In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen Daimler Truck CEO: Electric Transition, Autonomous Vehicles and Cultural Change
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Sep 10, 2025 
Karin Rådström, CEO of Daimler Truck and former national rowing champion, shares insights on transforming a century-old company into a zero-emission powerhouse. She discusses the shift from diesel to electric and hydrogen-driven trucks, alongside the challenges of implementing autonomous technologies. Rådström dives into her leadership philosophy of 'tough love,' the importance of fostering a collaborative culture, and her experiences as a pioneering female leader in the industry, all while balancing personal growth and professional responsibilities.
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Culture Change Trumps Pure Tech Shift
- Daimler Truck must become simpler and faster while retaining engineering strengths to compete in a software-driven future.
- Cultural change across processes and informal behaviours is the hardest but most crucial task for Karin Rådström.
Change Culture With Three Parallel Levers
- Change culture by aligning awareness, processes, and everyday behaviours simultaneously.
- Use clear target images and persistent behavioural work to make new practices stick.
Centralize Compute To Speed Development
- Trucks still have hundreds of ECUs; consolidation to high-performance central compute greatly speeds development.
- Shared foundational software layers reduce hardware touchpoints and accelerate feature rollout.