Moving flexibly, internationally and as a swarm towards new digital worlds.
As a Product Owner at Mercedes-Benz RD (Research & Development), Nico Mario Busch develops software solutions for the Mercedes-Benz Operating System (MB.OS) that will help to configure our next vehicle models for the global markets. In his interview, he explains why he is now living his childhood dream and how he enters new digital worlds every day in his job.
Nico, what do you do for MB.OS?
As a Product Owner, I coordinate the development of software so that, in the future, we will be able to respond even more precisely to the wishes of our customers and adapt to the diverse requirements of the markets worldwide. This involves creating the prerequisites within MB.OS for the seamless networking of the vehicle with the cloud and the IoT. This helps us, for example, to integrate customer functions such as music streaming or In-Car Office even more efficiently into our vehicles, and to adapt them to the individual user. MB.OS will be used in our future models, starting in 2024. For me, it's just great to be able to be part of this.
How do you work together in the development of MB.OS?
Very flexibly and internationally. As a Product Owner, I am constantly in exchange about the various requirements and the design of our software solutions. At our campus in Sindelfingen, I work with numerous colleagues as part of a closely networked team. And the international exchange with our worldwide development teams in turn provides us with important impulses to approach things sometimes in a completely different way. We also put our teams together on an individual basis to create a swarm, if this is required for a project during our development sprints.
What do you like about your work?
I love the freedom I have here. At MB.OS we work with state-of-the-art tools and technologies that go far beyond existing solutions. With my work I often enter completely new worlds - that's just super-exciting. What I also particularly like is the relaxed working atmosphere. Collars and ties are definitely the exception for us (laughs). At MB.OS we are all on first-name terms - managers included.
At MB.OS we are all on first-name terms - managers included. Collars and ties are definitely the exception for us.
And how did you come to Mercedes-Benz
I always wanted to work at Mercedes-Benz. As a teenager, I used to say: "I want to be an engine developer at Mercedes-Benz." But then I discovered my passion for IT and, after I'd completed my bachelor's degree in media informatics, I went on to work as a programmer for several years. As I was coming towards the end of my master's degree in 2019, I saw that Mercedes-Benz was offering the opportunity for a master's thesis. This involved the development of the user interface for the new S-Class. It was the perfect opportunity for me, of course. Software is becoming the driving force in vehicle development. And so today I am not so far away at all from my childhood dream.
Speaking of developments: would time travel be something for you?
Definitely. Then I'd want to meet Carl Benz. When I tell him how his invention has continued to evolve over the last 100 years, with artificial intelligence, hyperscreen and electrification... I think he'd like that - he was a visionary, after all.
Following completion of his bachelor's degree in media informatics at the University of Applied Sciences Emden, Germany, Nico Mario Busch (35) gained several years of experience as a developer with a software company in Frankfurt. During his master's degree, also in Emden, he joined Mercedes-Benz to write his thesis on user interface development for the new S-Class. When he's not coordinating the development of software solutions for the next Mercedes-Benz model series at MB.OS, he lives out his creativity by cooking - from Asian to European cuisine.
