Engineering the Future: Insights from the 2025 Silicon Valley Engineering Summit
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Marc Osofsky, CEO of Jama Software, presenting at the 2025 Silicon Valley Engineering Summit.
Engineering the Future: Insights from the 2025 Silicon Valley Engineering Summit
On December 4, 2025, top engineering leaders, product innovators, and compliance professionals gathered to discuss and explore the future of digital engineering. More than just a conference, this one-day, focused event was an intimate and collaborative forum designed to foster deep connections and facilitate the exchange of innovative ideas across high-stakes industries.
Attendees gained value from expert panels on emerging topics like AI-assisted engineering and cybersecurity, interactive sessions with senior industry leaders, and Jama Software executives. Beyond thought leadership, the event fostered meaningful cross-industry networking, collaborative learning, and real-world case examples that helped professionals benchmark their practices and explore innovative tools and techniques to advance engineering excellence within their fields
This post will recap the key moments, valuable discussions, and collaborative spirit that defined the summit, which was held at the San Jose Hilton.
A Convergence of Industry Leaders
The summit brought together a diverse group of leaders and professionals from aerospace and defense, medical devices and life sciences, semiconductors, and industrial manufacturing. The setup and structure of the event allowed for focused and meaningful discussions to take place. Unlike larger trade shows, this setting allowed for genuine collaboration. Participants could share specific challenges and discover cross-industry solutions that have delivered measurable impact.
The day was designed to move beyond high-level theory. It focused on practical strategies for improving engineering governance, navigating regulatory complexities, and integrating innovative technologies like AI and automation into established workflows.
Keynotes and Panels: Setting the Stage for Innovation
The morning sessions set a forward-looking tone for the day. Jama Software’s SVP of Product Management, Patrick Richardson, kicked things off with a keynote that outlined his vision for the future., while highlighting key product themes and core investment areas.
This was followed by a compelling presentation from HTEC’s Alfred Olivares and Craig Melrose on “AI Driven Innovation with Engineering Governance Built In.” They demonstrated how to embed governance from the start to unleash AI’s potential without sacrificing control or compliance.
Philomena Zimmerman, former Director of Engineering Tools and Environments at the U.S. Department of Defense, explored how digital engineering helps organizations clarify intent, reuse knowledge, and collaborate across organizational boundaries. In her session, “From Systems to Systems-of-Systems,” she offered a strategic perspective on aligning with the DoD’s push to move beyond slow, traditional acquisition models toward a culture of speed and agile execution—while also navigating the latest DoD acquisition reform directives.
A major highlight was the fireside chat with Chris Smith, Corporate Vice President at AMD. He and Jama Software’s Neil Stroud discussed pressing semiconductor market trends and shared lessons applicable to any complex engineering field. The morning concluded with an interactive panel where keynote speakers answered audience questions, creating a dynamic town hall atmosphere. Finally, Jama Software CEO Marc Osofsky shared his vision for leading the next era of digital engineering.
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Tailored Insights in Collaborative Breakout Sessions
The afternoon was dedicated to deep dives into industry-specific challenges and solutions. Attendees split into 2 main focused breakout sessions, allowing for more targeted discussions and peer-to-peer learning. Topics by each industry are listed below.
Aerospace & Defense
This track featured leaders like Dr. Corey Hendricks, VP & Chief Engineer at Leidos, who discussed leveraging global scale with robust engineering governance as well as strategies for enabling business unit-level standardization on digital engineering excellence in speed, quality, and reuse efficiencies. Speakers shared strategies for driving efficiency and quality while preparing for evolving industry trends, including the acceleration of AI adoption. Christopher Delp, Systems Engineer Instructor at Caltech CTME, provided an engaging session titled “The Era of Blended Intelligence for Goal-Based Engineering of Sophisticated Systems.” He focused on how modern engineering teams can navigate growing system complexity by adopting digital and model-based systems engineering practice,s ultimately targeting a breakthrough approach of mission-driven engineering.
Medical Device & Life Sciences
Technical Fellow Bijan Elahi led a session on risk management techniques for digital health products. The track also tackled the complex regulatory landscape for AI/ML-enabled Software as a Medical Device (SaMD). A panel of industry leaders discussed everything from data security and human factors to using quality as a competitive advantage.
Semiconductors
This session addressed why engineering governance is becoming the standard for innovation in the semiconductor sector. Leaders gained fresh insights into requirements engineering at scale and heard firsthand how a leading company transformed its processes with Jama Connect. Sarah Gregory, Principal Systems & Solutions Engineer and Consultant, delivered a presentation titled “Challenges from the Semiconductor Trenches,” where she shared how what had been thought of as a complicated requirements management problem was in fact a more complex leadership interdependency challenge. Additionally, the Jama Software team introduced their new Semiconductor Solution Framework, designed to help clients accelerate time to market with customized PRD and MRD item types, tailored reports, and a comprehensive procedure guide, an approach that can have reusability across any industry or program’s development process that incorporates semi-conductor development.
Industrial Tech
Sheila King from Rockwell Automation shared the journey of her team’s adoption of Jama Connect, offering valuable insights and lessons learned along the way. Her story resonated deeply with the overarching theme presented by other speakers: the idea that processes are not static. Instead, they evolve through experimentation, reflection, and adaptation. Whether it’s refining processes, adjusting configurations, or embracing change, Sheila’s narrative underscored the importance of learning from each step and applying those lessons to drive continuous improvement.
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The Power of Connection and Collaboration
Throughout the day, networking was woven into the agenda. From the welcome breakfast to the closing happy hour, attendees had ample time to connect with speakers and peers. These conversations were where the true value of the intimate setting became clear.
This collaborative environment sparked new ideas and forged valuable professional relationships that will extend far beyond the event itself. Participants left not just with notes, but with new connections and a renewed sense of community.
Shaping the Future of Digital Engineering
The Jama Software Silicon Valley Engineering Summit was more than just a recap of current trends; it was a collaborative look into the future. Attendees gained a cross-industry perspective on what top innovators are focusing on and left with actionable strategies to consider for implementation within their own organizations.
The key takeaway was clear: the future of complex product development relies on breaking down silos, embracing digital transformation, and fostering a culture of continuous innovation. By providing a platform for this exact purpose, the summit empowered every attendee to return to their work ready to build the next generation of groundbreaking products.
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Director of Product and Solution Marketing at Jama Software
Experienced in all aspects of the software development lifecycle with a particular focus on requirements management. Currently managing a team of pre-sales solution architects. We are passionate about understanding our client's business challenges and what it takes to solve them. We are innovative, agile, and have the pleasure of working with the best in class solution.
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