Software was one the five key areas of change Volvo Cars unveiled in its Capital Days presentation in November 2024. The companys plan for navigating an ever-changing world is to move from being a hardware-first business to one that is software-first. The company also discussed a superset technology stack, which it unveiled in September 2024.Alwin Bakkenes, head of global engineering at Volvo Cars, says the technology stack is closely related to some of the attributes that define modern cars, such as safety, human-centric technology and customer experience.The superset tech stack is a modular engineering platform that the company says will be used to build all future vehicles. It allows Volvo Cars to make safer cars, more efficiently, and to improve them over time through software.Effectively, the superset tech stack is a true superset strategy, says Bakkenes. This means Volvo can build small B class cars like the EX30 right up to premium F class cars like the EX90 in a scalable way.Discussing the benefits, Bakkenes says: Very often, companies have one architecture for smaller cars and one for mid-sized cars. They have different physical layouts in terms of engines or electric motors. But with a superset technology stack, we effectively have a one-track implementation for our software and electronics stack, which is a lot more efficient for us as a company.The benefits of software-defined functionalityIn the past, car manufacturers took a vertical integration approach to building vehicles, whereby all the parts of a car are delivered to the factory as bespoke modules that are then integrated. But manufacturers now see the benefit of building software-defined cars.Alwin Bakkenes, head of global engineering at Volvo Cars, says the move from bespoke platforms to a software-defined architecture means that instead of relying on vertical integration of components, vehicles are built based on capabilities. All of the cars sensors and actuators are exposed as APIs [application programming interfaces] on the core computing platform, where we can combine them into custom functions.This is how software is starting to replace physical hardware.For instance, as Bakkenes explains: In traditional vehicles, a front camera system would be directly connected to an application-specific integrated circuit [ASIC] that would try to assess whether or not the car needs to display a forward collision warning or perform a brake assist manoeuvre.What we [now] do is connect the front camera together with other cameras to our core computer platform, which means we can use it for different things. As an example, he says the cameras could be used to implement sentry mode or a dashcam.The camera could potentially also work with the cars built-in Google Assistant, allowing the driver to ask for more information about something the camera has seen, such as finding out the opening times of a supermarket it passes.Its the same sensors, but they are integrated in a completely new way, enabling us to extract much more value, he adds.As we build more cars based on the superset tech stack instead of bespoke platforms, it will contribute to our margins, he adds. As the superset tech stack underpins all Volvo Cars upcoming vehicles, it converges all engineering efforts into one single direction, rather than working on specific, siloed, car projects.The Volvo EX90 (pictured above) is the companys first car to be software-defined, built on the superset tech stack. It is based on a centralised core compute architecture using the Nvidia Drive Orin system-on-chip architecture.Nvidia Orin orchestrates everything in the car, from powering the deep learning capabilities underpinning Volvos artificial intelligence (AI)-based active safety and driving assistance systems, to helping introduce safe autonomous driving in the future and delivering best-in-class customer experience.Instead of large steps between different generations of cars, Volvo Cars can continuously enhance the performance of each vehicle in its line-up simultaneously, with the same superset tech stack. It also enables closed-loop development, which allows Volvo Cars to reduce the time it takes to roll out new software features.For instance, with its EX90 model, Volvo has begun collecting data from fleets of cars to improve the behaviour of the vehicle over time. We can understand if something is wrong by asking a fleet of cars to collect data from, for example, a certain intersection or under certain driving conditions. We can use the raw data we get back to retrain our data models, says Bakkenes.In effect, the closed-loop system, built on the superset tech stack, uses real-time data to improve product development. The data processing is powered by what Bakkenes says is one of northern Europes largest AI supercomputers.Through its fully owned software company Zenseact Volvo has been using the Nvidia DGX-based AI supercomputing platform to help develop safe autonomous driving. The company plans to use Nvidia DGX systems, optimised for large workloads, for training current and future AI models, based on uploading data from the fleet of Volvo cars being driven on public roads.To support its strategy to make driving safer, Bakkenes says Volvo equips all its cars with 5G connectivity.With a superset technology stack, we effectively have a one-track implementation for our software and electronics stack, which is a lot more efficientAlwin Bakkenes, Volvo CarsHe says the cars make use of AI in a hybrid setup, which uses in-vehicle processing capabilities at the edge, along with the 5G-connected cloud-based processing.Through the partnership with Nvidia, he says Volvos goal is to equip every car with potent silicon, on which complex AI models can be deployed that make the cars the safest it has ever built.Volvo has also standardised on the Google Automotive Android-based operating system for its cars. What Google gives us is a very good starting position for a stable infotainment system and provides us a way to integrate in a larger ecosystem, says Bakkenes.This means Volvo not only uses Google Automotive as a complete application framework for developing its own in-car applications, but it also enables Volvo to work with third-party developers. For instance, in Sweden, Volvo has partnered with parking app providers to integrate the app into the infotainment system. It makes the experience of owning and operating a Volvo car easier, he adds.Google Automotive also provides Google Maps and Google Assistant for voice control, where the driver simply says hey Google and asks Google Maps to navigate somewhere.Modern cars put a lot of emphasis on the infotainment system. Certainly, car reviews on the web often make a point of highlighting the shortcomings of these in-car systems. Bakkenes says that from a customer satisfaction, loyalty and preference perspective, a cars infotainment system plays a very important role.Its not just about the media player or the radio, but about how the car interacts with the driver. How you implement that digital relationship while the car is being driven is extremely important, he says.Over time, the infotainment system is used to add more functionality to the car, which, for Bakkenes, means Volvo Cars can improve the customer experience by updating vehicles that have already shipped based on the data it collects from the fleet of cars on the road.Read more stories about AI in manufacturingAI use cases in manufacturing: Initially slow to adopt digital transformation, manufacturers are recognizing the power of AI technologies as they seek ways to cut costs, boost productivity and improve products.NTT and Toyota gear up for joint auto mobility AI project: IT and comms giant and global auto manufacturer investing nearly $3.3bn to jointly develop mobility AI platform with goal to eliminate traffic accidents.