I’m here at the NASSCOM India Leadership Forum on an invitation from Ford and NASSCOM to conduct an unconference for digital influencers in the automotive space. I decided to take this opportunity to fix an appointment for a podcast interview with Mr.K.V.Prasad.
K. Venkatesh Prasad is Ford’s “What’s Next” guy, responsible for fostering global cross-functional innovation at Ford. He is the founding leader of Ford Motor Company’s Infotronics Technologies Group – a globally distributed activity the company established in 1998.
In this capacity, he oversees Ford Motor Company’s engagement in global multimedia standards and the related development of vehicle communications & computing technologies. Earlier, Dr. Prasad led research in the area of computer vision, electronic imaging and pattern recognition.
He imagined the vehicle as a software platform where features and services could be beamed in from the outside – without incremental built-in hardware. That revolutionary mind-set led to the development of Ford SYNC. Software-based, the voice-activated SYNC system allows Ford and Lincoln vehicle owners to seamlessly connect to their cell phones, MP3 players and a host of other features and services in and through their vehicle – hands-free.
Prasad was born in Chennai and attended schools there and in Bengaluru, Pune and New Delhi. He went on to earn his Bachelor’s degree in Electronics & Communications Engineering from NIT-Trichy in 1980, and holds double Masters degrees in Electrical Engineering from IIT-Madras and Washington State University, Pullman. He completed his Ph.D in Electrical Engineering in 1990 from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ in USA.
