Your next car could know what you want before you tell it: Cyprus Chief Scientist

The automobile is entering an AI-defined era, where intelligent agents could reshape driving, personalisation, commerce and the relationship with the car.

For more than a century, the automobile has been built around controls. Buttons, dials and switches gave way to screens, menus and applications, but one assumption largely remained intact: the human operates the machine.

AI is moving beyond dashboards, embedding intelligence into vehicles to understand drivers, context, preferences and intent. (Hindustan Times)

By Shaurya Sharma

Shaurya Sharma is the Technology Editor at Hindustan Times Digital Streams, where he oversees technology coverage across digital and social platforms. With over eight years of experience across editorial, video production, and digital media, his work focuses on smartphones, AI, consumer gadgets, and shaping audience-first content strategies for modern tech consumers.

He began his career in 2018 as a fashion cinematographer before turning his lifelong passion for technology into a profession. From spending his childhood immersed in tech magazines, video games, and the latest gadgets to covering the global consumer tech industry today, technology has remained a constant throughout his journey.

Over the years, Shaurya has worked with some of India’s leading media organisations, including CNN-News18, Sportskeeda, and Guiding Tech, where he led video initiatives that combined strong editorial storytelling with engaging visual and social-first execution.

A graduate in Journalism and Mass Communication from Manipal University, Shaurya has reviewed hundreds of products across categories including smartphones, laptops, gaming consoles, cameras, and wearables. Beyond work, he is passionate about animal welfare, environmental causes, and automobiles, particularly turbo-petrol cars

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That relationship is now beginning to change.

Demetris Skourides, Chief Scientist for Research, Innovation and Technology of the Republic of Cyprus, believes the automotive industry is entering another fundamental transformation, one that could ultimately prove even more consequential than the transition from the internal-combustion engine to electric mobility.

“The automobile is becoming an AI-defined machine.”

Speaking at the HT Auto Leaderboard Awards 2026, Skourides outlined a future in which artificial intelligence moves beyond the dashboard and becomes deeply embedded in the vehicle, its software, its services and eventually the relationship between the car and its occupant.

He pointed to where some of the world’s most ambitious companies are investing.

“NVIDIA is building the computing architecture for increasingly intelligent and autonomous vehicles, connecting accelerated computing, simulation and AI from the data centre to the car. Google is bringing Gemini into the automobile, moving interaction beyond rigid voice commands toward more natural conversation, contextual understanding and intelligent assistance.”

“Mercedes-Benz is developing MB.OS, a software-defined, chip-to-cloud architecture connecting vehicle functions and digital services, while working with leading AI and computing partners. BYD is pushing intelligence across the automotive stack, from advanced driver-assistance and vehicle architectures to AI-enabled development and manufacturing. Tesla has taken another path, treating its vehicle fleet as part of a large learning system and developing end-to-end AI for driving alongside its own inference compute.”

These are different companies, pursuing different architectures and different business models. Beneath those differences, however, Skourides sees a common strategic movement.

“Compute is moving into the vehicle, software is becoming continuously upgradeable, AI is becoming multimodal, driving systems are becoming more intelligent and the cabin more conversational.”

That raises a much bigger question.

“What happens when the car begins to understand not only the road, but the person, their context, preferences, purpose and, eventually, within boundaries established by us, their intent?”

“That is where I believe the next automotive transformation begins.”

The end of the dashboard?

Skourides offered what he acknowledged could sound like a provocative thought.

“We may be approaching the end of the dashboard.”

He was not suggesting the end of screens or beautiful automotive design. Rather, he was questioning the idea that humans must continuously tell machines how to serve them.

“For more than a century, we designed automobiles around controls: first buttons, dials and switches; then screens, menus and applications. The technology changed enormously, but one assumption remained largely intact: the human operates the machine.”

“Artificial intelligence is beginning to change that relationship. Agentic AI could change it profoundly, because a machine that understands our intent, not merely our commands.”

“Agentic AI can increasingly help determine the steps required to achieve an outcome.”

“When that happens, we not simply be redesigning the dashboard, we will increasingly have the opportunity to redesign the relationship between human and machine, the customer experience and potentially the economics of the automotive industry itself.”

That is the shift Skourides sees at the heart of the next automotive era.

From interface to intent

The difference becomes clearer with a simple example.

“Imagine tomorrow morning. You enter your car and say: ‘I’m running late. I need to be at the airport by six, pick up my colleague on the way, make sure we have enough charge when we arrive, and please give me twenty quiet minutes to prepare for my meeting.’”

Today, delivering that experience might require several separate applications and a series of manual actions.

“Today, delivering that experience might require navigation, calendar, traffic and charging applications, messages, payments and a series of interruptions.”

An increasingly intelligent vehicle could bring those elements together.

“It could understand your destination and schedule, account for traffic and battery levels, coordinate charging, and replan when circumstances change. With your permission, it could take appropriate action.”

The driver would not need to program every individual step.

“You have not programmed every step of the journey; you have expressed an intention.”

Skourides calls this the first major transition.

“That is the first transition: interface to intent.”

“For decades, we have made technology easier for people to operate. We may now be entering an era in which technology increasingly learns how to operate around people, and that changes what personalization means.”

When personalisation becomes understanding

The car already knows a considerable amount about its driver.

“Today, a personalized car remembers your seat position, temperature, music and driving mode.”

But Skourides draws a distinction between remembering configuration and actually understanding a person.

“Useful, certainly, but that is largely configuration.”

“Agentic AI offers the possibility of moving from configuration to preference, from preference to context, from context to intent, and eventually, within clear boundaries, to agency.”

The same car could therefore respond differently depending on who is inside it and what is happening at that particular moment.

“Consider two journeys in the same vehicle.”

“On Monday morning, I am late, my first meeting has moved, traffic is unusually heavy and I have an important presentation in forty minutes. The useful response is not another stream of notifications or ten questions. It is assistance that handles what it can and protects the time and attention I need.”

“On Saturday, the same vehicle carries my family. The destination, entertainment, comfort and charging priorities may be completely different.”

The implications become even more significant when accessibility is considered.

“For an elderly passenger or a person with a visual, hearing or mobility impairment, the interface may need to adapt further, reducing complexity and increasing independence.”

“Personalization then becomes more than a luxury feature; it becomes a means of inclusion.”

The aspiration, however, is not to make the vehicle constantly demonstrate its intelligence.

“The aspiration is not technology constantly reminding us how intelligent it is. It is technology that understands what this person needs, in this moment and knows when to remain silent.”

From one million vehicles to one million relationships

AI could also change what scale means for the automotive industry.

“Mass production gave the automotive industry scale, consistency, quality and affordability.”

“Artificial intelligence may enable a different kind of scale: individualized experiences for millions of customers.”

“One driver values performance, another accessibility, another family convenience or energy efficiency. Even the same person has different priorities on a working morning, a family holiday or during an emergency.”

“The customer is not a static profile; the customer has a changing context.”

Skourides then presents a comparison between two hypothetical manufacturers.

“Now imagine two manufacturers, each selling one million excellent vehicles. One continues to manage those vehicles primarily as products. The other also builds one million evolving relationships.”

What does that relationship look like?

“Software improves after purchase. Maintenance becomes more predictive. Charging and services become more contextual. Partners contribute capabilities that were not present when the vehicle left the factory.”

“The number of cars is identical, but the opportunities to create value across their useful lives may be very different.”

That does not, however, mean simply finding new ways to monetise every interaction.

“This does not mean finding more ways to charge customers for every kilometre. It means creating more value in every kilometre.”

“Customers will reward experiences that make their lives simpler, safer, more accessible and more productive, not intrusive subscriptions or unnecessary interruptions.”

The relationship can strengthen through better understanding, but it can also collapse when technology overreaches.

“Better understanding can enable better experiences; better experiences can earn trust; and trust can support deeper, longer-lasting relationships.”

“The reverse is equally true: poor recommendations, unwanted personalization or misuse of data can destroy that trust.”

From product to platform

The automotive industry may therefore have to rethink the vehicle itself.

“The personal computer became a platform. The smartphone became a platform. Cloud computing enabled entire ecosystems.”

“The automobile is different: it is a safety-critical physical system.”

Yet Skourides believes an intelligent service architecture can increasingly develop around it.

“An intelligent service architecture can increasingly develop around it, connecting software, compute, AI, identity, payments, applications, developers and partners.”

That creates a series of strategic choices for manufacturers.

“What must we own? Where must we differentiate? What should remain open? Where should we partner, and where should others be free to innovate around us?”

“No manufacturer needs to build everything. In some areas, trying to do so may become a disadvantage.”

The traditional automotive value chain could therefore evolve into something broader.

“The industry has mastered one of the world’s most sophisticated value chains. The next automotive economy may also require a value network.”

That network could include automakers, semiconductor providers, AI companies, energy and charging networks, insurers, banks, mobility services, cities, startups and developers.

“Each can contribute to the customer experience.”

“The strategic question is no longer only who builds the vehicle, but who creates value around the customer and who participates in that value.”

The intelligence layer

Skourides believes this is already visible in industry strategy.

“PwC finds that almost two-thirds of automotive companies are pursuing ecosystem participation, rising to four in five among the group it identifies as the most future-fit. Those companies are also more likely to have mature software and AI capabilities and to be expanding beyond the traditional automotive offer.”

“The competitive perimeter is moving beyond the vehicle itself.”

That creates a strategic risk for the traditional automotive industry.

“The risk for the automotive industry is not simply that technology companies might build better cars.”

“It is that another company could become the intelligence layer through which customers experience their cars.”

“The question is whether manufacturers will help shape that layer or leave the relationship to others, risking disconnection from a valuable part of the customer experience lifecycle.”

The building blocks are arriving

Skourides is careful to distinguish between what is already happening and what may become possible as these technologies converge.

“At this point, we should distinguish clearly between what is already happening and what may become possible as these capabilities converge.”

“Agentic AI is not simply a concept being discussed for the next generation of vehicles. Intelligence is already moving through the automotive value chain, from research and development, procurement to manufacturing, supply-chain management and the vehicle itself.”

He cited several figures to illustrate the direction of travel.

“PwC finds that 47 percent of automotive companies are already using AI and advanced technologies across the value chain, a figure it expects to reach 72 percent by 2030.”

“KPMG reports that 86 percent of OEMs are investing heavily in AI, with research and development and supply-chain optimisation among the principal expected gains.”

“ABI Research forecasts shipments of vehicles equipped with agentic AI rising from around five million in 2025 to almost seventy million by 2035.”

“Gartner, meanwhile, identifies agentic AI and physical AI among the technologies reshaping supply chains.”

But he stopped short of describing this future as already mature.

“So this is not science fiction, or does it mean that every capability I have described is commercially mature.”

“It means that the direction of travel is becoming visible and that the industry is moving from experimentation toward deployment.”

The bigger strategic question is what happens when these capabilities converge.

“The opportunity is not simply to put another intelligent assistant inside the vehicle or another AI tool inside the factory.”

“It is to determine who will orchestrate the experience around the vehicle and who will create value across the ecosystem that experience connects.”

“How will these technologies work together? Which architectures, partnerships, standards and trust models will allow them to do so safely?”

“The future is not predetermined.”

“What follows is not a claim that a mature agent-to-agent economy already exists; it is a plausible direction that deserves serious preparation now.”

When your personal agent meets your vehicle agent

The next step could involve two intelligent systems working together.

“Imagine that, several years from now, you have a personal AI agent that understands your calendar, preferences, travel patterns and the payment permissions you choose to grant it.”

“You enter a vehicle with its own agent, one that understands the battery, sensors, safety systems, maintenance requirements, traffic, infrastructure and mobility services.”

“Your personal agent understands what you want to achieve; your vehicle’s agent understands the journey and the physical environment.”

“Now the two systems begin to cooperate.”

That raises a series of questions.

“Which recommends a charging provider? Which selects entertainment, communicates with an insurer, initiates an authorized payment or shares information?”

And perhaps the most important question:

“Above all, which represents your interests?”

For years, the battle was over the dashboard, operating system and digital interface.

“The next competition may concern something more consequential: who earns the trust to orchestrate human intent.”

That does not necessarily mean controlling every service or owning the entire customer relationship.

“It does not necessarily mean owning every service or controlling the customer.”

“It means earning a place in an environment where intelligent systems can collaborate securely and in the customer’s interest.”

“That opportunity is bigger than infotainment and potentially bigger than the car itself.”

From agent-assisted to agent-to-agent commerce

Charging provides one example of how this could work.

“Consider a charging stop.”

“Today, I search, compare, select, navigate, authenticate and pay.”

An intelligent vehicle could increasingly assist with each of those steps.

“It knows the battery state and route, identifies compatible infrastructure and recommends options.”

“With additional authorization, it might reserve a charger or execute a permitted transaction.”

“The same logic could eventually extend to maintenance, parking, energy, insurance, mobility services and hospitality.”

Skourides again stressed that this is not necessarily an immediate or uniform transformation.

“We should not assume that every one of these interactions will develop in the same way, or at the same pace.”

“Identity, cybersecurity, interoperability, liability, consumer protection and payments all present substantial challenges.”

But as these systems mature, a different model of commerce could emerge.

“But as these systems mature, agent-assisted commerce may develop into more autonomous agent-to-agent interactions.”

The distinction matters.

“This is not commerce without people or machines operating without boundaries.”

“Humans establish objectives, permissions and limits; intelligent systems help orchestrate the complexity.”

If that model develops, the car could become a participant in the broader mobility economy.

“If that model develops, the automobile could become more than a place where commerce is displayed.”

“It could become a trusted participant in how services are discovered and coordinated around mobility.”

“That creates opportunity but it makes trust fundamental.”

Trust becomes architecture

A vehicle that recommends a charging station is relatively straightforward.

“A vehicle that recommends a charging station is one thing. A vehicle authorized to negotiate a transaction, share personal information or make a payment carries a different level of responsibility.”

The questions become more fundamental.

“What can it remember, share, spend or decide?”

“Can its decisions be reviewed or reversed?”

“Who is accountable when something goes wrong?”

For Skourides, these cannot be questions addressed at the end of the development process.

“These are not questions to be added at the end by legal and compliance teams.”

“They must shape the architecture itself: identity, cybersecurity, privacy, authentication, transparency, meaningful permissions, human oversight and accountability.”

“An intelligent vehicle must understand not only what it can do, but what it is authorized to do.”

That changes the role of trust.

“Trust is therefore more than a compliance requirement.”

“It becomes part of the product, the brand and potentially the business model.”

But trust also requires restraint.

“Much of today’s digital economy competes for our attention with notifications, messages and recommendations.”

“Perhaps the next generation of premium experience will do the opposite.”

“It will know when to recommend, when to act, when to ask and when to remain silent.”

And then comes one of the speech’s clearest descriptions of what an AI-native automotive experience could feel like:

“The ultimate luxury in the age of AI may be technology that knows when to disappear.”

Human+

The growing agency of machines, however, does not have to mean diminishing human agency.

“There is an important principle beneath all of this. Greater machine agency should not mean less human authority. It should mean greater human capability.”

“If an intelligent vehicle can remove unnecessary complexity, return time to a professional, increase independence for an elderly person or someone with disabilities, or make mobility simpler for a family, then AI is doing something more valuable than automating a task.”

“It is expanding what people are able to do.”

Skourides calls this Human+.

“The machine can increasingly manage complexity; the human must retain authority over purpose, permissions and consequential decisions.”

And as machines become more capable, the need for safeguards does not disappear.

“The more capable these systems become, the more important clarity, privacy, security and accountability become.”

He returned to the earlier example of a driver running late for a meeting.

“Imagine if your car’s AI assistant understood that you were running late for a meeting and asked: ‘We’re running late. Would you like me to silence incoming notifications so you can focus on preparing for your meeting? We should arrive in about 10 minutes.’”

The distinction is simple.

“AI can orchestrate the journey. Humans retain authority over the destination.”

Skourides believes the industry has already moved beyond the point where AI is merely an operational efficiency tool.

“We are past the point of simply introducing AI into the automotive industry or using it in supply chains to improve operational efficiency.”

“In my opinion, the future could be dictated by the books.”

“We need trusted, intelligent platform ecosystems that bring stakeholders on board.”

“The shift from products to personalised, seamlessly orchestrated experiences will redefine the value each customer enjoys with every km travelled.”

Why India matters

India, in Skourides’ view, has a particularly important role to play in this transition.

“India brings together automotive engineering, manufacturing capability, software expertise, AI talent, digital infrastructure, entrepreneurial energy and an expanding electric-mobility ecosystem.”

But there is another characteristic that could prove even more valuable.

“Just as importantly, it offers something especially valuable in the AI era: complexity at scale.”

“Dense cities, highways and rural communities; different languages, income levels, accessibility needs and infrastructure conditions: solutions developed here must confront complexity as well as scale.”

That complexity can become an advantage.

“That diversity is an opportunity.”

“If the future is personalization at scale, India offers an important environment in which to develop and test it.”

The technology cannot work only under ideal conditions.

“Solutions cannot work only in ideal conditions. They must be affordable, reliable and useful to different people in the real world.”

That creates an opportunity that extends beyond manufacturing cars.

“That creates an opportunity to develop not only vehicles, but also the intelligence, experiences, services, platforms and business models surrounding them.”

It will require collaboration.

“This will require collaboration between manufacturers, technology companies, startups, researchers, infrastructure providers and government.”

And Skourides offered a particularly ambitious roadmap for India:

“Design it in India, engineer it in India, build its intelligence in India, personalize it at Indian scale, validate it against Indian complexity—and scale it from India to the world.”

The next automotive economy

The automotive industry has spent more than a century trying to answer one question.

“For more than a century the automotive industry has asked how to build a better machine.”

Then the question changed.

“Then it asked how to build a better digital experience.”

Agentic AI introduces another.

“Agentic AI introduces another question: how do we build an automobile that understands the person, their context, intent, changing needs and, crucially, the boundaries they establish?”

For Skourides, that represents a series of fundamental shifts.

“That is a transition from vehicle to experience, from transaction to relationship, from customer data to customer understanding, and from value chain to value network.”

“The industry has mastered the machine and is mastering software.”

“Its next challenge may be earning the trust to connect people, machines and mobility.”

Not every part of this future exists today.

“Some elements of this future are already emerging; some are being engineered today; others remain ahead of us.”

But the convergence of these technologies is already becoming the strategic question.

“Their convergence is the strategic issue.”

“The time to think about that convergence is not after business models have changed, but before, not because we know exactly what the automobile will become, but because we have an opportunity to shape what we want it to become.”

And that leads to the central idea of Skourides’ vision for the automobile.

“If we get that right, the car can become an agent; the agent can create an experience; the experience can create a relationship; the relationship can enable a platform; and the platform can support an ecosystem and, ultimately, a new economy.”

For more than a century, the automobile has given people freedom of movement.

“Perhaps its next chapter can offer something equally precious: freedom from unnecessary complexity.”

“The most sophisticated technology should not constantly remind us that it is there.”

“It should understand us, assist us, protect us and sometimes simply get out of the way.”

And ultimately, Skourides believes the defining measure of sophisticated technology may be how little attention it demands.

“The most sophisticated technology should not demand more of our attention. It should give us our time and attention back.”

India, he said, has the ingredients to help define that future.

“India has the engineering, scale, software, talent, diversity and entrepreneurial ambition to help define this next automotive economy.”

“Not simply for India. From India, for the world.”