XL2: Start-up power for German car manufacturers

In the 2010s, digital transformation projects at Audi stalled. The IT departments could not develop as needed, there was a lack of experts, and the pressure was increasing. In this situation, the company decided: We are founding the XL2 joint venture with Capgemini in Heilbronn - the start of a success story. Insights from Felix Spitznagel, XL2 Managing Director, and Alex Kurz, 42-year-old student and junior software engineer at XL2.

Baden-Württemberg is a car country. The automotive industry employs around 214,000 people here, making it the second largest industrial employer. In view of massive market changes - Tesla and Chinese manufacturers such as BYD and NIO send their regards - domestic car manufacturers have to break up established structures. Felix says: "Connected vehicles, autonomous driving, smart supply chains - there is an incredible amount to do to ensure that German companies master the leap into the digital age. And quickly."

Start-up character attracts young people

That's why XL2 was founded. Outside the corporate walls, some things are easier: decision-making processes are shorter, hierarchies are flat, and openness shapes the mindset. That's good for successfully driving digital projects forward. And good for attracting the right people. Audi is of course an attractive employer. But young IT professionals often specifically look for smaller companies and start-ups where they can achieve more, says Felix. XL2 can obviously meet these expectations. The company has grown from two to over 200 employees in the last four years and has established itself as an important partner of Audi and the VW parent company. The focus is on improving production and logistics processes, using artificial intelligence and converting basic SAP programs. Worldwide.

42 student Alex in the middle

Alex is there too. The 22-year-old is currently doing his master's degree in web and mobile development at 42 Heilbronn. At the same time, he has been working in XL2's cloud team since July 2023. One of his tasks: to make it easier for car manufacturers on the assembly lines to adjust rear axles and headlights, for example. In July 2023, Audi wanted a new feature for the so-called parameter supply on the test benches in order to increase efficiency. XL2 programs the function and implements it, Alex is responsible for the front-end display on the car manufacturers' tablets. And by the end of February 2024, the time had come: the feature will be launched in the first Audi factory and will be rolled out worldwide from there. Alex says: "It's a great feeling to have developed something with real added value so quickly."

The environment at XL2 helped him with this. Alex tells how he always gets support within the 30-person cloud team. How well he has been trained. Alex: "In a way, the work processes at XL2 are similar to those of 42. Here, people support each other in a similar way, look at codes together and check whether there might be a better way."

42ers? Always welcome!

For Felix, it is not surprising that the young 42er can take on responsible tasks so quickly. He values ​​the training at 42 Heilbronn. In terms of hard skills as well as soft skills: "42ers don't just learn scripts by heart, as I remember from my IT studies. They learn how to understand problems and ultimately solve them. In addition, the coders bring real passion - I don't know of any other place where you can find people like that." Alex shares this view of the special 42 mentality: "No matter how difficult a task seems at the beginning: I know that I can solve it if I really work on it."

Heilbronn - a very special ecosystem

XL2 and 42 are also very close to each other geographically, barely 500 meters apart. This is no coincidence. When the decision about the location came up in 2019, Heilbronn was quickly chosen. XL2 suspected that a lot was happening here and that a very special spirit would prevail. Felix - who comes from Audi - and his Capgemini colleague initially become subtenants at Campus Founders. From the very first moment, they sensed the desire for cooperation and mutual support. Felix: "Let's get something going together and move the region forward. This spirit can be felt everywhere in the city - quite unique for Germany."

Looking to the future

XL2 is now intensively networked. They are involved with universities as well as with the AI ​​Festival and AI Salon. And of course with the 42. Felix wants to attract even more 42 talents, perhaps even organize a joint hackathon with the coder school. He also has ideas for further developing the content: The 42 Heilbronn should focus more on new technologies - especially clouds and AI - especially in the specialization phase. This is all the more important because AI tools can increasingly support classic coding. In a certain sense, this requires a change of perspective.