Dr. Mohammad Al-Rifai is a lead data & AI expert holding a PhD in Computer Science from the Leibniz University of Hanover, where he worked as a research fellow for more than 9 years in several European projects. His research work has been focusing on Web Services and Web Data Science. He has published several scientific articles and has been program committee member and reviewer of numerous international conferences and journals.
Dr. Al-Rifai started his industrial career in 2015, first in the energy sector at E.ON and later in the automotive industry at Volkswagen AG. Within the last 7 years he contributed to several digital transformation projects, applying edge-cutting artificial intelligence and data analytics technologies to build innovative digital solutions in both sectors. In his current role as principal data scientist at Volkswagen AG he is responsible for recruiting, coaching and mentoring teams of data scientists and engineers as well as leading the development of cloud-based scalable solutions for data-driven vehicle development.

The Volkswagen Group with its headquarters in Wolfsburg is one of the world’s leading automobile manufacturers and the largest carmaker in Europe. The Group is made up of twelve brands from seven European countries: Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT, ŠKODA, Bentley, Lamborghini, Porsche, Ducati, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Scania and MAN. The Group operates 120 production plants in 20 European countries and a further eleven countries in the Americas, Asia and Africa. Each working day, around 630,000 employees worldwide produce some 43,000 vehicles, are involved in vehicle-related services or work in the other fields of business. The Volkswagen Group sells its vehicles in 153 countries. Our goal is to make mobility sustainable for us and for future generations. Our promise: With electric drive, digital networking and autonomous driving, we make the automobile clean, quiet, intelligent and safe. At the same time, our core product becomes even more emotional and offers a completely new driving experience. It is also becoming part of the solution when it comes to climate and environmental protection. In this way, the car can continue to be a cornerstone of contemporary, individual and affordable mobility in the future. #Shapingmobility