Europe once led the world in autonomous driving. Massive public investment. Breakthrough demonstrations. Real vehicles on real highways long before autonomy was mainstream.

So what happened?

In this episode of Inside CVC, we sit down with Christian to unpack the rise, stall, and potential resurgence of autonomy in Europe. Drawing from decades of experience across research labs, OEMs, and boardrooms, Christian explains why Europe’s challenge isn’t technology. It’s culture, regulation, and execution.

You’ll hear how early European leadership gave way to faster deployment in the U.S., why China’s “progress over perfection” mindset changed the global pace of innovation, and how fragmented regulation slowed momentum across the EU. We also explore the growing gap between hardware-centric automotive cultures and agile software development, and why autonomy is no longer about cars, but autonomous systems across industries.

This conversation goes beyond autonomy. It’s about trust, talent, and the courage to deploy innovation before perfection.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Why Europe led early in autonomy and why it lost momentum
• How U.S. and Chinese regulatory models accelerated deployment
• The cultural clash between automotive hardware and agile software teams
• Why autonomy is evolving into broader autonomous systems
• What Europe needs to rebuild trust, talent, and speed

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