Since joining a DotCom startup at the turn of the millennium, Tom Acland has built transformative businesses in growth companies. His experience spans both pre- and post-exit phases, serving as a startup founder and in managerial roles at large enterprises, including Microsoft, Publicis Groupe, and Bosch.
As CTO of the digital agency Razorfish in Germany, Tom led pioneering programs for brands like Audi and Novartis, enhancing real-world products with virtual experiences. He later co-founded COBI, an IoT startup focused on intelligent mobility, safety, and style for bicycles. After COBI's acquisition by Bosch eBike Systems, Tom worked on IoT architecture to connect hardware systems with user experiences in light electric vehicles.
Now, as CEO of 3DEXCITE at Dassault Systèmes, Tom leads a global team of technologists and creative experts dedicated to developing and delivering virtual commercial twins for industrial companies. 3DEXCITE provides software and solutions that enable manufacturers to create high-fidelity virtual representations of products for customer and end-user applications.
Having spent more time abroad than in the UK, Tom is fluent in German and French. In his free time, he coaches a Little League soccer team in West London and enjoys playing Fortnite with his kids in the evenings.
Software-defined products are revolutionizing how customers derive value from manufactured goods. The approach has shifted from large, discrete transactions to an ongoing, dynamic exchange between providers and users. Experience simulation bridges the gap between end-user experiences and systems engineering, facilitating a comprehensive development environment for the continuous delivery of design and offerings.
1. Design and validate vehicle-passenger interactions.2. Visualize requirements for pilots and ground operations in the context of hydrogen-powered aviation. 3. Model and simulate complex stakeholder interactions in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) safety systems. 4. Design experiences for autonomous urban mobility infrastructure.
In this keynote we will explore these innovations and their implications for the future of product development and user engagement.