Building An Agile, Global EMS To Serve EV Makers And Data Centers, with ALL Circuits CEO Bruno Racault

EV adoption may be slower than hopes, but the manufacturing map is being redrawn in real time. I sit down with ALL Circuits CEO Bruno Racault to unpack how a DBG–ALL Circuits alliance is positioning a global EMS player to serve fast-growing demand in automotive electronics and data center hardware—while navigating supply gaps, policy twists, and a customer base that wants local build options without sacrificing cost or quality.

Bruno breaks down Europe's move to roughly 50% hybrid and EV sales, the implications for power electronics and 800-volt systems, and the uncomfortable truth that not all components in global channels meet automotive standards. We talk through how a combined footprint spanning Europe, North Africa, the Americas, China, India, and Vietnam enables continent-level builds, access to competitive equipment, and smarter sourcing—paired with strict qualification to keep reliability high. He also shares why legacy thermal customers pose a butterfly-effect risk, and how new relationships with Chinese EV makers entering Europe could reshape program pipelines.

Beyond EVs, we dive into the surge in AI and data center infrastructure, from high-layer count boards to thermal and power distribution challenges. The competitive field is widening as hyperscalers and major EMS firms jostle for position, creating openings for agile manufacturers who can pivot between sectors without losing yield or control. Bruno is candid about the limits of forecasting in a world of tariffs and shifting incentives, arguing for a design-for-agility approach: standardized lines, fast recipe swaps, robust MES, and a decisive bet on automation and AI in the factory to raise quality, speed, and transparency.

If you’re tracking where EMS value is heading—direct OEM relationships, IP protection at the line, smarter global sourcing, and truly regionalized manufacturing—this conversation maps the terrain and the trade-offs. Subscribe, share with a colleague who’s wrestling with EV or AI hardware strategy, and leave a review with your biggest 2026 wildcard.

EMS@C-Level is hosted by global inspection leaders Koh Young (https://www.kohyoung.com) and Global Electronics Association (https://www.electronics.org)

You can see video versions of all of the EMS@C-Level pods on our YouTube playlist.

Transcript

Setting The Stage: EV Momentum

Philip Stoten, Journalist and Podcast Host 0:08

Hello from my house to yours. Welcome to EMS at Sea Level. I am joined by Bruno Raquel from All Circuits. Bruno, it's always a pleasure to chat and catch up with you. Um, we spoke a little bit last week, and I was really interested in the continued growth and success you seem to be having the automotive sector. Much of Europe's EMS that are focused on EMS seem to be um in the doldrums at the moment, but you seem to be backing that trend. What do you put that down to?

Europe’s EV Shift And Supply Gaps

Risks From Legacy Thermal Customers

Partnering With Chinese OEMs

ALL Circuits CEO Bruno Racault 0:38

We have mixed signal. Okay. Uh actually today we're talking uh on uh on the I don't know if you heard about the European community is is uh deciding if we'll um uh stop the sale of the car in uh 2035 or not. Okay. It's happened now that we're at the middle of uh uh of the water. Um half of the car which are sold in Europe are either hybrid or uh or EV, full EV. So it's not all, but it's still 50 percent. So the goal in uh electronics for EV and for hybrid is it's pretty important, and we are not that much being able to make it. So it's definitely a growth for us, however, it's not as we were expecting. Uh it's only 50 percent. Um most of the EV in Europe are coming from uh either American um or uh Chinese car. So the European market um for the European is smaller than we were expecting. Okay, so that's one point. Um actually, but it's still a growth for us. The problem we're seeing is more with the our former customer, which are still in the thermal business. Uh they are starting to disappear, and we can have uh what I call a butterfly effect. If they go down and there is too many going down, we can be affected. So it's uh as training could appear, it's now uh dangerous for us to deal with those guys because we do not know if they will survive or not. So the market is very, very special, and we have to be very cautious. Now the market is there. I don't know if uh we'll be full EV in uh 2035, but we're already 50 percent, so it's already quite a lot of board to be produced. Now, our next challenge is to offer our service to those uh Chinese car manufacturers coming in Europe, and uh and I hope or um expect to be one of those uh of their suppliers to be able to provide the board that they will need in the future.

Philip Stoten, Journalist and Podcast Host 3:02

Yeah, and certainly the uh the DVG merger that was uh completed middle of this year uh is gonna be a big help for that. And um I think you being able to offer automotive um to their customers is a real value add.

ALL Circuits CEO Bruno Racault 3:18

Yeah, it's the idea. Um first having uh a Chinese shareholder um it's give is helping us to understand their mentality, their way of doing things, um so which is completely different uh of the European uh customer, totally different. Uh and secondly, they are used to deal with those car manufacturers, so now I'm expecting them to help us to provide us a uh service to them. I don't know yet. Uh we're in the middle of the table today, we're cutting quite a lot of uh of both for this kind of manufacturer. Uh I cannot tell you at the time or tell right now if you work on that.

The DBG Merger And Global Footprint

Philip Stoten, Journalist and Podcast Host 4:05

Yeah. And I think the other thing that's interesting from the merger is it's kind of added two really interesting global footprints that didn't particularly overlap. You've added the Americas and Europe, and obviously your North African activity uh to what they've had. They've already expanded into new markets like India and Vietnam, which I think are really interesting. When you look forward to the kind of EMS provider you you've become as a group, what do you see as the benefits there? And what do you see as the as the things you need to add?

Competing On Cost And Components

Fast-Growing Sectors: Data Centers And AI

Direct OEM Relationships In Automotive

ALL Circuits CEO Bruno Racault 4:40

With um the recent uh change on tariff, on uh on market, on different sectors, you need to be global now. You need to be able to manufacture uh in Europe, in China. Um more and more customers will be uh purchasing at local level. When what I mean by local is at uh uh um continent level. Okay, so now that we are global, we can provide this service. We need also to be competitive, definitely. Okay, our customers are are expecting us to be competitive and to be more competitive in in the future. So uh this alliance is giving us the size, it's giving us access to the uh to the price of the uh Chinese equipment, which are really competitive. It's good is giving us also access to the um component market in China, um where we have to be careful because some components uh are okay for the automotive market, some are not, but uh uh it's our value added, I will say, in the in this alliance. Uh, we can also help uh our Chinese colleague to pick the to make the right choice. Yeah, yeah. Um now speaking of market sector, market segment, um which one will be the most profitable? It's it's a good question. Uh we have defense with the growing up in Europe, uh, with the Ukraine war, definitely. Um, but we're not too much in this sector um for other reasons. Um, there is one which is really ramping up, which is um uh uh the the data center, which has been uh uh we we need them mostly through AI, but we have more and more communication, more and more uh uh usage of our systems. So uh there is a huge demand here. Um so it's good news, it's also good news in fact in form that um people are competing uh between each other. So we have uh all the big guys um which are entering in this market, like Amazon. Uh I guess they they are the Xerox copy Amazon or or on they want to offer their the MS want to offer their service, so um it might be an opportunity for them, but it might be might be also an opportunity for us to um to get the their customers they are entering to competition. Okay, so yeah, yeah, at least as a trickle effect. They're reshuffling the the cord and the um market is moving. Um last but not least, the automotive market, um, despite what you think is still interesting when you are in the um Ev EV uh business. Um we are at the beginning of the adventure I think in uh within the electricity, and um now with the 800 volt with the uh rapid charging and so on, uh, we'll have a lot more opportunity. So yeah.

Philip Stoten, Journalist and Podcast Host 8:16

I think I think there are lots of markets. I think what's really interesting in the EV market is some of the relationships with the industry that the EMS industry has has changed. So working direct with the car makers themselves um has has given additional opportunities, and that's been an interesting change.

ALL Circuits CEO Bruno Racault 8:34

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's it's those those car manufacturers they were used to to make the engine basically, and they were subtracting all the other uh part of the car. Now that they lose the thermal engine, um they are really losing a lot, and um they are really losing um even their existence. So they are trying to gain more um knowledge through uh um having more um dependence or knowledge on on the uh on the electronics. Uh so that's why we're interesting for them because uh they are they are more and more using the board or or or combining um uh making the electric electronics of the of the engine. And uh they are looking for uh guys which are a pure manufacturer to produce those boards. Uh that's really where I see the limit right now. The car manufacturer they are buying those boards, but they are not entering in this business, but they are using those boards to fill their plant. Uh yeah in the plant which were used to do uh uh thermal engine.

Strategy For 2026: Pragmatic Agility

Philip Stoten, Journalist and Podcast Host 9:53

Yeah, it's fascinating, isn't it? Because as you as you simplify that supply chain, i.e. DMS working directly with the uh with the car manufacturer, you're also moving where where some of that IP around manufacturing lives, um, and you're also perhaps moving where some of that where some of that margin lives. So it's uh it's it's an interesting change in dynamic. When you look forward to 2026, I guess we're expecting more disrupt political disruptions of whatever kind, whether it's tariffs or anything else. What what else do you see as the key challenges?

ALL Circuits CEO Bruno Racault 10:28

It's a good question, and and the answer is that we don't know. Um I don't have a crystal ball, so so that's mean we have to be pragmatic and we have to be reactive. So uh I'm building the our company to be able to uh provide service react as fast as I can. Will it be in in the car man manufacturing, will it be in the data center, will it be in the normal uh 3C business? I have no idea, but we need to be ready.

Philip Stoten, Journalist and Podcast Host 11:03

Yeah, yeah. So it's creating a really agile business that can that can respond to whatever comes along.

ALL Circuits CEO Bruno Racault 11:09

So I'm sorry not having uh not being able to answer you, not having a crystal ball, but uh I have to recognize that it's even worse than it was last year.

Automation, AI, And Factory Readiness

Philip Stoten, Journalist and Podcast Host 11:18

Um yeah, yeah, it's even less predictable. Yeah, I think it's interesting though, Bruno. I think you make a very good point that the business model going forward isn't one that is we're rigidly in this market, we're in this market, we're in this, we do this in this geography. It's a company that's agile, adaptable, and has options, and the the DBG partnership gives you more options.

ALL Circuits CEO Bruno Racault 11:43

Yeah. It's giving you options for the location, it's giving you option for the business sector, it's giving you option for the the even the machine, the the manufacturing equipment you want to purchase. Um we have to be very agile, very flexible. Okay, that's the only lesson I will learn from this uh 2025 uh.

Philip Stoten, Journalist and Podcast Host 12:07

Yeah, this experience. So yeah, well, onwards and upwards. We'll uh we'll see what happens in 2026 from an operational point. I think you're ahead of the game in terms of automation. I think we're gonna see more of a push on automation, more use of AI in the factory, and I think um that's gonna be an interesting factor that affects your operation uh across across the globe.

Closing Thoughts And Next Steps

ALL Circuits CEO Bruno Racault 12:32

Well, actually, that's where we are putting our bet uh to automation quality and so on. But will it be the right bet? I have no idea. I hope it will be because otherwise we will certainly disappear. But uh one of our motto is also to be flexible uh in the competitivity. So that means uh you have to be cheap, but to be able to grab the business and and to please uh or or to serve the customer which have no idea where they want to go, which is a point. Um so it's uh it's it's uh X2 um unpredictability unpredictability, uh, which is what I say even worse. Yeah, so nobody knows where nobody knows which product will be sold, nobody knows which car will be successful. Yeah, yeah.

Philip Stoten, Journalist and Podcast Host 13:31

But I think if you can maintain that ideal of being an adaptable business that's agile, that's fast moving, um, and that is heavily automated, so you can leverage the talent you've got in the right way. I think you're you're in a really good position.

ALL Circuits CEO Bruno Racault 13:46

Yeah, and it's going faster and faster, and um um it will be even worse in the future. So um that means you really need to be agile and powerful in the agility.

Philip Stoten, Journalist and Podcast Host 14:03

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Bruno, fascinating conversation. Look forward to seeing you in person in the new year, maybe in CES in Las Vegas, if not in your in your facility in France. In the meantime, thanks so much for chatting. Thanks, you know.