Rivian Software Chief Wassym Bensaid Talks VW Deal and RV Tech on Decoder

Rivian’s software chief Wassym Bensaid went on Decoder with Nilay Patel, and it’s the clearest look yet at what the Volkswagen deal actually is.

As co-CEO of the joint venture everyone calls RV Tech, he’s running the operating system and electrical architecture for basically every future EV across Volkswagen Group, from Audi to Scout. So VW didn’t buy into a truck company so much as Rivian’s software brain.

A lot of it circles the culture question, and whether a future Rivian still feels different from a future Audi running the same bones underneath. Good timing too, with R2 about to land as the first car on this architecture.

Worth a watch below.