Sports And Talent Shortages: Here’s How Formula E Is Broadening Its Talent Pool

Broadening the talent search is going to be a game-changer, says Ian James from the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team. Our brand, Modis, is helping the Team better leverage its talent management in becoming more competitive.

February 26, 2021

Every company and organisation is undergoing digital transformation. This includes the world of sports. In a Forbes interview published this week, Jan Gupta, President of Modis, and Ian James, Team Principal of the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team, explained how even an automotive racing start-up renowned for its innovation and engineering expertise is faced with talent gaps and how to best bridge them.

From the skills of drivers and engineers to data analysts and AI experts, Formula E is a very talent-demanding industry - one where broadening its talent pool can be a ‘game-changer,’ and one where companies such as Modis can play a key role.

Thanks to its partnership with Modis, the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team has been able to:

Strengthen its core team and competencies while working collaboratively to enrich their existing knowledge base
Bring in new know-how, such as AI, which the team might not have possessed before
And leverage highly flexible, technically skilled resources on an as-needed basis, whether temporary, permanent, or freelance.

These new skills are in high demand and short supply, and as digitization continues to change the way engineering is done, there is a global race to win the best talent. Commenting on where this talent is sourced, Jan Gupta said: “We tend to say that there are experienced engineers working on the cars but when it comes to the smart world and Smart Industry - data analytics and AI, for instance - the engineers are specialists, from the younger generation and from all over the world and there’s definitely been a big shift from a traditional engineer to a digital engineer.”

To read the full article with Jan Gupta and Ian James on Forbes, click here.