Discover What’s Shaping the Software-Defined Vehicle

Our 2026 agenda brings together the topics, technologies and strategic questions defining the next phase of automotive software. 
Expect first-hand insights, practical perspectives and forward-looking discussions spanning AI, software platforms, vehicle architectures and the technologies enabling continuous vehicle innovation.

The Program Is Now Live
– Explore The Agenda Below And Stay Tuned For More To Come.
View Agenda

Our Key Discussion Points

  • Architecture for the AI-defined vehicle
  • The evolution and reality of the software-defined vehicle
  • Automotive operating systems, middleware and platform APIs
  • Open source innovation across the automotive software ecosystem
  • Safe and AI-ready software-defined vehicle platforms
  • Rust and agentic coding for safety-critical automotive software
  • Virtual development, digital twins and automated testing
  • AI and agentic engineering for greater development productivity
  • Automotive data usage and data management
  • Cooperation, ecosystems and new business models for the SDV era

What to Expect at ASSC US 2026

Now that the agenda is live, attendees can look forward to two days of expert insights, practical perspectives, and valuable networking opportunities, with more program updates to come.
  • Two days of practical, insightful and inspiring presentations
  • Opportunities for Q&A and exchange with industry experts
  • Access to the exhibition and networking area
  • Networking drinks reception with food on November 3
  • Networking opportunities during coffee and lunch breaks
  • Access to on-demand session recordings after the conference
  • Presentation slides available for download after the event
08:30

Participant Arrival, Registration & Networking in the Exhibition Area

Ingo Martin Ingo Martin Senior Director Automotive Events,
Ultima Media Germany
Martin Schleicher Martin Schleicher Independent Consultant & Conference Host
09:30

Welcome & Opening Remarks

09:40

Keynote: Smart EVs - Challenging the Status Quo

Architecture for the AI-defined Vehicle
Ganesh V. Iyer Ganesh V. Iyer CEO,
NIO U.S.
10:05

The SDV Reality Check

Architecture for the AI-defined Vehicle

The automotive industry stands at a critical inflection point in the software-defined vehicle (SDV) transition. While the vision is clear, the path forward remains fragmented, with significant gaps between aspiration and execution. This presentation combines insights from three Omdia studies—the SDV Ecosystem Survey, the SDV Survey and Market Forecast—to deliver a data-driven assessment of where the industry stands today and what's holding back progress.

This session will address:

  • What industry key stakeholders define as the key enablers of SDV – examining technological foundations, business model innovations, and organizational transformations that stakeholders identify as critical to the SDV transition
  • How the implementation of these enabling technologies has progressed – assessing current deployment status and stakeholder expectations for when key SDV capabilities will be fully implemented across the industry
  • Where the critical gaps for widespread deployment of SDVs are placed – identifying the technical, organizational, and ecosystem challenges that remain unresolved and are impeding scaled adoption
  • Why measuring market progress is difficult without a common way to classify vehicles – discussing the lack of standardized benchmarking and the confusion created by inconsistent SDV definitions across the industry
  • Introducing the SDV Levels framework – presenting an updated classification system that provides a common language for the industry to consistently categorize vehicles and track the transitio

The talk will conclude with an overview of the current state of the market and regional trajectories. Using the introduced framework, we will analyse deployments patterns and future projections across North America, EMEA and Asia.

Maite Bezerra Maite Bezerra Senior Principal Analyst, Automotive,
Omdia
10:25

Eclipse SDV: Driving Global Open Source Innovation in the Automotive Landscape

Architecture for the AI-defined Vehicle

Eclipse SDV is a global, vendor-neutral open-source ecosystem that serves as an ideal collaboration platform for startups and tech companies driving automotive innovation. It features Eclipse S-CORE as a pioneering middleware stack for safety-related use cases, proving that critical automotive functionality can be successfully developed within an open collaboration framework. Ultimately, this model demonstrates that robust neutral governance and cross-border alignment are key to navigating software sovereignty, highlighting the vital need for global collaboration across the industry.

Dr. Sara Gallian Dr. Sara Gallian Senior Manager, SDV & Automotive Programs,
Eclipse Foundation GmbH
10:45

Going Up the Stack: Driving the Future of SDV Innovation with Google, AAOS, and AI

Architecture for the AI-defined Vehicle
Matt Crowley Matt Crowley Group Product Manager, Android Automotive,
Google
11:10

Coffee Break & Networking in the Exhibition Area

11:45

An End to Recreating the Wheel: Alloy Kore and the Shared Foundation Beneath the Vehicle OS

Operating System & Middleware
  • Automakers are investing heavily in vehicle operating systems, intelligent platforms, and continuously evolving digital experiences. Yet across the industry, up to 40% of program budgets can still be consumed by integration, testing, and validation work that repeats with every new program. That is engineering capacity spent rebuilding the base instead of advancing the experiences, intelligence, and features that differentiate the vehicle.
  • The path forward is treating foundational software as a reusable platform, not a program deliverable. When integration, performance tuning, orchestration, and safety alignment are solved once at the foundation, they can be reused across programs, domains, ECUs, and vehicle lines. Alloy Kore is that shared foundation: an integrated automotive software layer beneath the Vehicle OS, helping OEMs build scalable, production-ready software platforms without recreating the wheel.
Justin Moon Justin Moon Vice President, Core Product Engineering,
QNX
12:10

Why the Industry Needs a True Automotive OS API

Operating System & Middleware

Since the introduction of high-performance compute platforms in the automotive domain, software architectures have been structured into board support package, (optionally) hypervisor, POSIX operating system, middleware, and application software - each component developed and optimized in isolation. With rising software integration complexity and considering modern development workflows this siloed approach is no longer sufficient. Reaching the next level of usability, performance, and reusability requires a more holistic approach. An approach in which boundaries between components deliberately blur.

The result is a novel architecture centered around a true Automotive OS, complemented by "Personalities": lightweight adapters for different software ecosystems. This enables cross-domain reuse of core functions, eliminates redundancy, and preserves the flexibility to support diverse application ecosystems as required, e.g. in IVI, ADAS, and vehicle dynamics. To prevent vendor lock-in and enable broad industry adoption, the Automotive OS API must be openly designed and governed. This keynote presents a reference architecture and outline a concrete path towards an open industry standard that benefits OEMs, Tier-1 suppliers, and software innovators alike.

Dr. Marc Weber Dr. Marc Weber Vice President Portfolio Management Software Platform,
Vector Informatik
12:30

From Silicon to Software: Enabling Safe, AI-Ready Software-defined Vehicle Platforms

Operating System & Middleware
Markus Schupfner Markus Schupfner Managing Director & CEO,
Qorix
12:50

Networking Lunch in the Exhibition Area

14:00

Automotive SOS in the AI Era: Rethinking Safety, Open Source, and Security

Operating System & Middleware
Francis Chow Francis Chow VP & GM, In-Vehicle Operating System and Edge,
Red Hat
14:30

Panel Discussion on OS & Middleware

Operating System & Middleware
Francis Chow Francis Chow VP & GM, In-Vehicle Operating System and Edge,
Red Hat
Justin Moon Justin Moon Vice President, Core Product Engineering,
QNX
Markus Schupfner Markus Schupfner Managing Director & CEO,
Qorix
Dr. Marc Weber Dr. Marc Weber Vice President Portfolio Management Software Platform,
Vector Informatik
15:00

Keynote: Rust + Agentic Coding + Safety-Critical

Software Technologies: Rust
Pete LeVasseur Pete LeVasseur Staff Software Engineer,
Woven by Toyota
15:25

Coffee Break & Networking in the Exhibition Area

16:00

Unlocking Continuous Vehicle Innovation Through Software and AI

Virtual Development
Marc Serughetti Marc Serughetti Vice President of Product Management,
Synopsys
16:20

Shifting Left with Automated Test Generation

Virtual Development

The introduction of software defined vehicles has dramatically increased the complexity of automotive software, while simultaneously demanding rigorous functional validation.  Design teams often need numerous validation cycles through software-in-the-loop (SIL) and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing to achieve a working product.  In this presentation we show how Code Metal’s automated test generation tools with formal verification can significantly decrease the number of validation cycles that are needed, allowing teams to shift left to resolve problems on the left side of the “Engineering V,” where the time and cost for iteration is significantly lower.  The result is a development process that reduces engineering risk and improves confidence in software transformations, allowing teams to bring products to market significantly faster.

Dr. Samson Melamed Dr. Samson Melamed Principal Research Scientist,
Code Metal, Inc.
16:40

To be announced shortly

Virtual Development
17:00

Scaling Robotaxi Fleets: From AI Training to In-Vehicle Compute

Virtual Development

Getting a driverless vehicle onto the road is one challenge. Scaling a safe, reliable robotaxi service across thousands of vehicles, cities and operating conditions is another. This session will examine the end-to-end computing challenge behind moving from initial deployment to fleet scale. It will explore how a three-computer architecture spanning AI training, simulation, and in-vehicle computing enables teams to continuously improve models, test the long tail of rare scenarios and deploy production-ready systems. The discussion will also consider how open, modular platforms allow mobility providers, autonomous-vehicle developers and automakers to tailor their technology stacks while building on a common foundation for scale.  Safe autonomous driving requires full-stack safety—from the vehicle and AI models to the development process—validated through both on road testing & physically accurate simulation.

Ali Kani Ali Kani Vice President & General Manager Automotive Team,
NVIDIA
17:20

The Human Nexus: Designing the Intelligent Cabin

Virtual Development
Marti Romances Marti Romances Co-Founder Creative Director,
Territory Studio, San Francisco
17:45

Day 1 Wrap-Up & Closing Remarks

Martin Schleicher Martin Schleicher Independent Consultant & Conference Host
17:55

Evening Networking Reception with Food & Drinks