In early October 2025, U.S.-based AIAG (Automotive Industry Action Group), headquartered in Southfield in the Detroit area, convened a tightly connected “Detroit Triple” of events spanning quality, product compliance and sustainability, and Catena-X supplier activation. AIAG is a long-standing, non-profit mobility industry association uniting OEMs, suppliers, and service providers, citing 4,000+ member companies in 70+ countries. The common thread was twofold: first, a shared recognition that data is now mission-critical for next-level supply-chain execution and AI performance; second, the need to handle that data efficiently at scale. Catena-X is one practical answer to that efficiency challenge: an open, secure, standardized automotive data ecosystem that enables cross-company, end-to-end value-chain data exchange with trust, interoperability, control, and data sovereignty. In North America, AIAG serves as the official Catena-X Hub North America (CX-Hub-NA), formally launched at ALSC 2025 (Schlueter Langdon 2025).
Figure 1: AIAG Quality and Catena-X supplier onboarding
AIAG 2025 Quality Summit (Oct 1–2, 2025 | Novi, MI)
AIAG’s Quality Summit is an annual convening for OEMs, suppliers, and service providers to align on next-generation automotive quality management, with a practical focus on standards, audit effectiveness, supplier collaboration, and emerging technology.
What stood out in 2025. The 2025 agenda reinforced the shift toward data- and software-driven quality, including AI-enabled approaches (predictive analytics, process optimization, and corrective-action automation) and deeper guidance on standards and audit expectations.
- Opening keynote: Oliver Ganser (BMW, VP Purchasing/ Supplier Network Digitization & Governance; also Catena-X board chair) set an executive frame for “what’s next,” linking BMW’s reinvention (incl. Neue Klasse as the visible marker) to the need for next-level performance in purchasing and supply chains, enabled by collaboration using Catena-X.
- Catena-X panel with on-stage demonstration: AIAG hosted a Catena-X session with pioneers from Ford, Flex, SAP, T-Systems, Cofinity-X, and Bosch focused on how shared standards and secure quality data exchange can accelerate root-cause analysis, illustrated with a real demonstration of Catena-X in practice.
See Figure 1 for impressions from Ganser keynote and Ford-Flex quality demo. Figure 2 provides overview of the quality pilot setup to facilitate data exchange using Catena-X based dataspace technology to aid faster root cause analysis and problem resolution (Guggenberger et al. 2025).
Why it matters. Quality is increasingly a network execution problem: time-to-containment and time-to-root-cause depend on governed, interoperable data exchange across tiers, not just internal plant excellence.
Figure 2: Ford-Flex quality demo based on Catena-X standards and technology
Catena-X supplier onboarding (Oct 3, 2025 | AIAG HQ, Southfield, MI)
Our supplier day converted conference momentum into adoption mechanics: a focused onboarding accelerator designed to help suppliers join Catena-X efficiently and start executing priority use cases. The event was hosted by AIAG, supported by Catena-X, and organized by T-Systems with support from BMW and Flex. It was positioned as an optional third day following the Quality Summit, running 8:30am–12:00pm to allow same-day travel, hosted at AIAG Detroit Headquarters. Figure 3 shows the agenda, which emphasized (1) a clear participation path (requirements, timing, approach) and (2) practical onboarding support shaped with supplier input, spanning key use cases including PCF, Traceability, Quality, Certificate Management, and BMW ECU-related onboarding expectations.
Why it matters. Ecosystems scale when onboarding becomes repeatable. This day functioned as the “activation lever” that turns standards and infrastructure into production adoption.
Figure 3: Agenda of Catena-X supplier onboarding event
AIAG 2025 IMDS & Sustainability Conf. (Oct 8–10, 2025 | Novi, MI)
The AIAG-IMDS/ Product Compliance/ Sustainability conference is advancing product compliance execution and sustainability practices, with the 2025 theme explicitly framed around PCF, circular economy, and sustainable materials. For 2025 AIAG called out a dedicated PCF deep dive (Day 3, half-day) covering core implementation mechanics: training and data gathering, due diligence via an auditable Sustainability Data Approval Process (SDAP), PCF guidance, IMDS data entry, primary vs secondary data considerations, and reporting use cases. In parallel to the conference framing, T-Systems and iPoint positioned a joint “production-ready PCF” solution aligned with Catena-X and IMDS 15, emphasizing carbon transparency across the value chain and supplier onboarding at scale.
Why it matters now. AIAG explicitly linked PCF integration and harmonized reporting to evolving regulatory demands (e.g., EU Battery Regulation and CSRD) and emphasized streamlining carbon data exchange across the supply chain.
Deep dive: Insights, lessons learned, business impact
- AIAG’s CX-VIP event on LinkedIn: Matt Pohlman’s video clip, AIAG’s event video clip
- “Quality” Maria/ Ford LinkedIn post: https://bit.ly/AIAG-Quality2025_Ford-Flex
- “Detroit-Triple” Chris/ Telekom LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/AIAG-Quality-IMDS-CatenaX-2025
References
Guggenberger, T. M., C. Schlueter Langdon, and B. Otto. 2025. Data Spaces as Meta-Organisations. European Journal of Information Systems, January: 1–21, link
Schlueter Langdon, C. 2025. ALSC 2025: AIAG launches Catena-X Hub North America – Ecosystem globalization. Insights report (2025-06-30), Telekom Data Intelligence Hub, T-Systems International, Frankfurt, link
