Technology disruption rear-ended Volkswagen in a most ironic way last week. While many have written about VW's arrogant approach to emissions testing, few have noted a more serious issue that goes to the heart of all mainstream car makers' modus operandi.
At the center of the scandal is how VW used a piece of software to circumvent emissions testing equipment. VW basically "hacked" the test rig by spoofing it, like jail breaking an iPhone.
What that demonstrates is how established automakers under disruption need to approach software in a fundamentally different way. The idea that VW could get caught doing this was so alien to its engineers and managers because they are not really software people.