Lionel Ferra heads the Team of Artificial Intelligence, Software, Extended Reality, and Quantum Technologies in the Directorate of Human and Robotic Exploration at ESA. He is a French-German engineer, educated at TU Darmstadt and CentraleSupélec, and was the lead instructor for the rendezvous and docking of the European spacecraft ATV, as well as responsible for space robotics exams for the ISS crew. A key component of his new departement and team is to ensure that ESA projects become software-centric and that new technologies are used both on the ground and in space, as the digital transformation of ESA is crucial for efficiently exploring our solar system with robotic resources and crews.