Renningen, Germany – The management of the Corporate Sector Research and Advance Engineering of Robert Bosch GmbH (Bosch Research) will have a new setup as of January 1, 2025: Dr. Udo-Martin Gómez will take over the management of Bosch Research, replacing Prof. Dr. Thomas Kropf, who is ending his active working life at Bosch after six years at the top of research and devoting himself to new challenges. Dr. Michael Kessler, currently Senior Vice President for Digital and AI solutions, will join the management of Bosch Research and take over the management of the Bosch site in Renningen at the same time.
Dr. Udo-Martin Gómez (56) has been Executive Vice President Corporate Sector Research and Advance Engineering of Robert Bosch GmbH since January 2024. In his new role as President of Bosch Research, he will strengthen applied research and assume responsibility for the research locations in the North American region. His main focus will be on future-oriented research topics such as electrification, sustainability, and healthcare. This is complemented by research on production technologies, biochemical and microelectronic systems, and simulation methods.
With a doctorate in physics, he began his career at Bosch in 1999 in the field of microsystems technology at Bosch Research. After holding various specialist and management roles, including Chief Technical Officer for the development of sensors, he took over the management of the Strategy, Organization and Business Development corporate department in 2022. “I look forward to continuing to support Bosch Research and thus also the technological development at Bosch in its alignment for the future. Together with our great team of experts, we will develop competitive, innovative solutions for the challenges of the future,” says Udo-Martin Gómez.
“I would like to thank Dr. Udo-Martin Gómez for the excellent cooperation in the past year. His strategic vision and comprehensive expertise make him the ideal successor to me as President of Bosch Research. Together, we have taken important steps in key technologies such as automation, electrification, and artificial intelligence. I am confident that he will successfully lead Bosch Research into the future,” says Thomas Kropf.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Kropf (63), who has been heading Bosch Research since 2018, is ending his active working life at Bosch after more than 25 years. During this time, Kropf played a major role in strategically reorganizing research. Under his leadership, research portfolios were established that focus on the key areas of automation, digitalization, artificial intelligence, electrification, sustainability, and healthcare. This portfolio structure facilitates the optimized selection of research topics that generate technological innovations with high market potential. The company’s AI competence, which has been established at the Bosch Center for Artificial Intelligence since 2017, was further advanced under Kropf’s leadership. This development of expertise was an important element in ensuring that every product at Bosch today contains artificial intelligence or is developed or manufactured with its help. In addition to his role as President of Bosch Research, Kropf is also a professor of computer science at the University of Tübingen, Germany.
Dr. Michael Kessler (51) studied and received his doctorate in electrical engineering and started working in software development and application for control units at Bosch in 2002. From 2013 to 2017, he was responsible for the Korean regional entity of the Bosch control unit division. Between 2017 and 2021, he was Senior Vice President responsible for electrical architecture and software excellence as well as the “Software Service House” for the powertrain business. Michael Kessler has been working as Senior Vice President at Bosch Research since December 2021. His previous responsibilities included the development of innovative digital and AI solutions worldwide.
As Executive Vice President of Bosch Research, Michael Kessler will concentrate on further developing the research areas of AI research, application and industrialization, software and communication technologies, and automation in mobility and robotics. In addition, he is responsible for the Bosch Research locations in the Asian-Pacific and Indian region as well as for the research campus in Renningen. “I look forward to the new challenge and to working with Udo-Martin Gómez and the team to further advance the innovative power of Bosch Research,” says Michael Kessler.
About Bosch Research
The Corporate Sector Research and Advance Engineering of Robert Bosch GmbH (Bosch Research) is the innovation incubator at Bosch. The roughly 1,800 Bosch Research experts worldwide work with the Bosch business units to develop the next and future generations of Bosch products and services. Bosch Research also conducts research on important technological innovations at nine locations in six countries, together with scientific partners. The research is divided into six areas that will significantly shape our future: automation, digitalization and connectivity, artificial intelligence, electrification, climate action and sustainability, and healthcare. Under the guiding principle “We innovate for life,” Bosch Research creates technological solutions that will help to enhance people’s lives in tomorrow’s world.
