A day in the life of Erik Wilhelm

Erza Mehmeti: How long have you been with KYBURZ?

Erik Wilhelm: I have been with KYBURZ for 4½ happy years.

Erza: What are your activities?

Erik: I am responsible for our research team, which consists of four pillars. First of all, we are responsible for pre-development. We often get assignments from the fleet and development teams, implement new ideas and see if they have what it takes to become a product. We do the first trials, which then become, for example, the AUS emergency alarm button or the CH Post hand scanner. Secondly, we compile statistics for all business areas and use them to create data analyses. In the third pillar, we act as a "fire brigade", so to speak. If something doesn't go well, we step in and do our best to satisfy our customers. In the fourth pillar, we develop self-driving vehicles. We do these lighthouse projects with the aim of spreading the enthusiasm for our KYBURZ technology.

Erza: What is your typical daily routine?

Erik: I get up and help get my kids ready for school and then usually start work at my home office. I usually finish at around 5 or 5.30 pm. I always set myself a daily goal that I want to achieve. However, I may also have to work night shifts if my daily target is too ambitious. Since my work is mainly project-related, I don't have a fixed daily routine in the classical sense. Some people might not like that, but I find that it makes my work exciting.

Erza: What do you like? What not so much?

Erik: I really like working here. It is very pleasant. The company philosophy revolves around higher goals, such as sustainability or customer satisfaction. I also particularly like the fact that our company mission statement is so diverse and truly implemented in practice.

What I don't like so much at the moment is that there is a lull in interest from our customers in the field of autonomous driving, as a result of which fewer customer projects are being offered. They have been experimenting with autonomous technology (mostly from competitors) and have now realised how much we all still have to do before the technology is ready.

Erza: What do you like to do in your spare time?

Erik: I like to be active in sports, such as jogging and biking but especially like being in the mountains climbing or skiing and mountaineering. I have also been experimenting intensively in the kitchen for about 2 years. I also like to go on excursions with my family, also in the mountains, because they like to be there too. We just did our first family ski tour.

25.03.2021, ERM