What Volvo is moving
- Applies to
- Volvo Cars global AAOS development environment
- Platform
- Horizon, an open-source software development platform
- Built for
- Android Automotive Operating System software
- Partners
- Accenture and Google Cloud
- Claimed gains
- Testing up to 9x faster, feature development cost cut up to 40%
Volvo Cars is moving its worldwide Android Automotive Operating System development work onto Horizon, an open-source software development platform from Accenture and Google Cloud (opens in a new tab).
Horizon combines tools for cloud-native development with virtual testing and workflows assisted by AI. Accenture and Google Cloud claim testing can run up to nine times faster using virtual Android Automotive environments based on Cuttlefish, while infotainment feature development can cost up to 40 percent less. They also say build feedback can arrive within minutes instead of taking up to two hours, and virtual workbenches let engineers create development environments within seconds.
Juergen Reers, Global Automotive & Mobility Lead at Accenture, said Horizon offers "a faster, more flexible and efficient way to deliver software-defined vehicle features".
What the partners get out of it
The companies say lessons from the Volvo Cars work will feed back into Horizon, helping refine the platform and broaden its generative AI capabilities for automakers and other industrial manufacturers. Henry Bzeih, Global Director, Automotive Industry at Google Cloud, is named among the executives on the collaboration.
Accenture trades on the NYSE under ACN and reports roughly 799,000 employees serving about 9,000 clients, with fiscal 2025 revenue of approximately $70 billion. Google Cloud says its customers span more than 200 countries and territories.