Critical TechWorks

Established in 2018, Critical TechWorks is a company formed as a result of a partnership between the BMW Group and Critical Software. It is exclusively dedicated to developing the next generation of software systems for BMW’s future driving machines.

The BMW Group is a global leader in the automotive industry, and software plays an increasingly key role in both its in-car technologies and its production and distribution methods. From infotainment systems to factory production, from safety systems and autonomous driving to logistics management, software is increasingly the key driver of innovation.

From an initial shortlist of hundreds of companies, Critical Software was selected as the ideal partner to drive the future of mobility with BMW. The launch of Critical TechWorks created one of BMW’s largest R&D centres in the world. Key technological areas such as cloud development, embedded development, data analytics, cyber security, connected devices and artificial intelligence are just some of the areas at the core of innovation.

Critical TechWorks is fuelled by an entirely agile mindset – from projects to operational management. This approach is crucial to creating complex and advanced technologies across multiple applications for different stakeholders in the BMW Group. Best practices in Scrum, DevOps, user interaction design, software architecture and state-of-the-art software toolchains are all part of the strategy to build software systems that fulfil the dynamic requirements of end-users.

Now, five years since starting operations, Critical TechWorks has grown to a thriving community of thousands of engineers working across dozens of projects, driving the future of software development for BMW’s most innovative systems. Critical TechWorks is changing the way the world thinks and feels about cars. Based in offices in Lisbon and Porto, the joint venture shows no signs of slowing down, with an open road to continuous software innovation transforming the future of mobility.