A steep climb for WirelessCar

Gothenburg-based WirelessCar was ahead of its time, and that has given them a head start. Anna Gunlycke, Head of People Talent Strategy at WirelessCar, can tell us about a growth that has really taken off in recent years.

On Vädursgatan in the center of Gothenburg is the headquarters of WirelessCar. It is a 25-year-old company that is one of the world's leading innovators of digital vehicle services and works with some of the biggest car brands in over 100 countries.

- "Awareness is not so great, so I think it's fun to tell people about us. We are a tech company that builds digital services based on car and vehicle data," says Anna Gunlycke, Head of People Talent Strategy, at WirelessCar.

It started in 1999, when Volvo, Ericsson and Telia joined forces to create the company, but WirelessCar was ahead of its time. In recent years, the business has seen major growth as digital services become increasingly important to consumers.

- It's clear that this is due to technological developments. 25 years ago, screens and the internet didn't exist in the way they do today. Most people who get in the car today want to be able to use the same services that they have in their phone," says Anna Gunlycke and continues:

- "You want to play music, use maps and interact with the same interface that you have in your other life. This means that digital services are increasingly important to invest in for the entire automotive industry. This is also thanks to electrification, where optimizing electricity consumption requires real-time data and advanced calculations. That's where the future is and that's where future sales lie.

WirelessCar, which was acquired by the Volkswagen Group in 2018, sees continued growth in the coming years, making it necessary to attract new employees with skills.

- It's definitely a challenge, but we are fortunate to be very attractive in the labor market. We have a hybrid set-up in the office and a very progressive approach to remote and teleworking. We need to be where the skills are. 

Anna Gunlycke believes that it is about attracting skills in the same way as attracting customers by showing what you are really good at. When she lists three areas of focus for WirelessCar, she starts with enabling high flexibility in order to have the best expertise.

- Flexibility is one thing, but there also needs to be a corporate culture that encourages people to challenge themselves, try things out and dare to fail.

Focus number 2, according to Anna Gunlycke, is continuous learning.

- By creating structures for continuous upskilling of our employees and investing in new tools and new technology, we promote employee development and learning. The third focus area is continued investment in young talent. As an actor in the tech industry, we want to encourage more young people to choose a career in tech. We also want to work for Sweden's continued competitiveness, where the tech industry is central. As a company, we invest heavily in our trainee program Rising Stars. We will continue to invest in creating the conditions for young people to grow within our company and become successful in the long term.

This summer, TechSweden's manifesto for the new leadership was presented with the aim of engaging and uniting leaders at all levels in the tech industry. Anna Gunlycke agrees that leadership needs to be made visible and mentions sensitivity and empathy as two important qualities for a good tech leader.

- In tech, there are very high demands on the leader, to be able to work in a continuously changing environment and context. When working with excellence, it is of course not about knowing the technical details best, but listening to the needs and helping the group to succeed.