SDV Culture

Why Culture Matters in SDV Development

The transition to Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs) is more than just a technological shift—it’s a fundamental transformation in how the automotive industry operates. While methodologies, tools, and frameworks like ./pulse provide the structure, the real enabler of change is culture. Without a shift in mindset, organizational structure, and ways of working, even the most advanced development models will fail to deliver the agility, quality, and compliance needed for SDVs.

The SDV Mindset: From Legacy to Multi-Speed

Traditional automotive development follows a linear, hardware-driven process where software is a late-stage integration effort. In contrast, SDVs require a multi-speed delivery model, where software evolves continuously while ensuring safety and compliance remain uncompromised.

This shift demands that organizations:

• Embrace continuous iteration at China speed, while maintaining the rigor of first-time-right safety validation.

• Recognize that ASPICE and ISO 26262 do not have to conflict with Agile and DevOps, but instead must be integrated into an adaptive workflow.

• Foster cross-functional collaboration, where software, hardware, and regulatory teams work in tandem rather than in silos.

Breaking Cultural Barriers

Cultural inertia is one of the biggest obstacles to SDV transformation. Common barriers include:

• Resistance to Agile – Many teams still view Agile as chaotic rather than structured.

• Slow decision-making – Traditional hierarchies prevent rapid iteration and course correction.

• Separation of software and systems teams – Hardware and software teams often work independently, leading to integration bottlenecks.

Enabling SDV culture requires:

• Leadership commitment to change – Executives must champion new ways of working.

• Psychological safety – Teams need the freedom to experiment, fail, and improve.

• Data-driven decision-making – Moving from gut feeling to measurable outcomes.

The Shift from Component Owners to End-to-End Feature Ownership

One of the most critical shifts in SDV development is moving from component-based roles to end-to-end feature ownership. In traditional ECU-centric organizations, engineers are responsible for specific hardware or software components, but this siloed approach creates inefficiencies in a software-driven world.

Why Is This Important?

• End-to-end ownership ensures that software and hardware evolve together to meet customer needs.

• It enables cross-functional collaboration, breaking down barriers between component teams.

• Feature teams can deliver updates faster, ensuring a more responsive and flexible vehicle development process.

Why Is This Difficult?

• Many engineers and managers are accustomed to owning a specific ECU or subsystem, making the shift to cross-domain thinking challenging.

• It requires restructuring teams and accountability, which can be met with resistance.

• Compliance and safety responsibilities must be integrated across feature teams, requiring a shift in validation and homologation processes.

This transformation is not just technical—it’s cultural. Organizations that successfully adopt an end-to-end feature ownership model will be able to innovate faster, integrate compliance more effectively, and deliver true software-defined experiences.

The Cultural Shift Beyond Engineering

The transformation towards SDVs does not stop at the engineering organization. A true cultural shift must extend across the entire automotive value chain, including:

• Requirements Management (LeanRM): Moving from static, document-heavy requirement processes to dynamic, software-driven requirement flows that adapt to continuous software development.

• Procurement: Decoupling hardware and software sourcing strategies, introducing virtual models in hardware RFPs, and aligning supplier collaboration with agile and CI/CD principles.

• User Experience (UX): Shifting towards software-defined UX, where continuous updates, data-driven personalization, and real-world feedback loops shape feature development.

• Testing & Validation: Moving towards virtual-first validation, integrating digital twins, simulation, and AI-powered test automation.

• Homologation: Shifting from a one-time regulatory certification mindset to Continuous Homologation, ensuring that compliance evolves with each software update rather than being a bottleneck at the end of development.

Organizations that fail to extend cultural transformation beyond engineering will struggle with slow adoption, misaligned processes, and regulatory roadblocks that hinder true SDV progress.

Organizing for SDV Success

The structure of an organization determines its agility. Traditional models built around project-based silos are being replaced by product-oriented, cross-functional teams. SDV organizations are evolving towards:

• Platform and feature teams – Developing software components independent of hardware release cycles.

• Compliance-integrated workflows – Embedding regulatory and safety processes into CI/CD pipelines.

• Digital Twin-driven development – Using virtualization to parallelize software and system validation.

The Role of ./pulse in SDV Transformation

The ./pulse framework provides the backbone for this cultural shift by enabling:

• Fast iteration where possible, rigorous validation where necessary.

• Parallel development of software and system validation to reduce bottlenecks.

• A unified approach to ASPICE, ISO 26262, and Agile to bridge compliance and innovation.

Scaling the Culture Shift

To make SDV transformation successful at scale, organizations must:

• Invest in capability building – Upskilling teams in software, AI, and data-driven engineering.

• Establish KPIs for cultural transformation – Measuring agility, quality, and compliance together.

• Encourage external collaboration – Engaging with open-source ecosystems and digital.auto initiatives.

Conclusion

Culture is the foundation of SDV transformation. Without a mindset shift, organizations will struggle to balance speed and safety. The ./pulse framework provides the structure, but real success depends on how teams adopt and integrate new ways of working. Those who embrace a fast, adaptive, and compliance-aware culture will lead the future of SDVs.