Press Release QNX Research Finds Automotive Developers Spend More than a Third of Their Time on Software "Plumbing" Slowing SDV Innovation
Key Highlights
- ➤Developers spend 35% of time on foundational software integration work
- ➤Three quarters say lacking reusable software foundations slows SDV development
- ➤Debugging and testing tops team challenges at 44%, up eight points year over year
- ➤Security threats rank as greatest concern for 48% of developers, up five points
- ➤AI’s expected significant role in everyday workflows rises to 62%
Expert Statements
Justin Moon, Vice President, Core Product Engineering at QNX
“The industry is facing a complexity management challenge. Automotive software developers are trying to solve the same integration, software development and safety problems time and time again, and when a third of engineering effort goes into rebuilding software below the application layer, that is a third of the effort not going into the differentiating features drivers actually notice”
Justin Moon, Vice President, Core Product Engineering at QNX
“This year's data shows this approach is beginning to have consequences; debugging has become the biggest challenge developers face, perceptions of productivity are freefalling, and security has moved to the top of the agenda, all of which are symptoms of technical complexity. To reduce that, teams need a trusted software foundation they can build on, certify against and reuse, rather than starting from scratch with every program.”
Maite Bezerra, Senior Principal Analyst at Omdia
“The industry has spent several years talking about SDVs as a design ambition, but as the data shows, resources during that time have been concentrated on the middleware layer,”
Maite Bezerra, Senior Principal Analyst at Omdia
“When teams exhaust resources building custom infrastructure instead of standardizing foundational layers, they miss the point. Innovation in middleware is not only challenging for companies that aren't software-first, but it also doesn't drive direct customer value. Until automakers step away from the plumbing and focus on the application layer, they will continue to lack a solid business case for SDVs.”
WATERLOO, ON / ACCESS Newswire / October 21, 2026 / QNX, a division of BlackBerry Limited (NYSE:BB)(TSX:BB) today released its second annual Under the Hood: SDV Developer Report, a global study of 1,100 automotive software developers that examines how attitudes towards the software-defined vehicle (SDV) development landscape are evolving as the industry moves from ambition to execution. When it comes to innovation roadblocks, the research found that developers spend an average of 35% of their time on foundational software integration work rather than developing new features and capabilities that differentiate vehicles, while three quarters say the lack of a common, reusable software foundation is slowing overall SDV development.
Software-Defined Delays The automotive industry is at a critical inflection point, with automakers racing to move faster and ship software more efficiently. Against that backdrop, 79% of developers report feeling pressure from faster-moving competitors, reinforcing the need to balance software development speed and scalability with safety and reliability.
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