moment to change how it works, and moved its funnel into GlassDollar. Six things look different today.

Who drives

Then

co-pace pushes trends

The team scouted trends and promising startups, then pushed them into the business areas based on its own read of what they needed.

The business area owns it

Business areas define the pain point, name a technical lead and decide what gets adopted. co-pace finds the startups, checks they are healthy companies and clears the path.

In GlassDollarEach business area's venture manager owns their projects in GlassDollar and keeps the status current.

“For us they are the main drivers for innovation, because they are the closest ones to the business.Andrea Julian

Where projects start

Then

A promising startup

Lots of interesting startups, no specific business case. Without an owner with budget and decision power, projects dropped.

A named pain point

Every project starts with a problem statement from the business area. The budget usually comes from them too. When co-pace chips in, it is 50/50, so everyone has a stake.

In GlassDollarThe pain point, the startup long list and the PoC sit in one GlassDollar project.

“If we begin with a pain point, it's easier to evolve it into a PoC and then into an adoption.Andrea Julian

What counts

Then

PoC volume, own KPIs

co-pace ran well above the industry mean for PoCs, on goals the business areas did not share. "Why do I have to do that for you if those are your KPIs?"

Adoptions, shared focus topics

Each PoC needs a strong business case. Focus topics are agreed with every business area once a year and reviewed with top management each quarter.

In GlassDollarThe industry benchmark in GlassDollar shows co-pace's PoC volume is now right on the mean.

How startups are seen

Then

Just another supplier

Purchasing judged startups like any vendor, mostly on cost. Business areas asked if they had to buy a startup to work with it.

A partner with its own track

co-pace runs its own PoC framework in parallel to standard procurement. Legal and purchasing join once a PoC heads for adoption.

In GlassDollarEvery startup co-pace worked with, and what came of it, is on record. Nobody starts from zero.

Sourcing

Then

Events and the team's network

Finding startups meant conferences, contacts and a separate scouting tool. Whatever the team found had to be copied into the project tool by hand.

Search in GlassDollar

co-pace searches the startup landscape for each pain point, then reviews the list with the business area. One funnel, from exploring to the PoC.

In GlassDollarSearch and PoC management in one tool. No more copy and paste.

“It's easier to find 20 startups through the tool than going to an event or talking to our network only.Andrea Julian

Rollout

Then

Big onboarding sessions

Schedule training, invite everyone, hope it sticks.

Shared links, short calls

People who get a link to a single project start asking what else the tool can do. Andrea onboards them in a short call when they need it.

In GlassDollarShare any project in GlassDollar with a link. Occasional users log in for one topic and come back when they need to.

No owner, no adoption

In the early days, co-pace learned what happens when a project has no owner, no budget and no decision power. In Andrea's words.

Clip · 0:42

Why projects without an owner drop

In the early days, co-pace pushed trends and startups into the business areas. Without a business case and a stakeholder who owns the topic, has the budget and can decide, those projects went nowhere.

Andrea JulianPartnering Operations & Ecosystem Management, co-pace at AUMOVIO

Business areas own innovation. co-pace makes it possible.

A shared responsibility. The business area is closest to the product, the customer and the problem. co-pace brings the startups, the process and the contacts that make a PoC possible in a company this size.

Business area · Owner

Owns the pain point, the budget and the decision.

Identifies the problem and writes the pain point
Reviews the startup shortlist from a technical angle
Names the technical lead who runs the PoC, and decides what gets adopted

co-pace · Enabler

Brings the outside in, and clears the path inside.

Builds the long list and checks if each startup is a healthy company
Runs a startup PoC framework in parallel to standard procurement
Coordinates stakeholders and removes barriers until adoption

How GlassDollar spread inside AUMOVIO

Four rings, no big training sessions

co-pace teamFull access. Search startups and see every project.
Venture managers and leadsOne per business area. They own and update their projects in the tool.
Project contributorsGet a link to one project, then ask what else the tool can do.
On-demand usersLog in for one topic, come back when they need to review something.

Where GlassDollar fits

co-pace runs its whole funnel in GlassDollar, from the first pain point to the PoC. Here is what that changed for the team.

Tools

Before

Two separate tools. Every startup found while scouting was copied into the project tool by hand.

With GlassDollar

One funnel in GlassDollar, from exploring a pain point to the long list to the PoC.

What changedNo more manual transfer. Past projects are tracked in the same place, which Andrea calls a real improvement.

Sourcing

Before

Startups came from events and the team's own network.

With GlassDollar

co-pace searches the startup landscape per pain point in GlassDollar.

What changed"It's easier to find 20 startups through the tool than going to an event or talking to our network only."

Business areas

Before

co-pace did the scouting and pushed results into the business areas.

With GlassDollar

Venture managers search, build their own lists and update their project statuses in GlassDollar.

What changedBusiness areas come to co-pace with a list. Both sides review it together and turn it into a PoC.

PoC volume

Before

Well above the industry mean, with too few PoCs reaching adoption.

With GlassDollar

co-pace checks its PoC numbers against the industry benchmark in GlassDollar.

What changedNow on the mean. Fewer PoCs, each with a strong business case and an owner.

Reuse

Before

Knowing what was tried before depended on records kept on the side.

With GlassDollar

Every past project and startup contact sits in GlassDollar.

What changedWhen a second plant brings a similar problem, co-pace shows what other plants did, and with which startups.

Rollout

Before

The usual route is big onboarding sessions that don't stick.

With GlassDollar

Projects are shared in GlassDollar with a link. Andrea onboards people in short calls when they need it.

What changedUse spread on its own: from the co-pace team to venture managers to project contributors and on-demand users.

Solve it in one plant. Show it to the next.

Most startup projects are specific to one business area. Manufacturing is different. When a second plant brings a similar problem, co-pace shows what other plants already did, and with which startups. The digital transformation team and co-pace set up commercial agreements so several plants can work with the same startup on the same terms.

Plant 1

Plant 2

Plant 3

Plant 4

Plant n

One PoC, solved once. Every plant with the same problem starts from what already worked.

Why don't more business units run innovation themselves?

Andrea's answer: a mix of structure, culture and incentives. It's rarely that people don't want to. It's just hard to achieve in a company this size.

Clip · 0:41

Stop being “the cool guys”

Innovation teams that arrive with the banner of “we're innovation, we're the cool guys” don't get things working. Andrea's advice: go to the ground, talk to people, and understand why their processes work the way they do. Then find common ground.

Andrea JulianAbout 13 years at the company

Structure

Finding the right person is hard

At this size, even purchasing accounts are split by the first letter of the supplier's name. "Even for me it's hard sometimes to identify who is the right person to approach."

Culture

"We keep everything to ourselves"

Process is followed as it is, and knowledge stays inside. That mindset has been changing slowly over the last couple of years.

Incentives

Separate goals, no reason to show up

If the innovation team's KPIs are not the business area's KPIs, collaboration stays a favour. Shared focus topics fixed that at co-pace.

AUMOVIO stopped counting pilots and started counting adoptions.

Andrea Julian from co-pace, AUMOVIO's startup unit, explains how business areas took ownership, and how one shared funnel in GlassDollar holds it together.

co-pace at a glance

From counting pilots to counting adoptions

No owner, no adoption

Business areas own innovation. co-pace makes it possible.

Where GlassDollar fits

Solve it in one plant. Show it to the next.

Why don't more business units run innovation themselves?