Alexa, Bixby, Chris, Cortana and Siri want to plan your route

Virtual personal assistants (VPAs) are gaining in popularity as the automotive industry embraces them to connect the car and home to the IoTs.

Personal assistants used to only be for the rich and famous; if you are familiar with the Iron Man movie franchise, you know that Gwyneth Paltrow's character is a personal assistant to Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark. Hollywood actors and CEOs are often depicted with personal assistants that jot down notes, put meetings in calendars, remind their boss of upcoming meetings, and make reservations. But like much of yesterday’s technology, the smartphone has replaced everything a personal assistant does. It tells you when you have meetings coming up, when to leave for the meeting or appointment, the best route to take, the level of traffic, and what the weather is like outside. In fact today’s virtual personal assistants take it a step further and predict when you need to order a refill of your K-Cups for your Keurig coffee machine, schedule your annual wellness checkup with your doctor, or who to include in your email for the next meeting.