As regulators increasingly recognise the benefits of autonomous mobility, industry leaders stress that the technology must also be commercially viable to achieve widespread adoption.
At the 2026 Automated Mobility Summit, which took place on May 4-5 at Innovation Park Zurich, Switzerland, AAVi spoke with Christian Lichtmannecker, head of business development – autonomous mobility at Mobileye and co‑founder and board member of PAVE Europe, about the economics of Mobility‑as‑a‑Service, the evolving AV value chain, and why the traditional automotive industry needs to keep an eye on the new kid on the block.
What is your involvement with PAVE Europe?
Mobileye was a co-founder – we had an idea how to solve the technical and commercial challenges in autonomous mobility, and recognised that public acceptance and education of public stakeholders on the benefits of AVs was also a critical enabler.
What motivated you to participate in the summit?
As a small industry – it’s great to connect with thought leaders, share updates, learn from partners and create new ideas. These events are good for knowledge sharing and business development.
What does business development look like in autonomous mobility?
The value chain includes OEMs, technology providers, operators and mobility platforms as well as infrastructure or insurance companies. New players are constantly emerging, and we actively seek partnerships to get all in place. We value our OEM relationships, but the industry is evolving. New, smart players bring competencies we haven’t seen before.
Is Mobileye a Tier 1?
The traditional Tier 1 and 2 is not applied to the Autonomous Mobility as a Service value chain. We are a technology provider working closely with OEMs and AV operators, but we are also currently deploying autonomous vehicles as part of pilot projects. As a new industry, responsibilities along the value chain are constantly changing and redefined.
Is Mobileye technology integrated in any of the demonstration vehicles here at the event in Zurich?
The VW ID Buzz has Mobileye’s self-driving system, which includes the sensors, hardware, compute and the self-driving software. We bring this to the partnership: the ‘driver’. Look for the branding “Driven by Mobileye” on the self-driving vehicles – you can think of it as the equivalent to the “Intel Inside” branding on your computer.
Why is it important to consider the economics of autonomous mobility, not just the technology?
Autonomous technology is a tool – and it needs a product-market fit that is commercially viable. We see the benefits autonomous technology brings to public transport and organizing mobility more smartly, but if the solutions are too expensive or don’t solve real problems, it won’t be adopted. Economics ultimately determine success.
What viable business models is Mobileye using for automated mobility in Europe?
Models such as license fees, pay-per-mile, pay-per-hour, etc. are developing. The key is distributing revenue across the value chain in a way that works for all stakeholders.
How do these business models fit within European regulation?
Regulation is often cited as a reason why AVs are not deploying faster, but progress is accelerating with many institutions understanding the benefits. Across Europe, there is regulatory movement to remove bottlenecks. We support partners, such as MOIA, Volkswagen, Holon or Deutsche Bahn in navigating these frameworks.
How important is collaboration to commercialization and deployment?
Collaboration is essential. Different players bring expertise in operations, infrastructure or technology, which must be combined effectively. These synergies help expedite deployments and keep investments efficient.
Is the autonomous vehicle industry more collaborative than traditional automotive, or have times changed so much that people must collaborate?
Yes. While traditional automotive operates with established structures, the AV industry is still defining its path to market. We are all ‘frenemies’, sharing the same vision of smarter cities, repurposing parking spaces with parks, restaurants, kindergartens, reducing traffic jams and CO2 emissions. Companies collaborate closely, even while competing in certain areas on the value chain.
What can you tell us about the partnership with Ruter in Oslo, Norway, and how it fits into Mobileye’s broader European deployments?
The collaboration started in 2022/23, where we deployed first-generation AVs in the region with a safety driver in a groundbreaking pilot project. Now the deployment of the next generation of Mobileye AVs is planned in Oslo with the autonomous ID.Buzz.
Norway is very forward-thinking – they showed the world how to adopt electromobility and are doing the same with autonomy. Ruter has a vision where autonomous public transport is central in Oslo and has facilitated bringing other innovators to Norway. Oslo is also very good for data collection and enhancing our technology as challenging weather such as snow, ice and heavy rain is common there. If we want to scale, we need to master snowstorms, hurricanes, and everything in between.
What’s happening in the automotive and mobility industry now that people can’t ignore?
The risk of underestimating disruption. There’s a good book called The Innovator’s Dilemma by Harvard professor Clayton Christensen, where he explains how new industries disrupt existing industries, but the incumbents often ignore this market until it’s too late. As seen with electrification, new technologies can scale faster than expected.
Vehicle producers that stay in the traditional value chain and sell 5-10 million per annum would likely think it’s a small market to deploy 10 or 100,000 AVs per year, so they don’t focus strongly on autonomy. The current challenges in the automotive industry may lead to a focus on the existing business and not recognizing the new kid on the block – which is the AV industry.
What was the focus of your presentation at Automated Mobility Summit 2026, and what audience do you hope was in attendance?
It’s about knowledge sharing, setting standards in the industry and raising the bar in terms of safety or user experience. If you have a few interesting players in the value chain as well as people in the room who help define best practices, then that’s already a success.
PAVE Europe is an association partner of Vehicle Tech Week Europe, Europe’s landmark event for vehicle technology that will take place at the Messe Stuttgart, Germany, on June 23-25,and bring together Automotive Interiors Expo, Automotive Testing Expo and Autonomous Vehicle Tech Expo.
Join the PAVE Europe panel discussion AVs & public acceptance – how can engineers help ready the public for widespread deployment?, which will take place on Day 3 of Autonomous Vehicle Tech Expo Europe at 12:10pm in Room 1 as part of Safe autonomous deployment session 3.
Biography
Chris Lichtmannecker is head of business development and strategic partnerships for autonomous mobility and driverless vehicles at Mobileye. In this role, he heads Mobileye’s Mobility as a Service business development, leading efforts to commercialize self-driving technology and deploy driverless vehicles on public roads. His work includes building strategic partnerships with vehicle manufacturers, mobility operators and transportation network companies to develop and scale driverless passenger transportation and logistics systems.
Prior to joining Mobileye, Lichtmannecker held various roles in the automotive industry and was responsible for strategy and product development in the areas of on-demand mobility services, automotive hardware/software platforms and autonomous driving.
He is also a founding member and member of the board of directors at the non-profit association PAVE Europe, which works to educate and enable the public to shape the future of automated mobility.