At Ford, the second biggest carmaker in the US, Krishnaswamy Venkatesh Prasad is called the 'what's next guy'. It's a nickname he acquired as a founding member of Ford's nextgeneration research team responsible for creating a smart phone and Internet-like experience inside cars.

Prasad has patented over 16 solutions that help the driver do things like search out a friend's location in real time, listen to Internet radio, browse through favourite music and even get alerts on diabetes and obesity.