{"id":1013,"date":"2026-05-05T12:46:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T11:46:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrics.blogg.gu.se\/?p=1013"},"modified":"2026-05-05T12:46:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T11:46:33","slug":"vecs-2026-the-era-of-the-ai-defined-vehicle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrics.blogg.gu.se\/?p=1013","title":{"rendered":"VECS 2026 \u2014 The Era of the AI-Defined Vehicle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/metrics.blogg.gu.se\/files\/2026\/05\/Gemini_Generated_Image_mifjtbmifjtbmifj.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"573\" src=\"https:\/\/metrics.blogg.gu.se\/files\/2026\/05\/Gemini_Generated_Image_mifjtbmifjtbmifj-1024x573.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1014\" srcset=\"https:\/\/metrics.blogg.gu.se\/files\/2026\/05\/Gemini_Generated_Image_mifjtbmifjtbmifj-1024x573.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/metrics.blogg.gu.se\/files\/2026\/05\/Gemini_Generated_Image_mifjtbmifjtbmifj-300x168.jpg 300w, https:\/\/metrics.blogg.gu.se\/files\/2026\/05\/Gemini_Generated_Image_mifjtbmifjtbmifj-768x430.jpg 768w, https:\/\/metrics.blogg.gu.se\/files\/2026\/05\/Gemini_Generated_Image_mifjtbmifjtbmifj-1200x671.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/metrics.blogg.gu.se\/files\/2026\/05\/Gemini_Generated_Image_mifjtbmifjtbmifj-1320x738.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/metrics.blogg.gu.se\/files\/2026\/05\/Gemini_Generated_Image_mifjtbmifjtbmifj.jpg 1373w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The VECS 2026 conference in Gothenburg has made one thing clear: the transition to <strong>Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs)<\/strong> is no longer a future prediction\u2014it is accelerating rapidly toward total market dominance. I&#8217;ve been to both days and it seems that the best time for software is NOW! For a nerdy software engineer like me, this conference provided a glimpse of the future where software defines everything, AI &#8211; yes, but complemented with a lot of good-old-fashion programming, guardrails and similar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>My Key Takeaways from the Conference:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Rapid Market Evolution<\/strong>: While current volumes are relatively low, the global SDV share is projected to jump from 14% in 2025 to 46% by 2035. Similarly, Zonal Architectures are expected to grow from a 5% share today to 40% by 2035.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Rise of Middleware<\/strong>: Middleware is emerging as a critical control point for OEMs. To shorten time-to-market and maintain control over software platforms, OEMs are now partnering to develop joint middleware solutions rather than relying on fragmented supplier systems.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>China as a Catalyst<\/strong>: The fast pace of Chinese automakers is a primary driver for global change, pushing the industry toward &#8220;AI-defined mobility&#8221; and the integration of edge AI models. Notably, over 20 OEMs integrated DeepSeek within weeks of its release.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The &#8220;Software Factory&#8221;<\/strong>: Industry leaders like Alwin Bakkenes emphasized that profitability in the electric vehicle sector requires extreme process optimization. This is being achieved through &#8220;Software Factories&#8221;\u2014modern development concepts where source code is integrated with digital twins for virtual testing and exploration.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Hardware Innovation<\/strong>: To control AI workloads, OEMs are increasingly designing their own chips and moving toward 2nd Generation Zonal Architectures, such as the one powering the upcoming Volvo EX60.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"p-rc_2ac58e28f5ce3ea6-25\">The message from VECS 2026 is certain: for the automotive industry to thrive, it must embrace a &#8220;machine that builds the machine&#8221; philosophy, prioritizing high-performance computing and seamless software integration<sup><\/sup><sup><\/sup><sup><\/sup><sup><\/sup>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The VECS 2026 conference in Gothenburg has made one thing clear: the transition to Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs) is no longer a future prediction\u2014it is accelerating rapidly toward total market dominance. I&#8217;ve been to both days and it seems that the best time for software is NOW! For a nerdy software engineer like me, this conference &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/metrics.blogg.gu.se\/?p=1013\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;VECS 2026 \u2014 The Era of the AI-Defined Vehicle&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrics.blogg.gu.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1013"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrics.blogg.gu.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrics.blogg.gu.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrics.blogg.gu.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrics.blogg.gu.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1013"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/metrics.blogg.gu.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1015,"href":"https:\/\/metrics.blogg.gu.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1013\/revisions\/1015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrics.blogg.gu.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrics.blogg.gu.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrics.blogg.gu.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}