For more than a decade, CGI has been a trusted partner to the Volkswagen Group—one of the world’s leading car manufacturers and Europe’s largest automaker—managing critical application services for the company and its subsidiaries.
In 2024, this long-term collaboration evolved into an even more strategic partnership—the launch of MARV1N (pronounced “Marvin”), an international software development unit co-governed by CGI and Volkswagen Group to accelerate enterprise-wide digital transformation.
The next maturity level for managed services
Announced in January 2025, MARV1N represents a next-generation approach to managed services—centered on scalability, joint governance, agile delivery, knowledge retention, and a cooperative contracting model designed for flexibility, transparency, and measurable results. It goes beyond the scope of traditional managed services to achieve a new level of partnership maturity.
Addressing complex application delivery challenges
Volkswagen Group’s business IT ecosystem comprises hundreds of applications spanning multiple brands and geographies. The company’s goal is to replace these legacy systems with fewer but more powerful and scalable solutions across the enterprise. Historically, its applications were managed by a variety of external providers, creating fragmented operations, inconsistent performance, and limited cost visibility.
To tackle these challenges, Volkswagen Group and CGI established MARV1N as a strategic solution to:
- Modernize and scale delivery: MARV1N serves as an international software development unit for enterprise-wide digital transformation projects and supports the developers at Volkswagen Group. With MARV1N’s additional resources, the Volkswagen Group can develop new IT systems faster and more efficiently.
- Implement best practices: By leveraging CGI’s delivery expertise and combining it with Volkswagen’s best practices, Volkswagen Group can better align IT delivery with business priorities and performance standards.
- Optimize costs: Shifting the operating model and moving from primarily local delivery to a nearshore and offshore model generates significant cost savings from a total cost of ownership perspective, while ensuring control and accountability through MARV1N’s governance structure.
The MARV1N advantage
Following a successful proof of concept in late 2024, Volkswagen Group and CGI launched MARV1N through a phased implementation approach to minimize risk and ensure a smooth transition.
Unique features of MARV1N include:
- 1. Joint governance and leadership
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MARV1N operates under a dual leadership model, with managing directors from both Volkswagen Group and CGI. A joint governance board also meets quarterly to review priorities and progress, ensuring strategic alignment and transparency in every decision.
- 2. Build-operate-transfer model
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MARV1N functions as a dedicated entity under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) model. This has enabled Volkswagen Group to benefit from CGI’s support in building and operating MARV1N, while retaining the flexibility to integrate the center and its staff back into its organization at any time—ensuring key expertise remains in-house.
- 3. Flexible and adaptive scope
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MARV1N operates with agility and adaptability in response to Volkswagen Group’s business demand. “It’s a ‘living and breathing’ next version of a managed service model,” explains Dirk Weiser, CGI account executive for Volkswagen Group. “The scope evolves as priorities shift on a regular basis and volumes change.”
- 4. Transparency and trust
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At the heart of MARV1N is a partnership built on trust. “MARV1N ensures full transparency in what’s planned and what’s not,” says Dirk Weiser, Business Unit Lead for CGI Germany North. “We sit together with Volkswagen Group teams, review each application area, and recommend the best way to consolidate existing delivery structures, reduce costs, and improve outcomes. That trust is our foundation.”
Driving tangible results
Through MARV1N, Volkswagen Group is realizing measurable improvements in application services delivery:
- Predictable, sprint-based delivery cycles
- Significant cost reduction through provider consolidation, reduced governance efforts, and blended delivery delivery models
- Improved software quality and reduced security risks
- Faster time to market and increased efficiency
- Knowledge transfer to strengthen internal capabilities
“The MARV1N partnership exemplifies CGI’s ability to co-create with clients to deliver measurable business value. By blending CGI’s delivery skills and agile expertise with Volkswagen Group’s strategic priorities, MARV1N sets a new standard for modern managed services—adaptive, scalable, and trusted.”
– Cornelius Menig
Head of Applications and Platforms at Volkswagen Group.
A shared vision for the future
For Volkswagen Group, MARV1N marks the beginning of a new era in managed services—one defined by collaboration, agility, and shared success.
“In the end, it’s all about trust,” says Ralf Bauer, CGI President for Germany. “Volkswagen Group trusts us to deliver the right services with the best quality and cost savings.”
“The MARV1N partnership exemplifies CGI’s ability to co-create with clients to deliver measurable business value,” adds Cornelius Menig, Head of Applications and Platforms at Volkswagen Group. “By blending CGI’s delivery skills and agile expertise with Volkswagen Group’s strategic priorities, MARV1N sets a new standard for modern managed services—adaptive, scalable, and trusted.”
For more details on MARV1N, contact us. Also, learn more about our managed services capabilities in general.
Co-creating a new era of managed services
Hear firsthand from Volkswagen Group’s Cornelius Menig and CGI’s Ralf Bauer as they share how both organizations moved beyond traditional engagement patterns to co-create MARV1N—a next-generation managed services model built on co-ownership and trust.
