Industry Voices: How Software-Defined Vehicles Are Rewriting Automotive Innovation, Insights From the Eclipse Foundation

The automotive industry is undergoing one of the most profound transformations in its history. Vehicles are no longer defined primarily by mechanical engineering — they are increasingly becoming software platforms, continuously updated, connected, and personalized throughout their lifecycle. 

As part of our Industry Voices series, we spoke with Sara Gallian, who leads the Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) Working Group at the Eclipse Foundation. The organization coordinates open-source collaboration across automotive manufacturers and suppliers to develop shared software foundations for next-generation vehicles.  

We explored how vehicles are becoming software ecosystems, the operational and technical challenges this shift creates, and why open collaboration may define the future of mobility. 

“Automotive is going through a foundational shift, vehicles are becoming software platforms, and that shift requires neutral, vendor-independent spaces where the industry can co-develop core building blocks,” says Sara Gallian.

A Structural Shift in How Vehicles Are Built 

For decades, automotive innovation centered on mechanical engineering and proprietary electronic components. Today, the industry is undergoing a structural change: software is becoming the primary driver of vehicle capabilities and customer value. 

This transformation is reshaping how vehicles are designed, delivered, and maintained. 

Key developments include: 

• Continuous feature delivery, enabling vehicles to gain new capabilities through software updates. 
• Advanced driver assistance and automated functions, requiring complex data processing and real-time performance. 
• Digital user experiences, where software increasingly defines brand identity. 
• Connected services, creating long-term relationships between manufacturers and customers. 

The result is a new development paradigm. Instead of isolated systems, vehicles must operate as integrated platforms capable of evolving throughout their lifecycle. 

According to Gallian, this shift is forcing the industry to rethink how foundational technologies are built and maintained at scale. 

Why Open Source Is Becoming Strategic Infrastructure 

As software complexity increases, automakers face rising development costs and growing technical fragmentation. Open-source collaboration is emerging as a way to address both challenges. 

Rather than each company building core infrastructure independently, shared platforms allow manufacturers and suppliers to jointly develop non-differentiating but essential technologies. 

Gallian describes her mission as transforming open collaboration into production-ready infrastructure for the automotive ecosystem. 

“My mission is to coordinate the collaborative efforts that turn open-source software and open collaboration from a conceptual trend into a strategic, production-ready platform for the industry,” she explains. 

Within the SDV initiative, collaboration focuses on:

• Shared core software stacks for vehicle platforms 
• Vendor-neutral governance and transparent processes 
• Common frameworks for safety and compliance evidence 
• Interoperable architectures across the supply chain 

This model allows companies to share investment in foundational technology while competing in customer-facing innovation. 

“I believe the ideal balance is open the foundations, commercialize the differentiation. Commercial opportunities lie in high-margin layers like personalized UX/UI experiences and advanced ADAS functions that define a brand's unique identity,” Gallian says.

When Innovation Meets Regulation and Reality 

Despite the promise of open collaboration, deploying automotive software in production environments presents significant challenges. 

Unlike many digital systems, vehicle software operates in safety-critical conditions and must meet strict regulatory requirements while supporting long operational lifecycles. 

“While technical collaboration often works well, the real challenge occurs when moving from open-source creation to production-ready deployment in safety-critical contexts,” Sara explains. 

Several factors contribute to this complexity: 

Certification and safety evidence 

Automotive software requires continuous proof that systems remain safe, secure, and sustainable over time — requirements historically designed for static, proprietary software rather than evolving open systems. 

Legacy system integration 

Many existing vehicle architectures were built for vendor-specific configurations, creating a mismatch with modern modular and interoperable software models. 

Lifecycle sustainability 

With vehicles remaining in service for 10–15 years, long-term maintenance and ecosystem support become essential for ensuring software viability throughout the vehicle’s lifespan. 

To address these challenges, initiatives within the SDV ecosystem are developing frameworks such as trustable software infrastructure and safety-aligned core stacks that help bridge the gap between open-source development and certification requirements. 

“You don’t simply adopt open source — you build an operating model around it,” Sara notes. 

Security in the Era of Connected Mobility 

As vehicles become increasingly connected, cybersecurity has become a central priority for manufacturers and regulators alike. 

Sara identifies fragmented supply chains and limited transparency as major risk factors in current automotive development. 

“The biggest gap in automotive security is the lack of transparency in fragmented supply chains, which open-source directly addresses by making threats visible to the global community,” she says. 

Open-source development offers an alternative model, enabling: 

• Greater visibility into vulnerabilities 
• Community-driven threat identification 
• Professional security audits 
• Centralized vulnerability management processes 
• Secure-by-design development practices 

Rather than relying on closed systems, the industry is increasingly exploring collaborative approaches to security that emphasize transparency and shared responsibility.

Where Automotive Value Is Moving Next 

As shared software platforms standardize foundational capabilities, competitive differentiation is shifting toward higher-value layers of the vehicle's experience. 

Gallian points to several areas where commercial opportunities are expanding: 

• Personalized user interfaces and digital experiences 
• Advanced driver assistance and autonomous capabilities 
• Performance optimization and feature customization 
• Post-purchase services and subscription-based features 

By reducing duplication in core development, manufacturers can focus more resources on innovation that directly impacts customers and brand identity. 

The Next Phase of Software-Defined Mobility 

Looking ahead, the long-term ambition of the SDV initiative is to establish a production-grade reference platform that serves as a shared baseline for automotive software development. 

The vision includes interoperable building blocks, standardized security practices, and unified development frameworks that support industry-wide collaboration. 

“Our goal is to become the default place where the industry builds the foundations of the software-defined vehicle,” Gallian says. 

As vehicles continue to evolve into complex digital systems, the convergence of open collaboration, safety assurance, and cybersecurity will shape the future of automotive innovation — and determine how mobility is defined in the decades ahead. 

Read more industry insights on our Automotive page.