From hardware to AI: mapping the software-defined vehicle maturity journey at COVESA

Wednesday, October 28, 2026 | COVESA All Member Meeting, Sheraton Detroit Novi Hotel, Novi, Michigan. Speakers: Steve Bell, Chief Analyst, Omdia; Maite Bezerra, Senior Principal Analyst, Omdia; Tim Yerdon, Executive Director, SAE Industry Technologies Consortia.

Steve Bell opened this afternoon's fireside chat in Novi by calling it the first public discussion of the Digital Vehicle Maturity Level framework, a seven-level model that SAE ITC, Eclipse SDV, Omdia, and others have been developing to track the vehicle from hardware-defined to AI-defined.

Why the industry asked for a common taxonomy

Omdia ran a survey last month, sponsored by SAE ITC, asking automakers and suppliers at every tier where the industry most needs help, and a common taxonomy came back as a critical need. Maite said the industry is tired of competing solutions and of standards that can take five years to settle, so the group chose a framework that can be published quickly and revised every year from public comments.

Seven levels from connectivity to smart cities

Level 1 adds embedded connectivity, Level 2 adds OTA updates and infotainment upgrades, Level 5 brings in the ecosystem, and Level 7 connects the vehicle to intelligent transport systems, smart cities, and smart grids. Maite placed the move to a software-defined vehicle at the abstraction between hardware and software, and she said that once that abstraction exists, choosing a domain, zonal, or centralized architecture becomes a matter of preference. An AI-defined vehicle needs access to digitized vehicle data, so it can only be built on top of that software-defined layer.

A shared vocabulary, like SAE J3016

Tim compared the framework to SAE J3016, the automation levels that gave investors, analysts, and the media a shared vocabulary without telling anyone which cameras or lidar to buy. He said an industry that has wasted billions of dollars over the last five years can't afford to do that again.

Where it pays off first: the RFQ

Steve asked how anyone writes an RFQ for a vehicle shipping in 2029 or 2030 across this many standards and APIs, and Maite said suppliers she spoke with recently feel they don't share a language with the OEM when quoting SDV work. I think the RFQ is where this framework pays off first, because a shared level gives the OEM and the supplier the same definition of what's being bought before anyone prices it.

What's next

The full framework goes public after CES, and the team invited anyone who disagrees with a level to say so on the Eclipse SDV page.