The AUTOSAR Chairperson Team transitioned from the 2025 to the 2026 term with the formal appointment of the Chairperson Team for the current year.
Thomas Rüping assumes the role of AUTOSAR Chairperson, supported by Deputy Chairperson Ralf Schneider, and complemented by Christian Nickl as AUTOSAR Project Leader Team Speaker. The term of office runs from January to December 2026. The AUTOSAR organization is further supported by Joachim Langenwalter, the recently appointed AUTOSAR Spokesperson.
The role of AUTOSAR Chairperson will remain with Thomas Rüping, who is an active member of the AUTOSAR Steering Committee representing Robert Bosch GmbH and has, among other roles, served as Chairperson in 2023 and 2025 and as Deputy in 2024. The duties of the AUTOSAR Deputy Chairperson will remain with Ralf Schneider, who has been an active member of the AUTOSAR Steering Committee representing Mercedes-Benz AG since 2023. The duties of the Speaker of the AUTOSAR Project Leader Team will be taken over by Christian Nickl, who has been an active member of the AUTOSAR Project Leader Team representing AUMOVIO since 2018 and previously served as PL Team Speaker in 2020.
The AUTOSAR organization will be supported by Joachim Langenwalter, newly appointed AUTOSAR Spokesperson. Mr. Langenwalter is CEO and Founder of TMT CoPilots and an executive advisor with over 30 years of experience across automotive engineering, software platforms, and large-scale organizational transformation. As AUTOSAR Spokesperson and Strategy Advisor, he aims to build on AUTOSAR’s unmatched automotive-grade foundation and guide the consortium toward open, software-centric collaboration, positioning AUTOSAR as the trusted global backbone for software-defined vehicles.
With this announcement, AUTOSAR extends its heartfelt thanks to Carmine De Iesu, former AUTOSAR Project Leader Team Speaker of 2025 representing Stellantis, for his dedication and contributions.
The Chairperson Team assumed their responsibilities at the start of 2026 and looks forward to a successful year of growth, new opportunities, and continued development for both the standard and the organization.