E-mobility, AIoT help Bosch Bulgaria weather pandemic and maintain stable performance
Bosch Bulgaria, part of global provider of technology and services Bosch, announced consolidated sales worth EUR 152m for the fiscal year 2020, maintaining the previous year’s level mainly due to the stable growth of the team of the Bosch Engineering Center in Sofia, the country’s capital, and the company’s AIoT solutions.
“In 2020, the Bosch Group in Bulgaria achieved a positive result despite the effects of the coronavirus crisis,” said Mihai Boldijar, General Manager of Robert Bosch EOOD and representative of the Bosch Group in Bulgaria.
Last year, Bosch was able to increase its staff in Bulgaria to 570, up 32% year-on-year, with most new hires concentrated in the Engineering Center. Currently, the center employs more than 380 people, up 50% in a year.
Engineering Center Sofia driving expansion
After investing over EUR 3.5m to expand its software business in Bulgaria, in 2019, Bosch opened an engineering center in Sofia dedicated to the development of advanced technology solutions for the automotive sector. The Sofia-based professionals work in close collaboration with the company’s development teams in Germany, the US, Hungary and Romania. So far, they have taken part in more than 45 innovative projects and technologies for the automotive industry in areas such as driver assistance systems, automated driving, artificial intelligence, and electric mobility. The aim of the center is to develop complete products and therefore created departments for hardware and mechanical design in addition to the well-established system and software areas.
In early 2021, Bosch brought together globally more than 17,000 engineering experts for developing computers, sensors and control units for all automotive systems into its new division Cross-Domain Computing Solutions. The newly founded unit chose Bosch Engineering Center Sofia as a main partner to shape the future of mobility out of Bulgaria. In addition, Engineering Center Sofia was awarded strategic partner of the Bosch eBike Systems division. Bulgarian engineers are focused on the development, integration and testing of software for eBikes and have the potential to add-on hardware and the mechanics in the future.
Leadership in AIoT solutions
Nearly 200 of the 900 professionals working at Bosch.IO, Bosch Group’s global unit for state-of-the-art projects in the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence (AIoT) domains, are based in Bulgaria. They are already the driving force for AIoT solutions, covering the entire spectrum of AIoT technologies in collaboration with some 30,000 software developers and AI experts throughout the entire Bosch Group.
“With the ongoing acceleration of the digital transformation of several sectors, the demand for holistic solutions connecting every aspect of the business also increases – from planning and manufacturing, through logistics and supply chains, to sales and marketing, as well as the continuous customer support and care,” said Sinisha Djukic, General Manager of Bosch.IO EOOD.
Future focuse on AIoT, e-mobility
Bosch expects another challenging year amid the ongoing pandemic risks. To develop new business opportunities on the back of the profound technological and ecological changes currently occurring, Bosch is combining the internet of things (IoT) with artificial intelligence (AI) and is concentrating on electromobility. From 2021 to 2024, Bosch also plans to invest one billion euros in fuel-cell technology.
