Rivian’s partnership with Volkswagen is injecting fresh energy into the century-old German automaker.

As part of their $5 billion joint venture to develop next-generation electric vehicle technology, Rivian’s Chief Software Officer said he’s been impressed by VW’s willingness to shift its culture and adopt a more agile, startup-like mindset, according to Business Insider.

The collaboration combines Rivian’s tech-driven, Silicon Valley approach with Volkswagen’s industrial scale—signaling a bold move by the legacy carmaker to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving EV space.

“One of the reasons we really leaned in heavily into the partnership was the willingness of the Volkswagen leadership to change culture within the group,” said Wassym Bensaid, who also serves as co-CEO of the joint venture.

“They were willing to adopt a much more agile, iterative, innovative approach to the entire development lifecycle, and keep the startup DNA that Rivian brings,” the executive added.

Under the partnership, Rivian’s software and electrical architecture will be used in several Volkswagen models, including the $22,500 electric car the company introduced in March.

Volkswagen, like other legacy automakers, has struggled to match the advanced software and features offered by Tesla and Chinese competitors such as BYD.

Volkswagen’s in-house software unit, Cariad, has struggled with delays and costly setbacks, despite investing billions of dollars.

These software shortcomings have been especially damaging in China, where EV buyers increasingly demand cutting-edge, AI-driven features like voice assistants, autonomous driving, and even in-car karaoke.

In 2024, Volkswagen saw its sales in China drop by nearly 10% year-over-year, underscoring the growing pressure it faces in a market increasingly led by tech-focused EV competitors.

Speaking on the sidelines of The Financial Times Future of the Car conference, Bensaid noted that the challenges Volkswagen has encountered are not unique, but shared by many traditional automakers navigating the EV transition.

“The same problem that we need to solve for Volkswagen exists in pretty much every single traditional automaker,” he said.

Bensaid added that building software-defined vehicles would require legacy carmakers to undergo “deep cultural change” and become flatter and less hierarchical, whilst also hiring “very different talent.”

“You need very different engineers who know how to build things and not just engineers who manage third-party suppliers in a black-box way,” he said.

Bensaid said many automakers are likely to follow Volkswagen’s lead by licensing software from tech-focused companies like Rivian.

He also predicted that software licensing will grow into a much bigger part of Rivian’s business over the next few years.