“BILA has delivered over 2000 automation systems. And I’ve seen quite a few of them.”

Kent Thomassen, R&D Manager at Global AGV, is celebrating his 20th year working in service, optimisation, automation, and now driverless trucks. With his extensive experience, Kent brings unique knowledge to Global AGV.

“You should be happy to go to work every day – otherwise, you should be doing something else.” So says Kent Thomassen, Head of R&D (Research and Development) at Global AGV. He seems happy, as this year he celebrates his 20th anniversary with BILA. Looking back over those 20 years, one word particularly stands out to him: “Growth.”

Years as a Service Technician
It’s been a fast-paced journey—both for BILA and Kent. He joined the service team in 2004, when he was one of only two service technicians. He travelled to different sites for six years, optimising and repairing systems.

Even back then, Kent was always focused on how things could be improved and developed.


“Stability and optimisation are keywords in my world. That’s my constant focus. How can we make things better, smarter – how can we run faster or more stably?”


This focus has profoundly shaped the way he works with Global AGV:

“As a technician, I optimised systems. So, testing something to its limit and then scaling back by 10% to ensure stability – that’s something I’ve carried with me.”

You can see this influence in Global AGV, where Kent has contributed significantly to developing a stable, highly efficient AGV that delivers real value to customers.

20 Years of Automation Flow
After six years as a service technician, Kent first became a coordinator and then head of Support, Hotline, and Emergency Services. In 2017, he became Head of the entire Service Support team. With 16 years in service, Kent has unique and wide-ranging experience:

“BILA has delivered over 2,000 automation systems. And I’ve seen quite a few of them. I use that experience and understanding of automation and optimisation daily as Head of R&D,” Kent explains.

According to Kent, having a strong focus on automation flow is unique to Global AGV.

“We’ve brought together the best of two worlds in Global AGV – automation and trucks. We look at the entire process from start to finish. Our biggest strength is that we come from an automation house. We have this deep understanding of automation and see it as a flow, where the AGV is a natural part.”

In 2020, Kent became Head of R&D at Global AGV, and over the last four years, the driverless truck has made significant leaps forward:

“The journey with AGV is incredibly exciting. The progress we’ve made – everything we’ve built on: user-friendliness, stability, additional features. Compared to when I first joined, the possibilities we have with the AGV today are far broader. That’s because we’ve acted on good ideas, many of which have come from our customers.”

Though his career has progressed quickly, some things remain unchanged. For Kent, customer satisfaction is still the most important thing:
“When the customer is satisfied and sees the value we bring with Global AGV, I go home happy.”

“Keep Going” Spirit as a Partner
Customer collaboration is important to Kent, as he sees Global AGV not only as a supplier but also as a true partner to its customers. There is something special he strives to live up to:

“Integrity. I work by the motto: Do your duty and claim your rights. By that, I mean that you should act properly and do what is expected of you – keep your promises and do your best. When you do that, you can expect the same from others.”


This is the approach Kent brings to customer relationships. He believes that a shared goal of optimising production forms the foundation of collaboration around the AGV. Additionally, his service background and the support of BILA bring a strong determination:

“We bring a ‘keep going’ spirit. We’re committed to seeing things through. We keep at it until we reach the goal and the customer is happy. We’ve always done this. It’s part of our DNA.”

This is also connected to what has motivated Kent throughout the past 20 years: “That we meet the customer’s expectations. That we deliver on our promise.”

Looking to the future, integrity remains central to Kent’s work. “I want Global AGV to be recognised as a quality brand that’s in demand across the industry. My main responsibility is to ensure that Global AGV is a quality product that is stable and lives up to customer expectations.”