Open to conversations on AI & programme leadership

Dhinesh Kumar
Sukumar

Program Manager & AI Transformation Lead — Munich

I deliver safety-critical automotive software at scale — ADAS, software-defined vehicles, functional safety — and lead the AI-first transformation of a 300-engineer delivery organisation. 15 years from mechatronics to AI-driven engineering.

15
years in engineering
300+
engineers in AI-first transformation
3x
programme scale-up through disruption
6
countries, one delivery organisation
Point of view

AI is not yet a code author in safety-critical software.
It is a companion.

“Every software component is an agent-in-waiting — with strict functional-safety and cybersecurity guardrails.”
⚙️

AI accelerates humans. Humans own safety.

The operating model for AI in regulated engineering: copilots and agents raise throughput; accountability, verification and sign-off stay human — by design, under ISO 26262, ASPICE and ISO/SAE 21434.

📐

Metrics before magic

Engineering runs best on evidence — efficiency metrics, traceability, forward-looking risk signals — not gut feel. Measured teams deliver visible results; vibe-driven teams deliver surprises.

🛰️

Software-defined everything

Vehicles made the shift; satellites, factories and defence systems are next. The playbook — edge AI, OTA, safety guardrails — transfers across regulated domains.

What I do

Programme delivery × AI transformation

🚗

Automotive software programmes at scale

Multi-year platform programme for a German premium OEM — ADAS, SDV, functional safety — owning budgets, schedules and risks across teams in Germany, India, Egypt, Poland, Serbia and Ukraine.

🤖

AI-first delivery transformation

Rolling out LLM toolchains — coding copilots, model APIs, agentic frameworks — across a 300-engineer account, with training, domain agents and AI-assisted code review tailored to safety-critical constraints.

📊

From concept to SoP

RFQ solutioning, estimation and delivery architecture for new programmes; end-to-end lifecycle delivery from development through Start of Production into maintenance.

Journey
Embedded software Programme leadership AI transformation
2025 — present · Luxoft (DXC Technology), Munich

Program Manager & AI Transformation Lead

4th promotion on one flagship OEM programme

Driving AI-first delivery across a 300-engineer account — LLM toolchains, domain agents, AI-assisted code review — and leading RFQ solutioning for new OEM programmes.

2023 — 2025 · Luxoft (DXC Technology), Munich

Senior Project Manager

Took a safety-critical software product through Start of Production into maintenance; re-architected the delivery footprint across six countries through the automotive downturn.

2019 — 2023 · Luxoft (DXC Technology), Munich

Project Manager — Adaptive AUTOSAR

Led a 40-engineer global team delivering adaptive AUTOSAR applications into series production; began the programme's 3x scale-up through geopolitical disruption.

2018 — 2019 · Luxoft (DXC Technology), Munich

Technical Lead — AUTOSAR

Translated OEM requirements into classic AUTOSAR architecture. Promoted to Project Manager after 12 months.

2016 — 2018 · Vector Informatik (Arccore), Munich

Embedded Software Engineer — AUTOSAR

Classic AUTOSAR basic software, integrated into production ECUs — hands-on software-into-hardware engineering.

2013 — 2016 · Technical University of Munich

M.Sc. Advanced Building, Automation & Robotics

Bavarian Government Scholarship. Published research on AR-based tele-robotic systems (ISARC 2015).

2011 — 2013 · India

Automation Engineer

Control-system automation for production processes — where the 15-year arc began.

2007 — 2011 · Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore

B.E. Mechatronics

Foundations in robotics, automotive systems and embedded control.

Research
📄

Augmented Reality-based Tele-robotic System Architecture for On-site Construction

Proceedings of the 32nd ISARC, Oulu, Finland (2015) — tele-operated robotics, AR/HMD, real-time stereo vision.