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Tesla gets first place in inaugural Industrial Digital Transformation Report
ARC Advisory Group, a technology and research firm founded in 1986, recently released its inaugural Industrial Digital Transformation Top 25 special report. The report analyzes companies across several industries and ranks them based on how well they excel at integrating digital technologies in all areas of their business. Tesla took the number one spot in ARC’s inaugural list.
As per ARC’s report, companies that do well in the integration of digital technologies fundamentally change the way they operate and deliver value to their customers. Marianne D’Aquila, ARC’s director of research, noted that companies that lead in digital transformations usually gain a competitive advantage in their respective industries.
“Digital transformation leaders across many different industries share common traits and visions, helping them overcome complex challenges to innovate and stay agile. Industrial innovation continues to accelerate, and leading companies have their transformation initiatives well underway. For those who succeed, the result is a competitive advantage, even during the most difficult economic times.” the director of research noted.
ARC developed a rather rigorous process to identify and rank the companies in its inaugural Industrial Digital Transformation Top 25 report. The ranking covered three main components of a business — financial indicators, transformation indicators, and collective intelligence. Financial indicators were analyzed by studying a company’s publicly-available financial data, transformation indicators were scored based on software and Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) data, and collective intelligence was based on selection and ranking by ARC’s own analysts.
As noted by ARC in its report, the companies that made its Top 25 were from a variety of industries. “They share a common thread of leveraging digital technologies to transform business capabilities and outcomes, giving them a competitive advantage during challenging global circumstances. While some shifted their digital transformation efforts during the pandemic, all had some level of preparation prior and have an eye toward the future. For them, digital transformation is not an option, it is a necessity to survive and thrive,” the report read.
ARC Advisory Group describes its reasons for selecting Tesla as the number one company for its inaugural Digital Transformation Top 25 in the following section:
“Some may argue that Tesla started out as a transformative company rather than one that has recently transformed, given that its intent was to disrupt the automotive industry. The company’s growth has been fueled by several bold digital strategies. Founded in 2003, the company’s message from day one was not that an electric car could be good but that it could be better.
“Tesla’s fundamental philosophy internally and externally is to shift perception. Prior to Tesla, the market perception of electric vehicles was a slow, ugly juiced up car with little range. Tesla shifted this perception to one of being a sleek high performance and accelerated mode of transformation. This same strategy is used inside the organization to gain buy-in for digital initiatives and process. For example, when Tesla sets out to automate its internal processes, they try to build it better from the start rather than start a clunky project and hope to get better on revision 4 or 5. This orientation is fundamental in determining what KPIs the company values, as many of them are far different from metrics managed by manufacturers relying on traditional views of success.”
The advisory group also highlighted Tesla’s approach to vehicles, which sees cars more like computers on wheels than intricate machines that take people from Point A to Point B. This strategy, according to ARC, has allowed the company to deliver more value to its customers, making Tesla a distinct automaker whose products are near-incomparable to their competition.
“By showing value from the start and having internal stakeholders support initiatives, internal employee resistance is minimized. As ARC sees it, this is an example of a company that is comfortable with digital transformation and adapts to business challenges with greater ease quickly. Tesla’s digital connectivity has allowed the company to deliver more value to consumers. Their business model is built on the tenet that the vehicles are more like interactive computers with wheels, leading to the creation of an intelligent data platform and connected ecosystem, enabling Tesla to learn from and serve its customers.
“In Q3 2021, Tesla has publicly stated it plans to grow manufacturing capacity as quickly as possible. Over a multi-year horizon, Tesla expects to achieve 50 percent average annual growth in vehicle deliveries. This rate of growth will depend on Tesla’s equipment capacity, operational efficiency, and the capacity and stability of the supply chain.”
A copy of ARC Advisory Group’s inaugural Industrial Digital Transformation Top 25 report can be requested here.
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Tesla will increase its Full Self-Driving subscription price, meaning it will eventually be more than the current $99 per month price tag it has right now.
Already stating that the ability to purchase the suite outright will be removed, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said earlier this week that the Full Self-Driving subscription price would increase when its capabilities improve:
“I should also mention that the $99/month for supervised FSD will rise as FSD’s capabilities improve. The massive value jump is when you can be on your phone or sleeping for the entire ride (unsupervised FSD).”
This was an expected change, especially as Tesla has been hinting for some time that it is approaching a feature-complete version of Full Self-Driving that will no longer require driver supervision. However, with the increase, some are concerned that they may be priced out.
$99 per month is already a tough ask for some. While Full Self-Driving is definitely worth it just due to the capabilities, not every driver is ready to add potentially 50 percent to their car payment each month to have it.
While Tesla has not revealed any target price for FSD, it does seem that it will go up to at least $150.
I should also mention that the $99/month for supervised FSD will rise as FSD’s capabilities improve.
The massive value jump is when you can be on your phone or sleeping for the entire ride (unsupervised FSD). https://t.co/YDKhXN3aaG
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 23, 2026
Additionally, the ability to purchase the suite outright is also being eliminated on February 14, which gives owners another reason to be slightly concerned about whether they will be able to afford to continue paying for Full Self-Driving in any capacity.
Some owners have requested a tiered program, which would allow people to pay for the capabilities they want at a discounted price.
Unsupervised FSD would be the most expensive, and although the company started removing Autopilot from some vehicles, it seems a Supervised FSD suite would still attract people to pay between $49 and $99 per month, as it is very useful.
Tesla will likely release pricing for the Unsupervised suite when it is available, but price increases could still come to the Supervised version as things improve.
This is not the first time Musk has hinted that the price would change with capability improvements, either. He’s been saying it for some time. In 2020, he even said the value of FSD would “probably be somewhere in excess of $100,000.”
The FSD price will continue to rise as the software gets closer to full self-driving capability with regulatory approval. It that point, the value of FSD is probably somewhere in excess of $100,000.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 18, 2020
Tesla has chosen to axe the ability to purchase Full Self-Driving outright from a select group of cars just days after CEO Elon Musk announced the company had plans to eliminate that option in February.
The company is making a clear-cut stand that it will fully transition away from the ability to purchase the Full Self-Driving suite outright, a move that has brought differing opinions throughout the Tesla community.
Earlier this week, the company also announced that it will no longer allow buyers to purchase Full Self-Driving outright when ordering a pre-owned vehicle from inventory. Instead, that will be available for $99 per month, the same price that it costs for everyone else.
The ability to buy the suite for $8,000 for a one-time fee at the time of order has been removed:
NEWS: Tesla no longer allows buyers to purchase FSD outright in the U.S. when ordering a pre-owned vehicle directly from inventory. Tesla now gives you the option to either subscribe for $99/month, or purchase FSD outright after taking delivery (available until February 14th). pic.twitter.com/1xZ0BVG4JB
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) January 23, 2026
This is a major move because it is the first time Tesla is eliminating the ability to purchase FSD outright for one flat fee to any of its vehicles, at least at the time of purchase.
It is trying to phase out the outright purchase option as much as it can, preparing people for the subscription-based service it will exclusively offer starting on February 14.
In less than a month, it won’t be available on any vehicle, which has truly driven some serious conversation from Tesla owners throughout the community.
There’s a conflict, because many believe that they will now lose the ability to buy FSD and not pay for it monthly, which is an attractive offer. However, others believe, despite paying $8,000 for FSD, that they will have to pay more money on top of that cost to get the unsupervised suite.
Additionally, CEO Elon Musk said that the FSD suite’s subscription price would increase over time as capabilities increase, which is understandable, but is also quite a conflict for those who spent thousands to have what was once promised to them, and now they may have to pay even more money.
News
Tesla Robotaxi has a highly-requested hardware feature not available on typical Model Ys
These camera washers are crucial for keeping the operation going, as they are the sole way Teslas operate autonomously. The cameras act as eyes for the car to drive, recognize speed limit and traffic signs, and travel safely.
Tesla Robotaxi has a highly-requested hardware feature that is not available on typical Model Ys that people like you and me bring home after we buy them. The feature is something that many have been wanting for years, especially after the company adopted a vision-only approach to self-driving.
After Tesla launched driverless Robotaxi rides to the public earlier this week in Austin, people have been traveling to the Lone Star State in an effort to hopefully snag a ride from one of the few vehicles in the fleet that are now no longer required to have Safety Monitors present.
BREAKING: Tesla launches public Robotaxi rides in Austin with no Safety Monitor
Although only a few of those completely driverless rides are available, there have been some new things seen on these cars that are additions from regular Model Ys, including the presence of one new feature: camera washers.
With the Model Y, there has been a front camera washer, but the other exterior “eyes” have been void of any solution for this. For now, owners are required to clean them manually.
In Austin, Tesla is doing things differently. It is now utilizing camera washers on the side repeater and rear bumper cameras, which will keep the cameras clean and keep operation as smooth and as uninterrupted as possible:
🚨 Tesla looks to have installed Camera Washers on the side repeater cameras on Robotaxis in Austin
pic.twitter.com/xemRtDtlRR— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 23, 2026
Rear Camera Washer on Tesla Robotaxi pic.twitter.com/P9hgGStHmV
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 24, 2026
These camera washers are crucial for keeping the operation going, as they are the sole way Teslas operate autonomously. The cameras act as eyes for the car to drive, recognize speed limit and traffic signs, and travel safely.
This is the first time we are seeing them, so it seems as if Safety Monitors might have been responsible for keeping the lenses clean and unobstructed previously.
However, as Tesla transitions to a fully autonomous self-driving suite and Robotaxi expands to more vehicles in the Robotaxi fleet, it needed to find a way to clean the cameras without any manual intervention, at least for a short period, until they can return for interior and exterior washing.
Tesla to increase Full Self-Driving subscription price: here’s when
Tesla starts removing outright Full Self-Driving purchase option at time of order
