# Automotive AI Training & R&D Mentoring | Zero to Sixty Lab Source: https://zerotosixtylab.com/ ZERO TO SIXTY LAB / AUTOMOTIVE AI R&D Build AI around the work you know. A 90-day programme for automotive teams, taught by Stephen Southin. You know where things get stuck in your business. I’ll help your team turn one of those problems into a tested prototype, teaching the research, design and testing as we go. Talk to me about your projectExplore the programme FROM INTENT TO SYSTEM01—06 START WITH THE WORK “We spend too much time finding out what’s holding a vehicle up.” 01 Define the outcomeAgree what needs to change. 02 Investigate & designPeople, data, software and AI. 03 Build, test & learnTry it on actual examples. WORK TOWARD Know what’s holding a vehicle up and what needs to happen next. Illustrative programme project 90 daysGuided research & development Your workflowLearn through a real business problem Founder-ledMentoring with Stephen Southin BUILT ON AUTOMOTIVE EXPERIENCE CarFusion, Bumper, PAVE and Halo. Explore Stephen’s work 02 / THE PROGRAMME Here’s how we’ll spend the 90 days. Your team does the building. I help you work out the approach, review what you’ve tried and teach the skills needed for the next step. DAYS 01–30 Get to know the problem Follow the work, gather examples and agree what the prototype needs to do. DAYS 31–60 Build a small version Try the uncertain parts first. Bring what works, what breaks and your questions to our reviews. DAYS 61–90 Decide whether it’s ready Test it against the original problem, record the limits and work out what to do next. See the full 90-day programme 03 / INTENT-TO-SYSTEM ENGINEERING What should the system actually do? That question stays with us from the first conversation to the final test. I call the approach Intent-to-System Engineering. Here’s how we work through it. 01 Frame the intent + Say who needs help, what should change and how we’ll know it has improved. OUTPUT / OUTCOME BRIEF & SUCCESS MEASURES 02 Observe the work + Watch how the job gets done today. Where do people wait, chase information or work around a problem? OUTPUT / WORKFLOW MAP & RESEARCH QUESTIONS 03 Design the system + Work out what software can handle, where AI might help and which decisions need a person. OUTPUT / SYSTEM DESIGN & DECISION BOUNDARIES 04 Run the experiments + Build a small version to answer the biggest unanswered question. Use AI to help research and code, then check its work. OUTPUT / PROTOTYPES & EXPERIMENT RECORDS 05 Evaluate & refine + Try everyday examples and awkward ones. Look at what the system missed and change the design where it falls short. OUTPUT / EVALUATION RESULTS & KNOWN LIMITATIONS 06 Prepare to operate + Decide who would maintain it, how it would connect to your tools and what still needs testing before anyone relies on it. OUTPUT / READINESS DECISION & IMPLEMENTATION PLAN WHAT WE MEAN BY COMPOSITE AI Most useful systems need more than a model. Human judgmentAI modelsAgents & toolsBusiness softwareReliable data Composite AI means combining these parts around a job. A rule might flag a missing field, AI might read a note, and a person decides what to do about it. Explore Intent-to-System Engineering 04 / AUTOMOTIVE APPLICATIONS Bring the problem you know too well. Maybe it’s a vehicle waiting for photos, a procedure nobody can find, or a product idea you need to test. Here are three possible starting points. Vehicle readiness Operational knowledge Product R&D THE INTENT Know what is holding each vehicle up. Status lives in different systems, messages and people’s heads. Your team needs a reliable view of the next action. AN EXPERIMENT TO RUN Take a small, approved set of vehicle records. Can a prototype spot the missing step and give the manager a useful follow-up list? EVIDENCE TO LOOK FOR Did it find the right blocker? What did it miss? Can the manager act on the answer? Discuss a project like this These examples show the kinds of projects we could explore together. Explore automotive AI applications Meet your next generation of builders. I’m exploring a pathway for local university students and interns to join supervised dealer-group projects. They would learn by doing, while your team gets to know their work. Help shape the university & talent pathway STEPHEN SOUTHIN / FOUNDER & MENTOR 06 / YOUR MENTOR I’m Stephen Southin. I build automotive technology. I also teach teams how to build. My work has spanned dealer-to-dealer commerce, customer retention and AI vehicle inspection. Today, I’m building Halo and mentoring teams through Zero to Sixty Lab. In the Lab, we work on your problem. I’ll help you question the approach, make sense of the results and decide what’s worth building next. Founder · AI vehicle inspection Founder · Customer retentionExplore my work and background Companies I’ve helped build. Meet Stephen and the Lab 07 / BEFORE WE START A few practical questions. Who needs to be on our team?+ Someone who owns the business problem and someone who can build between sessions. That can be the same person. On our first call, we’ll talk about their experience and the time they have available. Will you build the system for us?+ Your team does the building. I help you work out the approach, review what you’ve made and teach the skills needed for the next step. If you need additional development support, we can discuss that separately. What is the investment?+ Let’s talk about the project and the help your team needs first. I’ll then set out the scope and fee so you can decide whether to go ahead. Read all programme questions 08 / START A CONVERSATION What’s getting stuck? You don’t need a finished brief. Tell me what’s happening today and what you’d like to change. I’ll read your note and we can talk about whether I can help. 01 / Share your starting point02 / Discuss scope & investment03 / Agree the programmesteve.southin@zerotosixtylab.com What would you like to discuss? 90-day team programme University & talent partnership Ongoing R&D mentoring Your name Organisation Work email Your team Choose your closest fit Automotive technology company Dealer group Fleet or mobility business Other automotive organisation University or college Student or intern What would you like to change? Who would work on the project? (optional) Review my enquiry Review your brief, then send it securely to Stephen. Please omit confidential or customer data. Contact: steve.southin@zerotosixtylab.com