Adam Gluck on how Uber experience shapes automated code backup, disaster recovery & security in automotive industry with git-based systems to enhance efficiency, minimize downtime & mitigate risks

Automotive Industries interview with Adam Gluck, CEO & founder, Copia Automation

In this interview with Automotive Industries, Adam Gluck, CEO and founder of Copia Automation, discusses how his experiences at Uber have influenced his approach to addressing challenges in the automotive industry, specifically concerning backup strategies. At Uber, the necessity for robust backup and disaster recovery plans was critical to maintaining continuous service availability. This principle has been carried over to Copia Automation, where a Git-based control software approach is utilized to ensure reliable and consistent code backups. This method provides transparency into unauthorized changes and facilitates quicker disaster recovery, which is crucial in the highly automated automotive industry. By integrating modern IT DevOps practices with operational technology (OT), Copia Automation aims to enhance backup efficiency and minimize downtime.

The conversation highlights the differences between Copia Automation’s approach and traditional backup methods. Traditional methods often involve manual processes that are susceptible to human error, such as using thumb drives for backups. In contrast, Copia Automation offers automated code backup and change detection, ensuring consistent tracking of changes and flagging unauthorized modifications. This automation allows for faster disaster recovery and easy reversion to previous versions if issues arise. Additionally, Copia’s solution supports multi-vendor environments, enabling standardized workflows across diverse industrial settings for improved robustness and scalability.

Gluck emphasizes that Copia Automation streamlines manual backup processes by utilizing a Git-based system for automatic cloud backups and change detection, significantly reducing human error. This setup provides real-time visibility into code changes, ensuring immediate issue detection and resolution without disrupting operations. Moreover, Copia enforces processes like code reviews and testing, fostering a controlled and efficient operational environment.

By integrating modern IT DevOps practices with OT, Copia Automation enhances backup efficiency and minimizes downtime. Automated testing, code reviews, and real-time change detection ensure rapid disaster recovery and efficient backup processes in industrial environments. Copia’s automated, cloud-based backups and real-time change detection enable quick recovery from system failures, reducing downtime and mitigating financial losses in automotive manufacturing. The proactive approach also includes robust security measures to protect critical control data from breaches and malicious attacks, ensuring continuous security and operational integrity.

Automotive Industries interview with Adam Gluck, CEO & founder, Copia Automation

Automotive Industries: Hi Adam, with your experience at Uber, you’ve dealt with large-scale systems and their complexities. How do you plan to leverage those experiences to address the challenges in the automotive industry, particularly regarding backup strategies?

Gluck: At Uber, robust backup and disaster recovery plans were essential to ensure continuous service availability. At Copia Automation, we adopt a Git-based control software approach to ensure reliable and consistent code backups. This provides visibility into unauthorized changes and enables faster disaster recovery, which is critical in the automotive industry’s highly automated environment. By integrating modern IT DevOps practices with operational technology (OT), we can enhance backup efficiency and minimize downtime.

Automotive Industries: The incident at Toyota underscores the critical need for robust backup systems in automotive manufacturing. Could you elaborate on how Copia Automation’s approach differs from traditional backup methods and how it mitigates such risks?

Gluck: Traditional backup methods often involve manual processes that are prone to human error and can be unreliable, such as backing up code onto thumb drives or other external devices. In contrast, Copia offers automated code backup and change detection, ensuring that changes are consistently tracked and unauthorized modifications are flagged. This automation mitigates risks by providing faster disaster recovery and enabling companies to quickly revert to previous versions if issues arise. Furthermore, our solution is multi-vendor-based, allowing standardized workflows across different industrial environments to ensure robustness and scalability.

Automotive Industries: Manual backup processes have been a norm in many manufacturing settings, posing significant risks. How does Copia Automation streamline these processes to ensure consistent and reliable backups without disrupting operations?

Gluck: Copia Automation streamlines manual backup processes by automating code backup and change detection using a Git-based system. This setup ensures that all changes are automatically backed up to the cloud, providing a reliable and consistent backup solution. By eliminating the need for manual interventions, the risk of human error is significantly reduced. Additionally, Copia offers real-time visibility into code changes, allowing for immediate detection and resolution of issues, ensuring that operations remain uninterrupted while maintaining robust backup practices. The proactive approach Copia takes involves not just backups but also enforcing processes such as code reviews and testing, ensuring a more controlled and efficient operational environment.

Automotive Industries: Your background in engineering strategy at Uber suggests a deep understanding of system architecture. How does Copia Automation integrate modern IT DevOps practices with operational technology (OT) to enhance backup efficiency and minimize downtime?

Gluck: Copia Automation integrates modern DevOps practices with operational technology (OT) that is common in IT but often lacking in OT environments. This integration involves implementing automated testing, code review processes, and real-time change detection. By bringing these IT practices into the OT space, Copia ensures that code changes are systematically tracked and reviewed to enable rapid disaster recovery, and increase the overall efficiency of backup processes in industrial environments.

Automotive Industries: In the context of automotive manufacturing, downtime can have significant financial repercussions. How does Copia Automation’s backup solutions minimize the time needed for recovery in case of system failures or data loss?

Gluck: Copia Automation’s backup solutions minimize recovery time by providing automated, cloud-based backups and real-time change detection. In the event of system failures or data loss, our platform allows for immediate rollback to previous versions, ensuring quick disaster recovery. This capability significantly reduces downtime, as it eliminates the need for manual intervention and lengthy troubleshooting processes. By ensuring that all code changes are continuously backed up and easily recoverable, we help automotive manufacturers maintain operational continuity and mitigate financial losses associated with downtime. Copia and an electric vehicle company valued at over $10 billion have partnered to gain a competitive edge with speed of production and modernizing workflows.

Automotive Industries: As technology continues to evolve, cybersecurity threats pose a growing concern for automotive manufacturers. How does Copia Automation incorporate security measures into its backup solutions to safeguard critical control data from potential breaches or malicious attacks?

Gluck: Our proactive processes, rather than reactive measures, are designed to ensure continuous security and operational integrity. Copia Automation incorporates robust security measures into its backup solutions to safeguard critical control data. By automatically backing up data to the cloud, we protect against data loss due to hardware failures or physical theft. Additionally, our system includes real-time change detection, which helps identify and prevent unauthorized modifications. These security measures, combined with our focus on automated testing and code reviews, create a comprehensive defense against cybersecurity threats, ensuring that critical control data remains secure from potential breaches or malicious attacks.