Vijay from Bobcat never played with diggers and now they are part of his life! Meet with Vijay Nerva, vegetarian, enthusiast, and Head of Innovation and Acceleration for BOBCAT EMEA for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
As he started his talks in our podcast, he shared his story about first playing with diggers. He began to be „in touch“ with it in his late twenties. By the way, do you know Bobcat? Not a fast and incredible animal, but a successful company with a yellow/red brand which has European headquarters from 2017 in the small Czech city Dobříš? If not, be sure that they have 70 years of experience. Bobcat has huge heavy machinery and construction equipment and is helping to build (and „cook“) pretty good things and can make it spicy. As Vijay said: „The productivity is the money.“
Vijay is responsible for Innovation in Bobcat in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa so what is his job? What does he cook and grill abroad? What he is doing? Kate Syslova, moderator of the podcast was eager what his everyday job looks like and Vijay shared one of his first experiences. Imagine, that you are on a cow farm in the Middle East and need to solve something, and one week later you are in California and meet with the technology startups in Silicon Valley. So that is how the innovation looks like in Bobcat. Imagine a lot of various stories and tasks.
“I keep telling people that technology for technology is contra productive. When you meet with our users you realize that doing technology for a second technology is junk. We do not want to push the junks. We want to add value, That´s our strategy. We are trying to be innovative and safe. Keep the balance“. Explained Vijay when he talked about innovation such as remote control and having big machines for example without drivers.
And what is the most technology in Bobcat? Just remember Ironman, Tony Stark. It seems unbelievable, the vision of the future operating driver´s cabin and so on. The realization is far away (but depends on what), but in the sector of machinery they are the first company that they are focusing on that. But now it is for customers and users invisible and they can not see it. But, maybe shortly, you can have the graves from vineyards (and wine of course as well) cheaper and faster on your table thanks to Bobcat (and even maybe from Napa Valley in California). That´s good, yeah?
And Kate, as the great moderator, can not skip the question about the startups. So what does the Bobcat have in common with scaleups? As we know, they are open to innovation technology, and trying to develop and work on high technology but for now, we cannot see it. But investment in startups is visible and can help somebody change his life! Vijay explains that they have no strategy. Easily it depends on each project. The main criterion is the „value“.
And the startups and innovation are coming together so Kate is slightly moving to the next question about supporting innovation. Can you imagine that a big machinery company is investing in innovation? Why they are just simply only digging the hole and earning the money? What is the goal of the Innovation department? And the answer is simple. Why not? What about industry needs? Proactivity? Construction? AI and VR? Diagnostics? Technology future? Changes never stop. Vijay enthusiastically talks about the remote control of their machinery. Driving without drivers? No, it is not enough. Imagine machinery without drivers and even operating the attachments and buttons and sensors, what is much more! What we do are crazy things. Different technologies, progressive starts. We follow our strategy.
And what is the success story of one invested in Bobcat´s startups? The startup called Einstein is doing imaging sensors which can help them to understand the environment so much better such as the objectives (snow, hill, …). But it is fair to say that it took some time from the first meeting till the final investment. There are some regulations, it was during the Covid pandemic. So it wasn´t the fastest investment but on the other hand, it was really useful cooperation.
Let´s say it simply. Bobcat invest in the future. In sustainability. In electricity. Trying to be innovative. Open up the world. Invest in startups. Make a change, but unfortunately (almost) nobody likes change. But the responsibility of the company is to do it like that. Just remember the first fully electric vehicle called Wrouckeks. It is the Bobcat „masterpiece“.
The talks are going the end with the fun of Viyan saying „š“ in the city of Dobříš 😉 and talking about their focus on (not only) CEE region and global. The global market is a good and big market that is going together with a lot of opportunities.
And last question for our dear „Bobcat“ podcast host? What is the weirdest food that Vijay has ever eaten? Cricket protein bars (even if he is vegetarian). Good job Vijay!
Thank you! Looking forward to hearing from you soon about some next great (startup) news!
