Elon Musk addressed 200 Volkswagen executives via a video call this week after an invite by VW CEO Herbert Diess.
This invite comes after Diess called for a faster pivot to electric vehicles.
With a new mindset & a revolution in our headquarter Wolfsburg we can succeed the new competition.Good meeting with 200 top managers in Alpbach. Big responsibility at a crucial point for our company. Thx for joining @ErinMeyerINSEAD & @elonmusk,we will visit you soon in Grünheide pic.twitter.com/dwYyXZnBT8
— Herbert Diess (@Herbert_Diess) October 16, 2021
Diess confirmed Musk’s attendance on Twitter. According to reporting by Handelsblatt, Musk praised VW for being an ‘icon’ and noted that VW is Tesla’s greatest challenger.
Diess further pointed out in a LinkedIn post that Musk was brought in to drive home that VW needs faster decision-making and less bureaucracy.
As an example of this fast decision making, Diess pointed to Tesla’s rewrite of their software to switch to another microchip that took two to three weeks.
Musk was not the only guest during the meeting. Diess also brought in Erin Meyer to chat to the group. Meyer is an accomplished author and Professor at INSEAD.
She recently co-authored a book with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention became a New York Times bestseller in October 2020.
Meyers talked about the transformation Netflix went through to go from a DVD rental start-up to a streaming site and leading content creator, reports Reuters.
