Paul Marks had the opportunity to interview Sheryl Connelly, a corporate futurist with Ford. Highlights include:

• Shelley does not consider herself to be a car person. Her job is to look at the world outside of cars, and to see how that will affect the car industry.
• Some trends Ford has identified include the rise in human population, creating increased traffic. This led to the development of Ford’s Traffic Jam Assist technology.
• Another trend is global ageing. As the average driver gets older, Ford needs to make cars easier to drive for the elderly.
• Ford is also working on further developing its Sync system – a way to keep your car connected in the mobile age.

To read more including the bets that she has to help engineers make, some of the techniques they use to develop cars, and other interesting details, click here.

Source: Slate