The European aircraft maker Airbus set up an innovation center in Silicon Valley nearly a decade ago, dubbing it Acubed.
In the post-Covid years, Acubed has refined its mission to focus on artificial intelligence and autonomy — how those technologies will be applied in aviation, and how they can help the parent company build competitive advantage.
“It’s not like we pulled [that mission] out of our hat,” says Acubed COO Paige Stanton Wilson. “It’s definitely something we’ve been building towards. I think we needed to define what do we do, and what do we not do? Because when you work for a big company, and you’re geographically distant, people need to understand, like, ‘Acubed is this thing.’”
Acubed is located in Sunnyvale, Calif. Wilson was previously Head of Innovation Communications at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France. We spoke with her in June 2024, as part of our interviews for our latest research report, The Future of the Innovation Team.
• • •
Scott Kirsner, InnoLead: Tell us a little bit about the origins and history of Acubed. If you cast your mind back to when you first started there, what was it about back then?
Paige Stanton Wilson, Acubed: I was on the other side, in Toulouse [at Airbus headquarters], at the time that it got started. And I was following the story passionately, and listening to the executives and their excitement about it. Acubed was created and founded in 2015, out of a realization by our executive committee that, well, there are some big tech giants in Silicon Valley with deep pockets, and that there would be a potential for them to get into aerospace.
We’re in a very much a duopoly when it comes to commercial aviation; the barrier to entry is quite high. And then I think, [there was a] realization, especially with the SpaceX launcher, and Elon [Musk] being able to launch that reusable launcher, [that] was a big moment in the company at large to say, “Wow, actually, OK, this is serious.”
It was at that time that they decided that it would be best to have eyes and ears and a presence in Silicon Valley. And that’s how Acubed was kicked off. At the same time, Airbus Ventures was created in 2015 — a corporate venture capital arm, separate from Acubed, but also with the idea of capitalizing on what’s happening out here. …It was to make sure that Airbus is able to disrupt itself, by leveraging the talent and the tech … in this area of the world.
Now, we’re nine years on and have gone through a lot of different evolutions and learnings along the way.
Kirsner: What was the reporting structure originally? And is that different from today?
Wilson: It was very much the brainchild of the former CEO of Airbus Group, Tom Enders. So it had a originally a direct reporting line to the CEO of Airbus Group. That has evolved… It now reports into the CTO, Sabina Klauke, who is a direct report to the CEO. We also have strong links into the digital organization, because we’re really in between where technology meets digital.
Kirsner: When did you join? Why was it an interesting opportunity?
Wilson: I joined in 2019. I was an early supporter of Acubed, and I watched the executives on the European side get excited. I raised my hand to be sort of an ally. I’m American, but I lived in France for over 20 years. Seeing our company make such a bold move, I was just personally very excited about it. … So [our] CEO was the one that said, “Hey, I think you should be part of Acubed.” And so that’s how I came over in 2019. He was transitioning out, and the new CEO was coming in.
Kirsner: You’re touching on one of the big challenges of any kind of innovation group, which is maintaining strong support from CEO to CEO, or when reporting structure changes. I’m curious if you have any advice about that. It gets into the politics and diplomacy of this job.
Wilson: It’s very true statement. We did a lot of benchmarking ourselves with different corporate innovation centers out here recently. We went through a transformation initiative, [at] the end of last year, beginning of [2024] — just to kind of take a step back and say, “OK, where are we at? We’ve been around for nine years. What’s working what’s not?” [We went to] talk to other folks who are doing the same thing.
There’s loads of corporate innovation centers in Silicon Valley… The reality is, there’s no silver bullet. To make it work, you have to remain agile, and you have to move and adapt according to the company’s strategy.
There’s loads of corporate innovation centers in Silicon Valley… The reality is, there’s no silver bullet. To make it work, you have to remain agile, and you have to move and adapt according to the company’s strategy. One of the biggest components to that, as you said, is having the right connections with the parent company — and those connections and people change, right? People’s mandates change, people move around.
And also, like many corporate innovation centers, their parent companies are either in Asia or in Europe. So, keeping the connection requires having one, if not a few, folks from the leadership team who have a very strong connection into the right folks on the other side — [and] maintaining those relationships.
When you’re working in Silicon Valley, which has more of a higher turnover rate — that’s also the greatness of Silicon Valley, is there’s so much exchange of knowledge and expertise — it’s like, how do you make that work, without making people feel insecure on the other side, that there’s too much change in Silicon Valley?
We do have a board of directors, but it’s one of those things where it meets once or twice a year, and we’re a separate legal entity. So there’s a lot of compliance and finance things to look at. But in terms of a technical steer, and also just feeling the pulse of the company — what’s happening and what’s, what are the opportunities and challenges that are popping up — we’ve created an ambassador program. That’s recent; we created that this year. And we identified key top executives — SVPS, VPS — in areas that have skin in the game, the areas where we would be potentially relevant. [Their role is] to make sure that when we’re not in Toulouse, and we’re not in those meetings, that they’re representing us.
They can say, “Hey, I think these guys in Acubed would be really relevant for what you’re working on,” and [they] can also give us a steer in terms of our technical portfolio. We look at some cool stuff out here in Silicon Valley. We can show it to them at an early stage and say, “Hey, do you think there’s something here? Do you think this is something that could go farther?” And so [we get] them to help us connect in to the right folks in Airbus.
Kirsner: So those are ambassadors who work in Toulouse? How big a program is that?
Wilson: We currently have six, and I’m thinking of adding maybe two to four more, I want to keep it small, because we want to make sure it’s also kind of an intimate group, where you can share things. So we’re creating a summit for them in July. The idea is really to expose them to a theme, which is — no surprises — around AI. How do you actually make business value out of that? So they also need to get something out of being an ambassador for Acubed. [When] they come back, [our goal is that] they’ve learned something that’s applicable to their domain, that makes them smarter, and maybe takes them in a different direction.
Kirsner: It’s interesting that you did some benchmarking last year among the Silicon Valley outposts. I would say, we knew all of those outposts pre-COVID. And a lot of the ones that seem to have disappeared — this is my observation — were doing the softer scouting work. What seems to have survived, as far as I can tell, is the much more engineering-centric [ones that are] building prototypes. The companies doing physical design and prototyping seem to have survived, but there was a pretty big die-off, I would say, among other Fortune 500s, during COVID and post-COVID. Did you see the same thing?
…The softer type activities that are not going to have hard outcomes were the first things that get cut.
Wilson: One hundred percent. We’re very much a “make” organization. And I would say, [in the] early days, more of the softer type activities that are not going to have hard outcomes were the first things that get cut. And then it got cut, cut, cut down during the pandemic, when no one was flying, to really those activities that are delivering meaningful things, tangible things into roadmaps that are going to be utilized.
Then, you have people on the other side saying, “Wait, if you cut that, then I can’t deliver.” Having said that, I think what innovation centers are trying to do — and we’re not any different — is to try to find the right balance. Because I do think we need to be providing insights…and doing some scouting. So we do have a tech scout, and boy, is she busy. She’s constantly getting asked to look at things. That is a role that we need to play. But if it’s only that, you’re not going to get funded over the long-term, right?
It’s something that’s always under discussion: how far should a center like ourselves go before [we say], “OK, it’s handover and [let’s] work on the next thing.” I find that there’s a little bit of a tension there, because one of the things that Silicon Valley knows how to do well is to take an idea — maybe a sketch on a napkin — and to turn it into a product. It’s a very product-oriented place, where you’re matching technology with the business model. So finding the right projects for places like Acubed [to work on], that’s also important. I don’t know that you can get people super-motivated to work on proof-of-concepts and say, “OK, we showed that this is interesting, [let’s] move on to the next thing.” It’s also important that you’re building real things, [so] that people feel inspired [that their work] is going to make it onto a large commercial aircraft, or [they’re] going to see it in action. I know that that’s definitely an expectation from many of our employees. So you have to consider that in the mix of, how do you best utilize the talent that is in Silicon Valley? Why would they come work for you? And why would they stay?
Kirsner: Just to drill down on something you brought up, which I think is really interesting, is that many innovation groups — particularly if you’re not at headquarters, you’re in a different country from headquarters — you feel that temptation to like to like be a sensing and insights and learning organization. But I think what you were saying is, “Hey, that stuff is all great. But if you’re doing too much of that, the lines of business at headquarters look and go, how valuable is that learning and sensing that they’re doing?” What they really want is, as you said, stuff that will fit into the product roadmap.
Wilson: Right. So we’ve been a lot heavier on building out of things. Like I said, we have we have a scout, and I’m super happy about that. But I don’t think it will ever become the main activity coming out of Acubed, because again, at the end of the day, when budgets are tight, that’s not the thing that folks are going to pay for.
Kirsner: Can you talk about some of the projects you’ve alluded to, where it’s something that a product manager or business unit manager really wants? Or other accomplishments?
Wilson: Sure. First of all, our mission is to accelerate AI and autonomy adoption to boost Airbus’s competitive advantage. We have built up, over the last several years, really strong skills and machinery behind AI and data-driven development — the ability to capture large amounts of data. We operate our own data center. … AI and machine learning deep learning experts are not the easiest folks to keep. They’re not the cheapest. So how can we also expand these capabilities into other areas of the business?
In terms of tangibles, our biggest focus is on is on building autonomy flight functions. We operate a small general aviation aircraft out of Palo Alto airport. We’re collecting data across the country. We’re building out algorithms and the mechanisms to be able to land aircraft autonomously. We’re really honed in on the landing piece, [but] also looking at the other functions required, like taxiing. We’re an integral part of making those making that happen. We have a smaller team that’s looking at how to digitize the airspace. We’re starting to see drones come online, and then you’re going to have these autonomous, [or] maybe first piloted, electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft [EVTOLs.] You’ve got all these different platforms that are sharing the sky, and the air traffic management has not evolved over the last 50 years. We’re looking at that, because that’s going to become a real sticky point. …[We’re] working with the FAA and also folks in Europe [like] EASA, to really help them think through what that needs to look like.
The other one worth mentioning is digital design and manufacturing. In aviation, you have this giant backlog of commercial aircrafts — almost 10,000 commercial aircraft. So it’s not really a problem getting orders, the problem is pumping these things out. …If you work in our industry, you kind of get tired of hearing about it, but “ramp up, ramp up” — how do we ramp up? You’ve got to find ways to make production more efficient. We have a team looking at how do you apply AI [and] computer vision in the manufacturing space, to be able to speed up production for either more efficiency or better ways to check quality. Making sure there’s no debris, things like that. I would say those are the things that we’re most proud of, and working on right now with real focus.
Kirsner: When you said AI and autonomy — when was that defined as like, “OK, this is our focus.” Is that within the last year or two?
Wilson: It was [2024] that we had it officially stamped by our board and stakeholders. It’s not like we pulled it out of our hat. It’s definitely something we’ve been building towards. I think we needed to define what do we do, and what do we not do? Because when you work for a big company, and you’re geographically distant, people need to understand, like, “Acubed is this thing.” If they don’t understand, then they’re not going to know how to utilize you. Clarifying those boundaries is really going to be important — especially for the internal piece, of just people understanding our mission and purpose.
Kirsner: So with that relatively new mission, how has the composition of the team changed? Are there new types of roles you’ve created? You mentioned already the technology scouting role — that sounds like it’s relatively new — but what else?
Wilson: Our core competencies are around AI and algorithms; AI compute and infrastructure; big data; and then rapid software development and rapid concept validation. We want to beef up [our] focus on the machine learning, AI, computer vision-type profiles. We’re also looking at AI as applied to services. So we do have have a project — I can’t really talk about it that much — but helping Airbus imagine, if the aircraft is this software platform, what can you do in a meaningful way to help with operations? Either for the flight crew, or how can you rethink the passenger experience?
Kirsner: Are there some specific jobs either that you’ve hired for recently, or you are hiring for now, that might be like new titles to the Acubed organization?
Wilson: I don’t know that it’s new titles. But it’s beefing up on like the deep learning, ML, AI component.
Kirsner: What else should we touch on, in terms of your advice?
Wilson: I think it’s finding balance. In the history of Acubed, if you think about a pendulum, we were created to be geographically distant, and also work in a different manner, disrupt from the inside, but not really have a ton of links with the parent company.
With the pandemic and a lot of the changes that happened — especially budget cuts — this pendulum went the other way. “Hey, you need to you need to deliver into these roadmaps, or we can’t afford you.” Today is about finding the balance between those — finding the right mix of being that insightful organization that’s showing the parent company what is possible, and de-risking things. Those are going to be things that maybe don’t ever make it, they don’t turn into a product or a feature or solution, but you’re showing them you’re showing what is possible, and you’re also inspiring them.
…There’s also this delivery mechanism, and you are delivering into the product roadmaps and your things are actually being used. Because the end of the day, we have found that that is the most valued output that we can provide.
But there’s also this delivery mechanism, and you are delivering into the product roadmaps and your things are actually being used. Because the end of the day, we have found that that is the most valued output that we can provide. That means that we’re also doing that with a very high level of quality and talent. We’re in Silicon Valley, [so] we’re not the cheapest. We have to make sure we’re [high] quality, on time, and with this high level of expertise. We will not ever be a pool of potential employees that are going to move into the core organization. That’s just not really what our employees are looking for.
However, the folks that we have are working with teams, so they’re very much paired up [to work on] autonomy. …It’s a shared learning, because the folks in Toulouse know aircraft. They know how to certify aircraft in ways that folks out here don’t. But our folks are really great and skilled at AI, and the software piece. Ideally, you get to a point where there’s learning and exchanges on both sides that make it a win-win, for the folks to be motivated to work together.
Kirsner: Let me ask one last question. What’s the outcome that matters most in 2024? And how is that different from what mattered most when you first joined Acubed in 2019?
Wilson: I joined at a semi-unfortunate time. I got here, and six months later, everything was shut down. And I saw us get really cut to the bone.
I think, today, a positive outcome is that we are very much rooted in Silicon Valley, and in Airbus. We can’t lose the roots on either side. …As a concrete example, when you talk about outcomes, is Acubed is a “make” organization. However, having said that, there’s a ton of really great startups in this area. So if there’s a startup that’s working on something that could allow us to accelerate something that’s strategically important, why not partner with them? Why not…see how we can bring that in to go faster. We’re much more open to that now, in 2024, than [during the] pandemic and then just coming out of the pandemic. So [we are] making sure that we’re really benefiting from the area in which we work, instead of just focusing on what does Europe want and what does Europe need?
