In this episode, we talk about generative AI, speech interfaces, and evolving the customer experience for one of the world’s top luxury car brands: Mercedes-Benz. At the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year, Mercedes made a major splash with a new virtual assistant that leverages advanced software and generative AI — along with on-screen visuals — to provide more proactive support and a more intuitive way of interacting with the vehicle. One of the people behind that project is James Liu, the head of customer experience for the Mercedes-Benz operating system.

"I always joke with my team that we're the last layer of light and sound waves between all of our technologies and the customer," Liu says. "Practically speaking, my teams are responsible for HMI concept, UX design, front-end engineering, speech, and the AI platform."