The ASAP Group has received the TOP 100 Innovation Award for the ninth time in a row. This means that the engineering partner for the automotive industry is once again one of the most innovative medium-sized German companies in 2025. The group of companies was particularly convincing in the categories “Innovation success” and “Innovation-promoting top management”. The Top 100 seal once again highlights the high innovative strength of the ASAP Group. Since the ASAP Group was founded at the beginning of 2010, innovations have formed the basis of the business model and have shaped the continuous development of the service portfolio with a focus on trend topics such as e-mobility, autonomous driving and connectivity. “My thanks go to all ASAP employees: They are characterized not only by their technical expertise, but also by their wealth of ideas. Both result in continuous pioneering solutions for the automotive industry,” says Frank Petznick, Senior Vice President & Global Automotive Engineering Head HCLTech and CEO of the ASAP Group.
ASAP has recently implemented an AI/GenAI solution that significantly simplifies the development of complex functions for autonomous driving. For example, it accelerates the keyword-driven testing that is used in ADAS/AD development. A general advantage of the AI solution is that it can be seamlessly integrated into various tool ecosystems thanks to its own interface, such as TestSphere, which was also developed by ASAP, or ASAP's Process Automation Kit (PAK).
TestSphere is an end-to-end validation ecosystem that offers customers and partners added value in areas such as software-defined vehicles. The test design process is decoupled from the existing tool landscape. TestSphere then connects existing tools and systems. It communicates via standardized interfaces. Users can therefore continue to use the systems they are familiar with and do not have to spend time familiarizing themselves with new tools.
The ASAP Group is also strongly involved in the areas of product and application lifecycle management (PLM/ALM). Among other things, it has developed the Process Automation Kit (PAK). PAK is a solution for workflow automation to supplement common DevOps processes. The modular system makes it possible to define, automate and reuse development steps of developer roles, thereby keeping development costs low, among other things.
“The automotive industry is facing a profound transformation that goes far beyond the change in drive technologies. Key trends such as the software-defined vehicle are not only changing vehicle architecture, but also the industry's development processes and business models. In addition, topics such as artificial intelligence, test automation and virtual validation are becoming increasingly important, as they significantly improve efficiency and safety in vehicle development. Together with HCLTech, ASAP is a leader in this field,” says Frank Petznick.
As of January 2025, the ASAP Group has around 1,600 employees in Germany. The medium-sized company has been a wholly independent subsidiary of the global IT and services group HCLTech since August 31, 2023.
TOP 100 - the innovation competition
Since 1993, compamedia has been awarding the TOP 100 seal for special innovative strength and above-average innovation success to medium-sized companies. TOP 100 determines these on a scientific basis. The study is based on more than 100 test criteria from the five categories of innovation-promoting top management, innovation climate, innovative processes and organization, external orientation/open innovation and innovation success. This year's award ceremony will take place on June 27, 2025 in Mainz as part of the German SME Summit.