Continental AG Empowers over 7,500 Employees to Collaborate Using AWS Skills Guild

To increase cloud awareness, Continental wanted to create and embed a cloud learning approach across various aspects of the employee life cycle and foster a culture that encourages experimentation and learning. With these goals in mind, the company chose to implement AWS Skills Guild, a consultative engagement designed to inspire organization-wide cloud adoption and help to unlock innovation potential. “Working with AWS Skills Guild, we could build a holistic cloud environment within our company to help drive our digital transformation,” says Anupama Raman. “During our first meetings with the AWS team, we gained a deeper perspective of what is required to get started with the program. Then, we entered into a detailed planning phase.”

The Continental and AWS teams spent several months planning and establishing learning paths aligned with Continental’s internal training architecture. Together, the teams launched the Continental Cloud Guild in October 2021 to provide accessible cloud training for all technical and nontechnical employees. “We created 20 learning paths for different roles and corresponding products offered by AWS,” says Kavi Arasu, software academy deputy general manager and regional head for Asia at Continental. “This greatly encouraged employees who aspire to attain specific cloud-based positions.”

The launch of the Continental Cloud Guild opened the door to many new initiatives. As part of its goal to drive a culture of innovation, Continental launched an 8-week-long ideation challenge. Through this challenge, employees were invited to submit business proposals. Employees from all over the world immediately started collaborating and articulating creative concepts. “Our goal was to accelerate the innovation process within our company,” says Anupama Raman. “By asking employees to submit ideas, we could elicit even more innovation.”

To drive the initiative, Continental first reached out to subject matter experts to understand the requirements of the innovation initiative and establish a focus area. Then, the company opened the challenge to all its employees. The response was overwhelming; during the 2-month submission period, Continental received a total of 144 proposals from employees across its European, American, and Asian business regions.

To find the most promising ideas out of the large proposal pool, Continental established a four-round evaluation process. “First, we identified over 100 proposals that were business relevant,” says Kavi Arasu. “Then, we enlisted the help of experts who could help us understand these ideas and how they can be applied in the business context. With their support, we were able to short-list seven ideas for a final pitch round.”

After reviewing proposals from each of the seven finalists, Continental recognized three winning ideas that will soon be implemented. The three winners of the ideation challenge earned internal recognition, and employees across the company were enthused to have the chance to shape future operations. The results of this initiative have energized leaders and developers alike. “Transformation doesn’t happen in 1 year; it’s an ongoing process,” says Anupama Raman. “We are planning to collaborate with AWS and continue using our internal cloud experts to raise further awareness on the topic of cloud innovation.”

Now that thousands of Continental employees are engaging in cloud training, the possibilities are limitless. People are more confident in their cloud abilities and are sharing ideas on a global scale. Increased knowledge, collaboration, and engagement will accelerate the development of new solutions across the company. This will contribute not only to employees’ professional development but also to Continental’s growth as it enters its new software-focused phase.