Empowering Tomorrow's Automotive Software

No single company can deliver a software-defined vehicle alone anymore. Partnerships are quickly becoming a competitive necessity, not just a nice-to-have.

In this episode, host Bernd Graef talks with Eugen Beslic, ETAS's North American Partnership Manager, about how automotive companies are moving away from traditional supplier relationships toward deeper, more collaborative partnership models built on trust, flexibility, and shared goals.

Eugen and Bernd discuss why speed and knowledge gaps are pushing OEMs to lean on partners rather than building everything in-house, what separates a strong partner from just another vendor, and how customer conversations have shifted with the rise of AI. They also dig into where the industry most needs partnerships today, including AI, cloud, over-the-air capabilities, and open-source collaboration models like Eclipse S-CORE, along with how business models are evolving from one-time software purchases toward SaaS and pay-as-you-go pricing.

Whether you're building a partner strategy, evaluating potential collaborators, or simply trying to understand where the automotive software ecosystem is headed, this episode offers a candid, practical look at what it takes to build partnerships that actually work.

In This Episode:
00:00 - Introduction: Welcome to the Empowering Tomorrow's Automotive Software Podcast
01:24 - Why Partnerships Are Becoming Essential in the SDV Transformation
03:26 - From Supplier to Partner: How Customer Expectations Have Shifted
07:09 - The Rise of AI and What's Changed in Customer Conversations 
09:16 - Building a Partnership Culture: Advice for Companies Entering the Ecosystem
13:06 - Where the Industry Needs Partners Most: AI, Cloud, OTA, and Open Source
17:54 - How Business Models Are Evolving: From One-Time Sales to SaaS and Pay-as-You-Go
21:33 - Finding the Right Partner and Navigating “Frenemy” Relationships
24:10 - Making Technology Work Together: API-First Tools and Standardized Interfaces

Thanks for listening!

• Email us at: [email protected]
• Learn more about ETAS on our website 
• Follow us on LinkedIn: @ETAS

While passenger cars rapidly shift toward high-performance compute platforms, commercial vehicles operate under unique economic constraints where fleet profitability, total cost of ownership and razor-thin operating margins drive every software decision.

In this episode, host Bernd Graef sits down with Carlton Bale, Director of Software Defined Vehicle Strategy at Cummins, and Daniel Krippner, Open Source Technologist at ETAS, to explore open-source collaboration in software-defined commercial vehicles. Carlton and Daniel explain how open-source frameworks, specifically through the Eclipse SDV working group, allow heavy-duty manufacturers to solve shared architectural challenges without reinventing non-differentiating infrastructure software. Together, they break down the shift from closed NDA-based models to open collaboration, how to maintain safety certification under ISO 26262 using Trustable Software Frameworks (TSF), and how Cummins and ETAS are co-developing practical, production-intent SDV stack blueprints.

Whether you are an automotive software engineer, systems architect, or fleet technology leader, this episode offers a practical look at how commercial vehicle OEMs and suppliers are collaborating to accelerate time-to-market.

In this episode:
00:00 - Introduction: Commercial Vehicles & The Software-Defined Shift
02:44 - Commercial Vehicle Economics: Fleet ROI, Total Cost of Ownership, and Incremental Architectures
04:58 - The Power of Open Source: Why Non-Differentiating Infrastructure Belongs in Open Collaboration
11:36 - Standardizing Powertrain Interfaces: Hands-On Work with uService and OpenSOVD
18:20 - Safety Certification & Open Source: Navigating ISO 26262, Non-Safety Domains, and TSF
27:20 - Bridging Commercial and Passenger SDVs: Shared Infrastructure vs. Domain Specifics
33:04 - Getting Involved: Eclipse SDV Commercial Blueprints, Code Contribution, and Culture Shift

Useful links from the discussion:

• Commercial SDV Stack Blueprint: https://github.com/eclipse-sdv-blueprints/commercial-sdv-stack
• Eclipse SDV Blueprints: https://sdv-blueprints.eclipse.dev/;
• Joining Eclipse SDV Community: https://eclipsesdv.org/get-involved/  

Thanks for listening!

• Email us at: [email protected]
• Learn more about ETAS on our website 
• Follow us on LinkedIn: @ETAS

Agriculture is undergoing a rapid digital transformation, with automation, connectivity, and AI reshaping how the world grows food — and raising the stakes for cybersecurity along the way.

In this episode, ETAS host Elder Avila sits down with Thiago Pereira, Head of Software Engineering for Smart Agriculture at Bosch in Brazil, to explore how connected machines and software-defined systems are transforming farming, and why cybersecurity has become a business-critical concern rather than a niche IT issue.

Thiago shares why Brazil, as one of the world's leading agricultural producers, has become a proving ground for smart agriculture innovation, walking through the automation, connectivity, computer vision, and AI technologies driving productivity gains across the farm. The conversation then turns to the EU's Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), where Thiago breaks down its three pillars, security by design, lifecycle vulnerability management, and incident reporting, and explains why compliance matters even for companies operating outside Europe.

Whether you are an agricultural technology leader, embedded software engineer, or cybersecurity professional, this episode offers a clear-eyed look at how the industry is balancing rapid innovation with the security demands of an increasingly connected food supply chain.

In this episode:
00:00 - Introduction, Welcome
00:32 - Meet the Host and Guest: Smart Agriculture at Bosch Brazil
02:32 - Why Agriculture Is Strategically Vital & Brazil's Global Leadership
07:18 - Defining Smart Agriculture: Automation, Connectivity, AI, and Computer Vision
12:16 - Why Cybersecurity Is Now Business-Critical for Connected Machines
14:06 - Inside the Cyber Resilience Act: Security by Design, Vulnerability Management, and Incident Reporting
20:23 - Balancing Innovation and Security: What's Ahead for the Next 5-10 Years
23:50 - Closing Thoughts and Key Takeaways

To learn more about ETAS's cybersecurity and diagnostics solutions for off-highway and commercial vehicles, visit: https://www.etas.com/ww/en/topics/cybersecurity-diagnostics-off-highway/?std1=Partner&std2=other&std3=701Tq00000q8xeZ&std4

Thanks for listening!

• Email us at: [email protected]
• Learn more about ETAS on our website 
• Follow us on LinkedIn: @ETAS

The automotive industry is shifting from a physical-first testing mindset to a virtual-first engineering approach, driven by the massive rise in software-defined vehicle complexity.

In this episode,, host Suresh Sivavarman sits down with Cedric Armand, Director of Virtualization at Ford Motor Company, to break down the industry's rapid evolution toward software virtualization and simulation. Cedric shares how virtual-first environments enable automotive engineers to run millions of automated regression tests overnight—shifting defect discovery left to prevent costly field failures. Together, they discuss the foundational building blocks of scaling simulation (from virtual ECUs and plant models to cloud-based co-simulation platforms), overcoming the limits of physical HIL benches, managing organizational change for virtual tool adoption, and leveraging AI to accelerate testing efficiency.

Whether you are an automotive software engineer, systems architect, or validation manager, this episode offers a firsthand look at how major OEMs are scaling virtual development to accelerate time-to-market.

In this episode: 
00:00 - Introduction: The Shift from Physical Testing to Virtual-First Engineering
03:00 - Defining Virtualization vs. Simulation in Automotive Systems 
08:15 - The Massive ROI of "Shifting Left" & Running Automated Regression Tests
16:45 - Beyond HIL Benches: Scaling Virtual ECUs and Cloud-Based Co-Simulation
24:30 - Cultural Change & Organizational Buy-In for Virtual Tool Adoption
32:10 - The Future Role of AI in Diagnosing Test Failures and Streamlining Validation

Thanks for listening!

• Email us at: [email protected]
• Learn more about ETAS on our website 
• Follow us on LinkedIn: @ETAS

In the final episode of our Enterprise series, host Vasili Kutscherjavenko sits down with ETAS experts Wolfgang Neufeld and Rene Reuter to demystify the collaborative world of Purple Teaming.

Following up on previous discussions regarding independent red and blue team dynamics, the group explores how bringing attackers and defenders together in active workshops eliminates the traditional "blaming approach" and accelerates an organization's actual threat detection capabilities. The trio also take a deep dive into the modern cyber threat landscape, discussing how rapidly evolving generative AI models are altering the game, enabling even less-skilled attackers to rapidly execute zero-day vulnerabilities and accelerating the speed of enterprise breaches.

Whether you are an enterprise security leader, a plant operations manager, or a cybersecurity professional looking to optimize your incident response times, this episode offers a highly practical blueprint for building mature, resilient defense systems.

In this episode:
00:00 - Introduction to Enterprise Purple Teaming 
03:15 - Red Team vs. Blue Team: Defining the Roles 
08:40 - What is Purple Teaming and Why It Matters 
14:20 - Bridging the Gap Between Offensive and Defensive Security 
21:05 - Integrating Purple Teaming into Automotive & Enterprise Workflows 
28:30 - Key Challenges, Metrics, and Measuring Success 
34:50 - Final Takeaways and the Future of Collaborative Security 

Check out our other Enterprise episodes:
Introduction to Enterprise Red Teaming
Introduction to Enterprise Blue Teaming

Thanks for listening!

• Email us at: [email protected]
• Learn more about ETAS on our website 
• Follow us on LinkedIn: @ETAS

As software deployment velocity continues to outpace physical hardware availability, relying strictly on traditional Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) setups is rapidly shifting from a core strategy to an operational bottleneck.

In this episode, host Suresh Sivavarman sits down with Sangeeta Theru, Virtual Validation Platform Lead at Stellantis, to explore how the automotive industry is evolving from hardware-centric testing frameworks to software-first engineering environments. Sangeeta breaks down how Stellantis leverages a "shift-left" strategy by scaling Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) platforms to achieve faster time-to-market, minimize late-stage engineering risks, and drastically reduce physical vehicle prototype costs.

Whether you are an embedded software engineer, a system validation manager, or an OEM technical lead, this conversation offers a practical guide to demystifying Virtual ECUs (VECUs) and scaling digital validation workflows.

In this episode: 
00:00 - Introduction & Software-First Engineering Shifts 
04:15 - The "Shift-Left" Catalyst: System-Level Digital Validation 
11:30 - Overcoming the Trust Gap: Physical vs. Virtual Target Faults 
18:45 - HIL vs. SIL: Why 70-80% of Validation Can Bypass Physical Hardware 
26:10 - Demystifying Virtual ECUs (VECUs): Levels 3, 3+, and 4 Abstractions 
34:00 - Managing Global Complexity & Scaling SIL Across OEM Supply Chains
38:20 - Key Takeaways for Accelerating Vehicle Launch Timelines

Thanks for listening!

• Email us at: [email protected]
• Learn more about ETAS on our website 
• Follow us on LinkedIn: @ETAS

Developing software-defined vehicles (SDVs) requires a massive paradigm shift in how cloud infrastructure, virtualization, and artificial intelligence converge on the factory floor and in the cloud.

In this episode, host Suresh Sivavarman, Customer Chief Engineer at ETAS, sits down with Raj Paul, Mobility Industry Leader at Microsoft. Together, they break down how the partnership between Microsoft and ETAS is redefining vehicle development cycles. Raj explores how cloud-native developer environments, digital twins, and generative AI are accelerating software validation, streamlining developer onboarding, and enabling continuous OTA updates across modern automotive architectures.

Whether you are an automotive software architect, cloud engineer, or OEM technology strategist, this episode offers a practical look at scaling AI and cloud-driven virtualization across the SDV ecosystem.

In this episode: 
00:00 - Introduction: Cloud Computing & SDV Acceleration 
04:10 - The Microsoft & ETAS Vision for Cloud-Native Automotive Software 
10:25 - Virtualization & Digital Twins: Moving Beyond Physical Prototyping 
17:40 - Generative AI in Development: Boosting Code Generation & Validation
24:15 - Overcoming Friction in Developer Workflows & Onboarding 
30:50 - Continuous OTA Deployment & Cloud-to-Vehicle Integration 
36:10 - Key Takeaways for the Future of Connected Mobility

Thanks for listening!

• Email us at: [email protected]
• Learn more about ETAS on our website 
• Follow us on LinkedIn: @ETAS

 As generative AI (GenAI) shifts from traditional deterministic algorithms to complex probabilistic models, securing AI implementations across automotive systems presents entirely new engineering and cybersecurity challenges.

In this episode, host Zane Pelletier sits down with Ivan Granero, Cybersecurity Specialist at Bosch, to explore the security implications of deploying GenAI within the automotive domain. Ivan breaks down the fundamental shifts in risk modeling, the threat of prompt injection attacks, LLM data leakage, and how security teams must adapt threat analysis and risk assessment (TARA) frameworks to safeguard embedded automotive software and cloud-connected vehicle architectures.

Whether you are an automotive cybersecurity researcher, AI engineer, or vehicle software architect, this conversation provides a practical guide to securing next-generation AI in software-defined vehicles.

In this episode: 
00:00 - Introduction: GenAI Security in Automotive 
04:15 - Traditional Machine Learning vs. Probabilistic GenAI Models 
10:30 - Emerging Threat Vectors: Prompt Injection & Data Leakage in LLMs 
16:50 - Securing GenAI Across the Vehicle Lifecycle & Supply Chain 
23:15 - Adapting TARA (Threat Analysis & Risk Assessment) for AI Systems 
30:40 - Safeguarding Intellectual Property & Embedded Model Integrity 
35:20 - Key Takeaways for Future Automotive AI Defense

To view the tool Zane and Ivan mentioned in their discussion, click here. 

Thanks for listening!

• Email us at: [email protected]
• Learn more about ETAS on our website 
• Follow us on LinkedIn: @ETAS

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and connected embedded devices face an increasingly complex physical threat landscape where software protections alone are no longer enough to stop sophisticated hardware attacks.

In this episode, host Zane Pelletier from ETAS is joined by Gabriel Gonzalez-Garcia, Director of Hardware Security at IOActive, for an in-depth exploration of drone security and hardware hacking. Gabriel breaks down how fault injection attacks, including voltage glitching and clock manipulation, allow attackers to bypass secure boot mechanisms, alter instruction execution, and extract sensitive cryptographic keys from embedded chips.

Whether you are an embedded systems engineer, automotive security researcher, or hardware designer, this conversation offers critical insights into securing microcontrollers and automotive ECUs against physical and fault-based exploits.

Read Gabriel’s full whitepaper: https://www.ioactive.com/drone-security-fault-injection-attacks-gabriel-gonzalez/

In this episode: 
00:00 - Introduction: Drone Hacking & Hardware Security Realities 
05:10 - Why UAVs Present Unique Attack Vectors for Embedded Research 
12:45 - Demystifying Fault Injection Attacks: Voltage & Clock Glitching 
19:30 - Bypassing Secure Boot & Hardware-Based Access Controls 
27:15 - Extracting Cryptographic Keys & Firmware from Target Chips 
35:40 - Defensive Engineering: Hardening Microcontrollers Against Physical Exploits 
40:15 - Key Takeaways for Automotive ECUs and Connected Hardware

Thanks for listening!

• Email us at: [email protected]
• Learn more about ETAS on our website 
• Follow us on LinkedIn: @ETAS

In this webinar recording, we highlight the critical role measurement and calibration play in developing automotive software functions for microcontrollers by exploring emerging trends and future advances in measurement and calibration technologies, and understanding their potential impact on the industry. 

You'll discover why precise measurement and calibration are essential for vehicle performance and efficiency, and learn about advanced measurement techniques and effective calibration methods that ensure accuracy and reliability in vehicle systems. We also cover strategies for integrating these practices into your development workflows, enhancing both efficiency and performance, and help you gain insights into how powerful ETAS tools can optimize these processes. 

Thanks for listening!

• Email us at: [email protected]
• Learn more about ETAS on our website 
• Follow us on LinkedIn: @ETAS