Volker Kaese

About Volker Kaese

Volker brings over a quarter-century of experience in mobility innovations. He was instrumental in creating mobility technology from scratch at VW and Audi. He is based in Longbeach, CA, his outreach is global. Volker led the first serial hybrid vehicle project of the whole VW Group for 200 serial Volkswagen XL1 vehicles, achieving 297 MPG.He directed and executed the Audi EV showcar program for 6 years, which includes from 2015 the first e-tron (Q8etron), Aicon, Aime, and e-tronGT in 2018.Volker spearheaded as Head of Preseries Quality Assurance the serial development and manufacturing of the first serial battery systems for eUP and eGolf. In parallel the pre-series quality assurance for VW Group’s A-class chassis systems (MQB). Innovation Journey:Volker initiated the innovation management within the VW Group in 2005, building a portfolio management with customer feedback und technology clusters.He held the position of Innovation Manager for Products at both VW for Technical Development and Audi globally, amassing a total of 11 years of experience in market and trend survey, strategic planning, portfolio management and transfer to serial products.He conducted recurrent C-level technical strategy discussions and ensured decision alignment at Audi.He managed research and predevelopment portfolios, including car concept development using proprietary VW Group IT road mapping tools.Guided by global trends and scouting, he facilitated the transition from predevelopment to serial projects, evaluating market success, necessary competences (HR), financial, marketing, production, and portfolio aspects.He enabled the Audi employees for Mobility as a Service training programs, through set up of the Audi X-lab, where all employees, including board members were able to learn in classes and to realize their automotive hardware, software and app solutions, guided or on their own.His strong commitment is with Indigo Technologies as CTO. He advises on efficient energy systems and sustainable transportation, which includes semiconductors, battery cell as key technologies. Management Philosophy:My guiding principle revolves around purpose, people, product, process, and profit (5P concept). As a consultant, I give equal importance to team development and product discussions. I am committed to making a positive change in the world.Global Impact:He works on customer solutions within a strong network of partners across Europe, the US, and Asia.

Experience

1. Advisor

   Infocusp Innovations

   Oct 2025 — Present

   We use AI like a pen in daily ops. I partner with Infocusp for AI in product and process development, R&D and manufacturing projects, signal analytics, data science and end2end development.

Education

• Leibniz Universität Hannover

  Dipl.-Ing. Maschinenbau, ME,design,materials spec. alloy making/processing,non distructive testing,nuclear tech, oil drilling

  1991 — 1997

Skills

• Unternehmensführung
• Super Efficient Car Design
• Qualitätssicherung
• Open Innovation
• R&D
• Projektmanagement
• Innovationsmanagement
• Management
• Automobilindustrie
• Negotiation
• Project Management
• Materials Science Light Metals
• Forschung Und Entwicklung