AI-Powered Coffee Runs And Service Visits Are Coming To Rivians Next Year, Software Chief Says

Rivian Chief Software Officer Wassym Bensaid told InsideEVs an overhauled service experience is coming to its cars in 2027.

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Tim Levin

By: Tim Levin

Oct 31, at 8:00am ET

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Rivian's AI assistant will get more features and be part of an overhauled service experience next year, Rivian Chief Software Officer Wassym Bensaid told InsideEVs.
The Rivian Assistant will be able to order coffee so that it's hot when you get it. And AI will help Rivian diagnose issues and set up service appointments behind the scenese.
Bensaid wants Rivian owners to eventually be able to do everything they currently do through the touchscreen through voice and AI.

When Rivian launched its in-house AI assistant in May, the company promised that the tech would soon do far more than answer ChatGPT-style questions, switch on the A/C, or text your friends. It pitched a chatbot that could be deeply integrated into your R1S or R2—but also deeply integrated into your life.

The Assistant hit the scene with Google Calendar capability, allowing drivers to move meetings on the fly, and Gmail came in October. In an interview on the Plugged-In Podcast this week, Rivian Chief Software Officer Wassym Bensaid said flashier integrations are coming soon, including one that will overhaul the service experience for Rivian owners.

You can find the show and subscribe on YouTube and across audio platforms like Spotify and Apple. This week we also discuss booming EV sales in the EU, the Ford Fathom's vehicle-to-home charging, and the Tesla Cybercab's battery.

"What I'm really excited about is the possibility in the future where you can bring your own personal digital ecosystem to the car through these AI integrations, and then also the possibility that you can start integrating with multiple other agentic experiences," he said.

One example: ordering coffee on your way to work. Bensaid said the Assistant will be able to help you order coffee from the right place at the right time, so that it's at the right temperature when you swing by.

The Rivian Assistant can answer general knowledge questions, control the vehicle, and integrate with a driver's Google Calendar and Gmail.

Photo by: Rivian

Thanks to AI, the experience of getting a Rivian serviced will become a lot smoother and more automated, he said. Rivian's AI tech will soon proactively diagnose issues, set up service appointments for owners, and make sure the service center has the right parts before an owner arrives, he said.

"That's a complete paradigm shift in that entire experience, and not only enables us to have a much more delightful experience for customers, but then it's a big efficiency lever for us and it helps us be much more competitive from a cost standpoint for something like service," he said.

We asked when exactly Rivian owners can expect these features to hit their vehicles. Bensaid said a lot of them are already in the works but need to get more reliable before a wider release.

"We're very close," he said. "We're talking about things that we will launch in 2027."

Rivian software chief Wassym Bensaid says more agentic integrations are coming soon, like the ability for the Assistant to order coffee.

Photo by: Rivian

Rivian has an ambitious tech vision for its AI. And the Rivian Assistant is already impressive in some ways. But owners have also complained about shortcomings. I asked Bensaid about those growing pains.

"Similar to other features, other technologies, there's still tuning, and there's still some refinements that we need to continue doing," he said. "A lot of them is on us, which is great. Some of them are work with our partners in terms of how we ground some of the requests and how we really optimize them."

But getting today's features right is only part of the challenge. Rivian ultimately wants the Assistant to handle virtually anything drivers can do through the touchscreen.

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"Our philosophy is eventually, through that deep OS integration, the end state is really having that ability to, through voice and through AI, you will be able to do everything that you're doing with your fingers on the screen."

Contact the author: Tim.Levin@InsideEVs.com