Driving Innovation: How Michigan’s Automotive Industry is Leading the Charge

• The automotive industry is a platform for diversification, and the focus should be on leading and being at the forefront of innovation rather than lagging behind. 
• Increasing the Michigan Innovation Fund, helping businesses grow through venture capital, and retaining high-tech talent are key priorities for the state’s automotive industry to grow its innovation ecosystem. 

View the full session recording below.

During the 2025 Detroit Policy Conference, automotive and mobility industry leaders took to the stage to discuss how Michigan’s automotive industry is driving innovation and what is needed to sustain this progress.

On Bringing Innovation to Market

The group discussed the current challenges in bringing innovation to Michigan’s automotive industry, like leading in EV manufacturing. They also explored the transformative potential of AI across various applications within the industry, including product design, quality control, and upskilling employees. 

“What Sandy [Baruah] said, lead or lag [in EV manufacturing]?” Stevens asked. “We want to lead and be at the forefront … Lagging is not an option. That’s a death knell.” 

“We’re seeing a lot of interesting areas where AI can come into play,” Pistagnesi said. “We’ve had some real success in finding design space and designs that we wouldn’t have been able to come up with using our traditional methods that produce products that have better attributes, better efficiency, or are lower mass.” 

The panel also discussed how traditional approaches to talent development should not be the only way to find talent. Lunsford used the example of traditional certification training programs, which often require 5-8 weeks of training and are not feasible for many potential workers due to financial constraints. Further, young adults and children grasp technology today, so the training methods must fit community needs and learning styles. 

“So, joysticks and gaming and all of that kind of stuff are very new to me,” Lunsford said. “But you got a kid that is engaging [and] learning critical thinking in that way, then why not change the way that we do the training to engage that?”  

Increased venture capital funding and the development of a robust startup ecosystem are additional keys to driving innovation in the Detroit Region. El-Hage said the lack of a strong venture capital infrastructure in the area is seen as a gap that needs to be addressed to attract more talent and startups. 

“People flock to the money because they think they can get,” El-Hage said. “I think being more adventurous with it, if you want that environment around you, putting up creating VC funds and split arms and doing more of that, people follow the money.”