IAA Voices: Interview Certivity

Certivity is a RegTech company developing a SaaS to seamlessly connect regulatory requirements with development processes, resulting in smarter, safer, more transparent, efficient and cost-effective management of regulatory requirements. The software will serve as a one-stop shop to promote reading and understanding of regulatory documents, as well as digitally map collaboration and interpretation of them. Traceability and deep integration of regulatory requirements into engineering processes will serve as the foundation for modern systems engineering.

Why should established mobility companies be aware of your startup?

Our claim is "You waste engineering hours on regulatory compliance" and I believe that nowadays no company can afford to let unused potential lie fallow. In times of skills shortages and high costs, organizations need to function as efficiently as possible to remain competitive. In addition, mobility companies are facing massive regulatory challenges triggered by new technologies such as automated and autonomous driving, electric and software-defined vehicles. We also see that these challenges are to be met with huge investments in product compliance organizations. We believe that we can provide significant relief for companies here through our software. So it's certainly good to know us.

Can you explain your product/service as simply as possible using just a few keywords?

At Certivity, we are a RegTech company developing a software platform to seamlessly connect regulatory requirements with development processes, resulting in smarter, safer, more transparent, efficient and cost-effective management of regulatory requirements. Our intelligent software will serve as a one-stop shop for companies to facilitate the reading and understanding of regulatory documents, as well as perform collaboration and interpretation of regulatory requirements. In addition, we will be able to integrate regulatory requirements into engineering processes via interfaces, which will provide the foundation for modern systems engineering.

As a startup, you meet all the important players in the industry at the IAA TRANSPORTATION. What role does the trade show play for you and what are you most excited about?

The IAA in general plays a very important role for us. In our opinion, our software and the intelligence behind it work in many industries. However, due to the technical background of the team and the challenges ahead, we started in the automotive sector. We want to let our product mature there, but then also quickly tackle other sectors. We were already represented at the IAA Mobility in Munich in the Startup Area with a booth and were able to gain important leads and customers. Of course, we are hoping for the same from the IAA TRANSPORTATION as one of the most important trade fairs in this sector. I am particularly pleased to see how the format is developing. Similar to the case of IAA Mobility, the focus is to be developed away from the pure automobile and toward the expanded scope of the complete Transportation Journey. This worked well at IAA Mobility, and now I'm curious to see how it will work at IAA TRANSPORTATION.

How will you be present at the IAA TRANSPORTATION and what can visitors look forward to at your booth?

We have a startup booth and will be presenting our product as part of the pitch sessions. In addition, as a software company it is challenging to attract attention, but we have a flat screen at the booth and look forward to presenting our software live and in action to all interested parties. Afterwards, they will definitely go home with positive impressions on the topic of regulatory compliance.

What does your mobility vision for the year 2030 look like?

Ultimately, by 2030 we will have set the course for whether we can save our climate. People's mobility behavior will play a key role in this. But I am confident that with the technologies that are currently being developed, which will also be available before 2030, we as a mobility industry will make our contribution. The experience I have gained over several years of working for Daimler, AID and Argo AI on legal compliance, the associated interpretation of technology and also the development of legislation for automated and autonomous vehicles makes me confident that we will see vehicles with a level of automation of Level 4, at least in cities and in long-distance goods transport, by 2030. Battery-electric or hydrogen-based, of course, and preferably still with sustainable energy generation and produced with sustainable raw materials. I also hope that by then we will have converted as many inner cities as possible into traffic-free zones so that we humans can fully enjoy the beauty of our cities. I also believe that eVTOL air travel will be available to complement scheduled air travel. However, it is still questionable what the pricing for this will be and who will be able to afford it then. All in all, I believe that by 2030 we will see the biggest traffic changes that humans have experienced so far – and we at Certivity want to support manufacturers in bringing these products to market in accordance with the legal requirements.

Interviewee: Nico Wägerle is the founder and managing director of Certivity. After studying in Constance and in Cardiff, he worked as a lawyer in the legal department of Daimler Financial Services AG, where he was responsible for IT service and outsourcing. Later, he became part of an interdisciplinary agile organization at Daimler AG for the implementation and realization of agile development legal services with focus on product liability, road traffic law, homologation, data protection for automated vehicle technologies (L3 and Urban L4). In 2019, Nico Wägerle moved to Autonomous Intelligent Driving GmbH in Munich as Senior Legal Counsel. Here, he was jointly responsible for providing legal advice on the merger of AID and Argo AI. In addition, he established the government affairs department and participated in industry associations (VDA & ACEA & Bitkom) with regard to the legal design of AD laws e.g. latest L4 legislation in Germany.