Transform Engineering Processes: Bridge Gaps Between Teams and Tools Effectively
Engineering organizations face challenges delivering complex products on time, within budget, and with high quality. Teams often work with different tools, creating data silos that slow the digital engineering process. These gaps lead to missed requirements, delays, and defects.
In this webinar, our Jama Software experts Preston Mitchell, Vice President of Solutions & Support; Mario Maldari, Director of Product & Solution Marketing; and Vincent Balgos, Director of Solutions & Consulting, discuss how Jama Connect®, and our Jama Connect Interchange™ add-on, address these challenges through key use cases.
What you’ll learn:
Traceable Agile: Integrate systems engineering and software teams using Jama Connect + Jira to drive quality and speed.
Scalable FMEA Process: Empower reliability and risk management teams with Jama Connect + Excel for efficient FMEA analysis.
Universal ReqIF Exchange: Seamlessly import, export, and round-trip ReqIF exchanges across requirements tools with Universal ReqIF, enabling teams to co-develop requirements with stakeholders and partners.
The video above is a preview of this webinar – Click HERE to watch it in its entirety!
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Preston Mitchell: We are here to talk about how to save precious engineering time, and each of us is going to cover a specific use case that we think will help your teams save a lot of time, utilizing both Jama Connect, as well as Jama Connect Interchange. And when you think about where is most of the time wasted in engineering teams, we typically find it’s something that visually looks like this. It’s siloed teams and tools across the system engineering V model, and we really find that these things are the number one cause of negative product outcomes.
You know them, you’re probably intimately familiar with them. It’s a lack of identification of defects, missed requirements, or lack of coordination. A lot of manual steps to connect things, maybe requirements that live in one tool, and your system testing that lives in a different tool. And a lot of this can be highly manual, which is really a tough thing when you have to satisfy some of the industry regulations that a lot of our customers work with.
As we all know, kind of late detection of issues really leads to a huge cost in order to correct that with a project. You can kind of see in this bar graph here, that I’ve got on the left the different phases, going to the right of a typical product development. So you’re starting in the requirements definition and design, and moving all the way to acceptance testing. Typically, the number of faults or problems are introduced very early in the requirements definition and design phase. But the problem is they aren’t found until later in the project, like during integration or system testing. And even if you get to the acceptance testing level, you can see the exponential increase in cost to fix these expensive errors. These is not Jama Connect’s numbers, these numbers are from sources at The International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). So you can really take away from this is the fewer errors that we introduce early, or the faster or sooner that we identify those issues, the better off we’re going to be and the more engineering time we are going to save.
How do we do this? Well, Jama Software, we are the number one requirements management and Live Traceability™ product in the market. We really bring a lot of resources and technology to bear to help you manage your product development, whether that’s complex and highly scaled types of products. We help you bring all the collaboration and reviews online. And we help you, number one, integrate the different state of the product across the many disparate tools that you might have in your engineering departments, and, specifically, that’s going to allow you to then measure and improve your traceability.
Mitchell: We work with a lot of the key industries that you see here at the bottom, and in particular, like Vincent, you work with the medical devices. I think your use case that you’re going to cover is going to be very built off of that medical device industry. But really, a lot of the use cases we’re going to cover today are applicable to all of these industries.
We are the leader, and we’d like to be bold about it. We are number one according to G2 in terms of requirements management and traceability tools. So we encourage you to check out the different ratings and how we stack up against our competitors.
The ultimate goal that we want to get you to is saving that time. So moving from disparate, siloed teams and tools to an actual integrated system of Live Traceability. We actually have benchmark data from all of our cloud customers, where we can actually show a correlation between the customers that have a greater traceability score, meaning all the expected relationships have been built out. We find that they have 1.8x faster time to defect detection, nearly 2.5x times lower test case failure rates, and then typically a 3.5x higher verification coverage. So it behooves you and your engineering teams to think about how can we actually integrate, and save ourselves time, and that’s just going to create a higher-quality product down the line.
I’d be curious to pause right here. We have a poll. I’d be interested in asking, if you take a step back and think about your R&D teams, all the different tools and teams that you have, what percentage would you say today in your organization is actually fully covered by Live Traceability? 100%, 50%, 0%? I’d be kind of interested in the scale on that. So we should see a poll pop up here, and I’ll give you a couple of seconds to answer that.
Now, we see some answers coming in. Thank you. Yeah, as to be expected, it’s not anywhere near 100%. Most of the companies that we work with are struggling with this, and so this is where we really want to help them out. And how do we do that? Well, our Jama Connect Interchange add-on to Jama Connect is a really powerful tool that we’re going to walk you through today, and it’s going to allow you to automate the connection between your data and process.
So we’re going to cover three use cases. I’m going to talk briefly first about Traceable Agile™, and this is how we integrate systems and software teams, using Jama Connect and a very popular tool that a lot of our software organizations use, which is Atlassian Jira. So we’ll talk about that Traceable Agile use case. Then Vincent is going to cover the Scalable FMEA Process, so how to utilize the power of the functions that are in Excel, and bringing those functions to bear inside of Jama Connect, so that you can do risk management and reliability management, but tied in with your requirements and testing. And then, finally, we’ll end on Mario covering Universal ReqIF Exchange, and this really enables you to co-develop with partners and suppliers across Jama Connect, but also maybe even different requirements management tools. So let’s dive in.
Mitchell: So when you think about Traceable Agile, Agile software, it’s a methodology, as well as a philosophy. It’s been around software teams for a long time, and it works well. It’s been widely adopted, and widely successful. At the same time, a lot of complex products are not made up of solely software. They have to actually be integrated in with the hardware and perhaps other mechanical aspects of these products that you’re building. So there’s a balance, right? There’s a balance of being completely Agile, but also making sure that you follow some process.
And kind of where we find that Agile sometimes can break down when we talk with software engineering leaders. They have these very common questions that they bring up, and it’s what keeps them up at night. How do I know which requirements have been missed? Am I actually covering everything? How do I know that I’m actually testing all of my requirements, and which ones of those have failed? The fourth bullet there, how do I identify rogue developments? It’s like, how do I make sure my teams are not gold-plating the product, and we’re actually meeting the stakeholder or the user needs that we’re trying to deliver to? And then, finally, change. Change is a given in this fast-paced environment, so how do I know when impacts are made? When changes are made in the software or in the hardware, how do I know what those impacts are across?
So the solution to this is Traceable Agile. It’s really no change to how your software teams may work today using Atlassian Jira. Really, what we are adding on is the ability to auto-detect gaps and measure and take action on those. And so I’m going to step into Jama Connect to give you a little bit of a demonstration here.
The Future of Requirements Management: Top 10 Trends to Watch in 2026
Requirements management keeps changing and evolving. With new technologies and project demands emerging every year, teams can’t rely on the same old playbook and expect great results. Instead, organizations are finding new ways to define project needs, work together, and use technology to their advantage. Adapting these shifts isn’t optional; it’s a must for any business that wants to keep up and deliver real value.
Staying ahead of these changes is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge. This article will explore the ten most significant trends shaping the future of requirements management. From the integration of artificial intelligence to the growing importance of sustainability, we will provide actionable insights to help you prepare your team for the challenges and opportunities of 2026.
1. AI and Machine Learning Will Become Standard
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are moving from niche applications to core components of the requirements management toolkit. These technologies are revolutionizing how teams elicit, analyze, and validate requirements. AI-driven platforms can now automate the tedious work of sifting through customer feedback, technical documents, and interview transcripts to identify key needs and potential conflicts.
This automation frees up business analysts and product managers to concentrate on high-value strategic tasks. For instance, AI can generate initial drafts of user stories, acceptance criteria, and even test cases, significantly speeding up the development cycle and reducing the likelihood of human error. The result is a more efficient process that produces higher-quality, more consistent requirements.
2. Sustainability Goals Will Be Integrated into Requirements
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria have become a major focus for corporations worldwide. This shift is now directly impacting project development, as sustainability is no longer just a corporate goal but a tangible project requirement. Requirements management processes must now incorporate non-functional requirements that address a product’s environmental impact and ethical footprint.
This means teams will need to define and track metrics related to energy efficiency, material sourcing, accessibility, and data privacy. By embedding these ESG considerations directly into the project’s foundation, organizations can ensure that sustainability is a core design principle, not an afterthought.
3. Cloud-Native Platforms Will Dominate
The move toward remote and hybrid work models has accelerated the transition to cloud-based requirements management solutions. These platforms offer a single, centralized source of truth that is accessible to all stakeholders, regardless of their location. This real-time collaboration is essential for keeping distributed teams aligned and productive.
Cloud-native tools offer more than just accessibility; they provide the scalability needed to handle projects of any size and offer seamless integrations with a wide range of development and operations tools. This creates a connected digital ecosystem where information flows smoothly from initial idea to final deployment, enhancing transparency and overall project efficiency.
With the increasing frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks, security can no longer be addressed late in the development cycle. The practice of “shifting left” is becoming standard, meaning security considerations must be integrated into the requirements phase. A single vulnerability can compromise sensitive data, leading to severe financial and reputational damage.
Requirements management must now include the proactive definition of security protocols, data encryption standards, and strict access controls. Methodologies like threat modeling are becoming common practice during the initial project stages to identify and mitigate potential security risks before a single line of code is written.
5. Deeper Alignment with Agile and DevOps
The rapid iteration cycles of Agile and DevOps demand a fluid and responsive approach to requirements management. The era of the static, hundred-page requirements document is over. In its place is a dynamic, living backlog that evolves alongside the project. Achieving this requires deep, seamless integration between requirements management software and popular Agile platforms.
This tight alignment ensures that development work is always synchronized with the latest project requirements. It facilitates a continuous feedback loop, where learnings from sprints and testing can be used to refine the backlog instantly. This adaptive approach allows teams to respond quickly to changing market needs and deliver more valuable products.
6. Digital Twins Will Validate Requirements Virtually
Digital twin technology offers a groundbreaking way to test and validate requirements in a risk-free virtual environment. By creating a detailed digital replica of a product, system, or process, teams can simulate its behavior under countless scenarios. This allows stakeholders to see and interact with a virtual version of the final product long before physical production begins.
This is especially valuable for complex hardware, manufacturing, and infrastructure projects. Using a digital twin, teams can identify design flaws, optimize performance, and ensure that the documented requirements translate into the desired real-world outcome. This process minimizes costly late-stage changes and significantly improves product quality.
7. Collaboration Will Extend Across Business Networks
Projects today rarely happen in a silo. They involve a complex network of internal departments, external partners, suppliers, and customers. Effective collaboration across this entire ecosystem is critical for success. Enterprise communication platforms and business networks are becoming indispensable for sharing information and facilitating collective decision-making.
By integrating these collaborative tools directly into the requirements management workflow, organizations can create a transparent and inclusive environment. This ensures all stakeholders have an opportunity to provide input and that their feedback is captured, tracked, and addressed, reducing misunderstandings and preventing project delays.
Ultimately, a project’s success is measured by how well it meets the needs of its end-users. This has led to a much stronger focus on user-centric design principles within requirements management. Techniques such as developing detailed user personas, mapping out customer journeys, and conducting usability testing are no longer optional extras; they are essential practices.
Adopting this user-first mindset ensures that every requirement is tied to a tangible user benefit. By building a deep understanding of the user experience, teams can prioritize features that deliver real value, resulting in products that are not only functional but also intuitive, engaging, and enjoyable to use.
9. Advanced Analytics Will Drive Decision-Making
Collecting project data is easy; turning it into actionable intelligence is the real challenge. Advanced analytics and business intelligence tools are empowering requirements managers to make smarter, data-driven decisions. These platforms can visualize complex data sets, identify emerging trends, and even predict potential project risks.
By analyzing both historical project data and real-time performance metrics, teams can gain a much clearer picture of project health. This allows them to proactively manage scope, optimize resource allocation, and improve the accuracy of future estimates, leading to more predictable and successful project outcomes.
10. Continuous Learning Will Be Non-Negotiable
The tools, technologies, and methodologies in requirements management are in a constant state of flux. To remain effective, practitioners must embrace a culture of continuous learning and professional development. This involves staying current with new software, mastering emerging best practices, and honing essential soft skills like facilitation and strategic communication.
Organizations that foster this culture by providing access to training, certifications, and other learning resources will empower their teams to navigate the evolving landscape successfully. A commitment to continuous improvement is the key to building a resilient and competitive organization.
The trends shaping requirements management point to a more collaborative, intelligent, and user-focused future. By embracing these changes, your organization can not only keep up but lead the way. Begin by assessing your current processes against these trends and identify the areas that offer the greatest potential for improvement. The future of your projects depends on it.
Note: This article was drafted with the aid of AI. Additional content, edits for accuracy, and industry expertise by Decoteau Wilkerson and Mario Maldari.
2026 Predictions for Aerospace & Defense: AI, Sustainability, and the Digital Transformation Frontier
As we approach 2026, the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry stands at the crossroads of innovation and transformation. With rising geopolitical tensions, increased defense spending, and technological advancements, the sector is navigating a complex landscape of opportunities and challenges.
From the integration of AI and digital twins to the push for sustainable aviation and the modernization of legacy systems, A&D organizations are embracing cutting-edge technologies to enhance efficiency, safety, and mission readiness. At the same time, they face critical hurdles, including supply chain disruptions, evolving regulatory frameworks, and the need to attract a future-ready workforce.
In this year’s predictions series, we’ve gathered insights from leading industry expert professionals from Jama Software:
Together, they explore the trends and technologies shaping the future of aerospace and defense. From AI-driven design optimization and autonomous systems to the rise of sustainable aviation fuels and the challenges of digital engineering, this piece highlights the innovations and strategies that will define 2026 and beyond.
Please note: This blog features content from writers in the UK and the US. Spelling variations (e.g., ‘defense’ vs. ‘defence’) may appear due to regional differences.
Emerging Technologies
Q: What emerging technologies (e.g., digital twins, advanced materials, AI-driven design optimization, autonomous systems) do you believe will have the most transformative impact on the aerospace and defense industry in the next five years? How can organizations prepare to integrate these technologies effectively into existing programs?
Matt Macias: Dramatic product transformations are already underway, and we will see increasing fielding of cyber-physical systems that take advantage of software-based intelligence and features combined from the beginning to fully capitalize on extensive use of sensors and electronic systems, as well as the physical aspects of the system. I am very excited to see this next round of intelligent/cyber-physical systems in operation. Should processing capability and AI enable further breakthroughs in model performance, the opportunity to see live or near-live digital twins of craft used to monitor health or guide optimized operations/missions is a tantalizing possibility with enormous potential to decrease costs, increase availability, and mission success.
Karl Mulcahy: With increases in Defence spending occurring worldwide, I’m seeing a move towards Digital Transformation to help in all manners of A&D business. Whether this is for a larger Defence contractor or a new Space Innovator ‘Start Up,’ there’s much more of a focus on moving away from legacy methods and more towards adopting modern technology such as AI to help automate more in operations.
With larger organisations wanting to pivot to being more agile, competitive, and delivering innovation quicker, there’s more of a challenge to modernize legacy systems and to connect data sources, whereas I’m hearing that startups want to learn from time in industry to help define good processes now to aid scalability and drive efficiency.
The need to create digital twins to reduce risks, undertake cheaper / continuous improvement, and helping to innovate faster is a big driver for the customers I’m working with. Also, the need to strategically reuse items from previous projects for modernization programs, or even new variants/products, is a focus to help get to market faster and meet ever-changing market demands.
Cary Bryczek: One tangible example that nearly anyone who travels will benefit from is the modernization of the air traffic controller (ATC) to pilot communications system. Today, controllers unbelievably still use Very High Frequency (VHF) and Ultra High Frequency (UHF) radio signals technology developed in the 40s to communicate with pilots. While new technology aids decision-making, human error remains a significant factor in ATC operations. Voice commands spoken at a rapid pace due to air traffic congestion, received by pilots who may not have English as their native language, over VHF/UHF where signals can be interfered with or stepped on, increases the number of mishaps in aircraft flight takeoffs and landings. Mishaps are on the rise. As of December 2025, there have been 1,097 aviation accidents or incidents in the United States in 2025, according to the National Transportation Safety Board—not including the most recent crash by the UPS cargo jet in Kentucky. Many point the finger at poor ATC technology, policies, and failure to act on the numerous alerts at this location over the past decade as significant contributing factors to the deadly collision of the Army Blackhawk helicopter with the Bombardier CRJ7000 passenger airliner in Washington DC.
My prediction is that AI-assisted technology will dramatically improve the safety in our airspace. Navigation signals will be intelligently generated by the AI based on data and presented to air traffic control operators to be sent as a text message directly to the pilot. Pilots receive it and can even have the navigation message tell the aircraft to change course.
Sustainability and Green Aviation
Q: As the industry pushes toward decarbonization, how do you see advancements in sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), electrified propulsion, and hydrogen-powered systems shaping the future of aerospace? What strategies will be key for scaling these solutions globally?
Macias: While we have not seen the focus on these technologies recently due to a series of financial headwinds, we are just waiting for the next breakthrough in affordable power density solutions in batteries and alternative fuels. These alternatives could also become more viable as new craft become viable with more limited/focused missions that could benefit. In short, while this area may not be making the progress desired as of late, I am optimistic of surprises around the corner that might bring this back to the forefront.
Mulcahy: Despite challenges in this part of the industry, we’re starting to work more with companies retrofitting older aircraft with modern technology i.e. SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuels), and whilst sustainable to reuse existing products out there and help to make them greener, this is arguably the fastest, lowest risk route to immediate CO2 reductions due to compliance with regulations and existing infrastructure around it.
Whilst we can all see innovation occurring within the eVTOL, UAV, AAM markets due to market needs and also to develop new compelling product lines, I’m curious to see how regulations will continue to emerge in these fields in line with new infrastructure being molded too, i.e., VertiPorts, charging bays.
But with more companies choosing not to develop everything in-house, there are emerging challenges of systems integration and ensuring that all parties are aligned to be fit for purpose and align with higher-level requirements to ensure risks are mitigated, and for example, range/weight calculations are verified correctly.
Bryczek: As much as I personally wish for technologies like hydrogen propulsion and battery propulsion to make our airspace cleaner, this is getting pushed farther out. The technology for batteries is not expanding rapidly enough to make this approach viable at a large scale. Many of the eVTOL startups have already changed their designs from pure electric to now hybrid-electric aircraft. For major manufacturers Airbus and Boeing, finance challenges are plaguing them in different ways. Boeing is still recovering from loss in sales and design/manufacturing problems with its jets and has less ability to focus on the necessary R&D for hydrogen propulsion. Airbus too has slowed its development in hydrogen, citing both infrastructure technology and regulatory difficulties. Interestingly, there have been press releases indicating Airbus shareholders are reaping sizable dividends, yet R&D budgets remain flat. Many in Europe argue that tax exemptions for delivery of aircraft using fossil fuels be eliminated, which does sound like a healthy step in the right direction. So, my answer to this question is that the industry is going the route of evolution rather than innovation.
Digital Transformation
Q: How is digital engineering transforming design, verification, and lifecycle management in aerospace and defense? What are the biggest opportunities and challenges in achieving a fully integrated digital thread?
Macias: In product development transformation, we are now seeing the true impact of model-based product development fully realized, where all disciplines across the enterprise can now both benefit from their own dedicated models, and perhaps even more importantly, the synergistic collaboration around holistic models that bring together all aspects of product, production, operation, and mission. This emerging success will be dramatically accelerated in the near future as Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and AI/ML concepts get more fully deploye,d with special benefit coming from the democratization of these iterative and collaborative data/model constructs, helping all understand how their work fits into the whole and how they can optimize all aspects of the product.
Mulcahy: The need for a digital thread is emerging more than ever to ensure interconnectivity between systems, reduce siloed working, and ensure the overall single source of truth. Whether companies are looking to deliver projects on time or reduce costs, there is a clear business case to establishing digital engineering practices. However, to get there a large challenge companies are facing is to embrace open technologies that can communicate to each other and allow data exchange. Furthermore, there’s a need to shift from document driven approach to model-based, data-centric workflows to connect teams and empower them with data to make better decisions.
Bryczek: The Department of War certainly is trying as hard as it can to get its workforce to change in step with newer digital engineering methods. It issued its new Digital Acquisition Strategy in November, which directly calls for leveraging digital engineering approaches and data over documents vs. traditional approaches. Requirements will be defined and validated in the context of a model and integrated with software and mechanical models. This vision is sound, but it is not happening across the board overnight. There are opportunities, but the biggest barrier remains the government personnel and their will to change the status quo and invest in the available technologies to make it happen.
We will continue to see increasing development converging around product families and feature-based development. Those who are smartly designing their products to follow Modular Open Systems Architecture (MOSA), which provides a higher degree of interoperability and vendor choice by the customer, will continue to have more success in the government market.
Q: What role will AI and machine learning play in enabling autonomous flight, predictive maintenance, and mission readiness? What impact will AI have on design and manufacturing processes? What challenges might arise in ensuring safety, reliability, and certification?
Macias: I would like to see AI applied in three areas: 1) easing, broadening and acceleration of multi-disciplinary optimization of the product development process; 2) assistance and assurance of quality, comprehensively and consistency of development team work, preventing surprises and moving engineering further and further up-front opening up an order of magnitude of more possibilities; 3) combined with digital twins, AI could assist greatly in ensuring that all operational products are safe, healthy and operating effectively. All 3 of these effects would have a dramatic impact on safety, effectiveness, and cost/sustainability (not to be overlooked as a major driver of ecological concerns itself).
Bryczek: This question is endlessly broad, so I’d like to focus on the less glamorous segment of aircraft maintenance. I described already how there is a rise in air traffic control mishaps, some even leading to deaths. 2025 has been the most vivid year for aircraft accidents in my own personal memory. As more aircraft remain in service such as the aging MD11 that crashed in Kentucky killing all aboard and many on the ground due to a maintenance problem, and aging fleets being sold from one airline to the next often to younger international companies lacking the decades of the culture of safety that enable the processes and procedures for strict maintenance, we see evidence of aircraft slow to catch up to service bulletins and in some cases ignoring warning alerts leading to crashes and mishaps. Machine Learning will be able to use data to predict maintenance needs. It will analyze sensor data, as well as part requirements and testing data tracked even after part delivery, to predict part failures, preventing costly downtime and improving safety by alerting aircraft operators
Responsible AI Adoption
Q: As defense organizations expand their use of AI, how can they balance innovation with ethical and regulatory considerations? What frameworks should guide responsible AI adoption in mission-critical systems?
Mulcahy: There has to be a combination of human education/accountability, transparent governance, with security being a large part of this. With challenges like export control/data restrictions being a large consideration in defence projects, it’s important to test AI’s output and work before rolling out on a wider scale.
It will be interesting to see if organizations like the DOD and NATO release any guidance and/or frameworks for responsible & secure AI use in projects and/or missions.
Bryczek: In my observation, the US Government has taken a more responsible posture to AI than the commercial world. The Department of Defense has already published its Responsible AI (RAI) Toolkit, which is both a practical and public resource providing guidance to align AI projects with best practices and ethical principles as well as concrete activities that need to be taken when implementing AI. One of the five principles that jumps out to me is the “Traceable Principle: AI capabilities should be developed with transparent, auditable methodologies and data sources so personnel understand the technology and its operational methods.”
Traceability is Jama Connect’s core competency spanning engineering disciplines, bringing together the collaboration of both traceable decision-making and data. I predict we will see more use of Jama Connect in AI projects.
Macias: Karl and Cary’s answers are excellent and capture this topic well.
Supply Chain Resilience
Q: How do you see aerospace and defense companies adapting to ongoing supply chain disruptions? What technologies or practices will strengthen resilience and reduce risk in global production networks?
Mulcahy: Having worked with both sides of the supply chain here, with larger System Integrators / Consortium managing lots of parts/players, or with lower-tier suppliers who are changing their business model to become more diverse or enter into new markets, it’s clear how they want to adapt and streamline – by becoming digital.
By embracing technology to become more efficient, more collaborative, and robust, companies are able to differentiate by identifying gaps earlier with connected datasets and make decisions to take action quicker. With remote/international working still forming a large part of the Aerospace & Defence supply chain, it’s important to utilize secure communication to ensure continuous alignment. Furthermore, we’ve seen supply chains being strengthened due to mutual transparency and predictability, leading to more longer-term agreements and better future forecasting for future projects.
Macias: We believe strongly that the Aerospace and Defense supply chain can greatly benefit from increased model and digital data-based collaboration and traceability. As this becomes more adopted, we should see opportunities arise for more resilience and also avoidance of surprises and other quality impacts. At Jama Software, we are working hard to enable this.
Cybersecurity and Data Protection
Q: As aircraft and defense systems become increasingly digital and connected, what are the top cybersecurity challenges facing the industry? How can organizations safeguard sensitive data and critical assets?
Bryczek: We will see continued security mandates for Defense agencies as well as all contractors developing systems under contract, to be scrutinized heavily. Cybersecurity is no longer just an IT issue; it is a core element of national security. Threats have grown far beyond the days of old, with just malware and social engineering. Organizations will be putting more focus on Software bill of materials (SBOM) programs, which are driven by: Executive Order 14028. SBOMs provide full transparency into software components used in defense systems, helping mitigate supply chain compromise, hidden dependencies, and embedded malware and backdoors. This is especially important for weapons systems, avionics, and mission-critical software.
For example, U.S. departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Transportation all have launched cybersecurity initiatives affecting aviation. The Federal Aviation Administration mandated that airlines establish and maintain cybersecurity programs. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency developed a cybersecurity roadmap to address threats to the air traffic management system and operators. In addition, industry groups like the Aerospace Industries Association and National Business Aviation Association rank cybersecurity among key issues facing the aerospace industry.
Workforce and Skills Transformation
Q: With new technologies reshaping engineering and manufacturing, what skills will be most in demand in the aerospace and defense workforce of the future? How can organizations attract and retain this talent?
Mulcahy: There’s a growing need for skills around MBSE / Digital Engineering methods, of course, knowledge about AI / M,L with more technology being developed and introduced into manufacturing today and, no doubt, in the near future. Further skills around cybersecurity and overall secure systems engineering are proving to be in demand. With more software now being embedded into products, both system safety and security are becoming more important to focus on, with companies looking to streamline more to various regulations such as DO-326.
Organisations can attract this talent by helping to innovate quickly by adopting modern tools/workflows, but also empowering employees to make decisions and be able to get on with the task at hand. There are cultural/financial aspects too, which I’m sure are important, but I feel a big thing is to provide opportunities for continuous learning. This will prove to be important to employees to understand new technologies, advance their skills, and also, in turn bring more benefits to their business by applying their learning to continuously enhance workflows and inspire future generations.
Macias: I couldn’t agree more with Karl! The workforce of the future will need the ability to work both in their area of specialization as well as appreciate the total system’s effects, hence the rise in importance of systems/requirements engineering and optimization competencies.
Bryczek: Modern aerospace projects are massive in scale and complexity, involving interdisciplinary teams and subsystems. Systems engineering is the glue that holds everything together, ensuring that avionics, propulsion, structural components, and software work seamlessly. Proficiency in systems thinking, risk management, and integration processes used to be vital but now the new systems engineer is an AI Engineer. AI engineers blend systems engineering, software development, computer science, and user-focused design. This mix helps them build smart systems that can tackle specific tasks or achieve set goals. The skills of an AI engineer are typically: building algorithms, model training, data preprocessing, and model deployment.
Q: How do you see evolving regulations and policies, including new cybersecurity frameworks—impacting innovation and program timelines? How can organizations stay ahead?
Macias: The industry is demanding agility and rapid innovation to react to new technologies and new mission needs. We see this coming from government defense organizations across the globe, where acquisition reforms and digital engineering strategies are coming to the forefront to acknowledge the need to accelerate product to market/field at cost and on schedule. We can expect this to dominate focus going forward, with all product development organizations needing to leave behind legacy tools and processes and move to highly agile, innovative digital model-based approaches to keep up.
Bryczek: There are many moving pieces to the evolving regulatory and policy landscape, which include everything from revamping and rebranding AS9100 to the IA9100 series quality standards, acquisition reform acts such as SPEED and FoRGED that are supposed to stimulate faster technology adoption, and significant cybersecurity rules for AI and Zero Trust, all driven by the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act. These policy and regulatory changes drive the key changes in what we will see is more open collaboration between government agencies to ensure systems being built do not overlap, and that systems are being developed using interoperable technology. The FACE and MOSA standards will become more important than ever. Commercial organizations need to prepare for the new international quality requirements, embrace digital transformation (AI, cyber), and adapt to faster, more agile defense acquisition processes to remain compliant and competitive.
Long-Term Trends
Q: What trends or technologies will continue to shape aerospace and defense over the next decade? How can organizations ensure sustained innovation while managing cost, risk, and compliance?
Mulcahy: We’ve seen a big theme of reuse and sustainability in industry recently. Reusable satellites, rockets, and even technologies in use such as autophage. No doubt innovation will continue to happen across the wider industry, to help solve global challenges, aid to defence efforts, and contribute to electronic warfare. I think AI will continue to be introduced to more areas of businesses and continue to aid moves towards Digital Engineering and overall efficiencies. I think as research continues and more innovation is created from academia for example, there may be closer links formed between Industries, academia, and potentially even governments to co-invest and accelerate technology development.
Organisations should continue to invest in education on these new technologies to protect themselves, but also to introduce better workflows, attract new talent, and help to deliver projects on time. But an important factor will be to use modern tools fit for today’s project needs that are open and facilitate a digital engineering way of working.
Macias: Sustained/accelerated innovation with improved efficiency, quality, and compliance will be the goal over the next decade, and those who capitalize on current digital engineering practices will be best positioned to both capitalize on emerging AI/ML technologies and improvements in modeling/processing capabilities. The key to this will be the establishment of traceable, agile, model-based environments that bring everyone together in a common view of the total system, giving all the ability to contribute to the total success of the product, production, and mission. This can only be accomplished if organizations focus on democratization of the digital thread and common (MBSE & RM) models by avoiding deepening or perpetuating silos.
Bryczek: Long-term trends in the defense industry are driven by rising geopolitical tensions, increased defense spending—particularly in Europe—and rapid advances in emerging technologies. Global military expenditure continues to grow as nations respond to a worsening security environment and pursue modernization, with NATO members increasingly meeting higher spending targets. The industry is shifting toward autonomous and unmanned systems, including UAVs, USVs, and ground platforms, to reduce human risk, with swarm technology becoming a major focus. Investment is also accelerating in hypersonic missiles and directed-energy weapons to counter evolving threats. Additionally, space is emerging as a critical military domain, with growing emphasis on autonomous spacecraft, satellite-based surveillance and communications, and managing the risks of space militarization and debris.
2026 Predictions for Medical Device & Life Sciences: AI, Wearables, and Navigating Regulatory Change
With 2026 on the horizon, the medical device and life sciences industries are moving through a landscape defined by fast-paced innovation, changing regulations, and dynamic market shifts.
From the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in product development and diagnostics to the growing role of wearables and personalized medicine, the industry is embracing change while addressing critical challenges like cybersecurity, data privacy, and supply chain resilience.
In this year’s predictions series, we’ve gathered insights from leading experts across the field, including:
Tom Rish, Senior Business Development Manager, Medical Device & Life Sciences
Together, they explore the opportunities and hurdles that lie ahead, offering a glimpse into the future of medical devices and life sciences.
Join us as these experts share their perspectives on the technologies, strategies, and innovations that will define the next chapter of the industry. From AI’s growing influence to the challenges of regulatory harmonization and the rise of wearables and personalized medicine, this piece highlights the trends shaping 2026 and beyond.
Q: How do you see AI shaping the future of medical device design and manufacturing, diagnostics, and patient engagement in 2026 and beyond?
Richard Matt: I see AI organizing and mining information that predicts more effective use of medical devices. AI will be used in product development to predict more effective product design and in post-market assessments to confirm or refute assumptions about the treatment’s effectiveness.
Adam Smith: AI has become the connective layer across the device lifecycle, replacing manual research with automated analysis of predicates, guidances, standards, and historical evidence. This reduces ambiguity, improves consistency, and supports more adaptive systems that learn from real-world performance. It also drives more personalized, device-integrated insights, bringing engineering, clinical, and regulatory teams into tighter alignment.
Mike Celentano: AI is already shaping the MedTech development space and will continue to increase its influence in 2026 and beyond. For example, systems engineers I work with already use AI to summarize and affinitize voice of customer interview verbatims into stakeholder needs. Some are also using AI to help organize their requirement statements. Others are using various AI personas as independent reviewers of their deliverables. In 2026, these uses will become more common. But other AI uses will emerge including AI-based trade analysis based on MBSE models since there is now a strong textual component to SysML. AI will also emerge more in risk analysis and root cause analysis. In short, wherever AI can make developers more efficient and/or increase quality, it will emerge as such.
Dan Purvis: AI has amazing abilities when harnessed well. There are many places where an algorithm can do a much better job than a person. I think that you are going to see more therapies with an AI component that makes a suggestion that is then reviewed by a person.
Vincent Balgos: What we’ve seen in industry so far is the continued strong interest in exploring how AI can contribute in developing safe and effective products, but with the limited ROI to date, industry seems to be taking a more methodical and deeper approach in discussing the more how and why of AI. Example, there is initiative to discuss data standardization of AI information following IEEE 2801 or other best practices gleaned from BigTech companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Google.
Carleda Wade: I’m seeing more customers looking to explore how they can incorporate AI into their development process. While many companies have yet to create full-blown policies on the use of AI at their organization, I can see this increasing in the coming years with the popularity of AI in everyday life. I think that people in our industry will be a bit conservative in their initial use of AI until FDA standards and guidelines are released. I could see it being very useful in processes like post-market surveillance.
Jakob Khazanovich: AI is becoming ubiquitous, but it will be a tool to work faster and smarter rather than a replacement for human engineers. In the future, initial draft requirements, test cases, or even entire trace matrices will be created by AI and then refined by engineers. Many companies will be slow to formally adopt the use of AI, but there is no question that engineers have a ChatGPT window open on the side to help them refine design artifacts quickly. In manufacturing generally, I could see AI being used to optimize part designs for strength, cost, and moldability.
Romer De Los Santos: AI has been growing fastest in imaging and genomic analysis for a while now. However, I’ve been seeing growing interest in using AI to accelerate their product development process by handling repetitive and tedious tasks. Jama Software is already moving towards automated test case generation, for example. I expect AI will help enable increased modularity of medical devices, manage complex product variants, and quickly identify and patch components with security issues.
Tom Rish: There is no escaping AI, and it is certainly poised to play a huge part in the evolution of the industry. I think most people thought it would revolutionize the products directly, and that will come with time. However, my takeaway from recent conferences is that companies are starting to take a more methodical approach to incorporating AI. After the initial surge in AI popularity, people are starting to realize how important it is to have a strong foundation of data. I believe companies will spend the immediate future organizing data and building good frameworks so that they can better incorporate AI into internal processes like product development and manufacturing.
Q: What ethical considerations should companies keep in mind as they integrate AI/ML into clinical decision-making and device functionality?
Matt: Companies need to rely on evidence of what AI can contribute and avoid rolling out product features based on speculation of what AI ‘should’ be able to accomplish.
Smith: I think companies need to be clear about how AI-driven decisions are made so clinicians can actually understand and trust what the system is doing. I also believe they need to watch for bias in the training data, because uneven performance across patient groups can create real clinical risk. And I think it’s important to stay accountable for how these models evolve over time, making sure updates are monitored so the systems remain safe and reliable in practice.
Celentano: ML in medical devices has been around for a couple of decades now. I worked on an ML fuzzy logic bG meter diagnostic algorithm in the early 2000’s. Then, and now, human verification and validation is essential. Just like when we use ChatGPT for something, we always double check the answer ourselves. Why? Because AI gets it’s knowledge from us, the internet, our databases, our programming, and all of that is not perfect. So the same applies for clinical decision making. Health Care providers must verify and validate the AI conclusions themself, and ultimately, humans must always take responsibility for the final answers.
Purvis: Keep a person “in the loop” as it allows for review, edit, and potential correction.
Balgos: Considering Med Industry’s ethos is to “do no harm,” I was happy to hear the talk about using standards such as ISO 42001 to ensure the responsible and ethical use of AI, including addressing the known bias in medical decision making in the clinical settings.
Wade: They should think about the inherited bias of the AI tool that they use, since it could unfairly classify data about certain demographics.
Khazanovich: Intellectual property concerns will need to be addressed to ensure AI-suggested content is not putting companies in any sticky situations.
De Los Santos: Companies need to have clear rules and controls around when and how to use AI when dealing with private health information.
Rish: It is hard to put anything other than data privacy at the top of this list. Whether it is patient data, information about clients, or proprietary product details, companies need to train their employees to use AI responsibly. It is so easy to copy/paste information into AI tools in the name of efficiency, but people need to think twice about what they are sharing.
Q: What emerging technologies do you believe will have the biggest impact on life sciences innovation in the next 12–18 months?
Matt: AI is the hands-down favorite.
Celentano: AI is one for sure. mRNA is also going to be huge in life sciences since it makes vaccines fast to develop, and any mRNA vaccine appears to have cancer-fighting benefits with immunotherapy that are next-level. One negative impact that will be felt for the next year to 10 years are the 2025 US budget cuts to NIH, CDC, and other long-term research activities.
Purvis: There are big things happening in wearables. The purchase of Nalu. The Medicare reimbursement for Cala. The market is beginning to realize that wearable neurotech has a lot of growth potential to benefit patients’ lives in a less invasive way.
Balgos: AI is the hottest tech right now to make the biggest impact, but the bigger impact is when these AI-enabled devices start talking to each other, with the common goal of supporting the patient and medical professionals. The Model Context Protocol (MCP) will be a key part of that impact.
De Los Santos: I expect that AI will be applied to product development processes to reduce bottlenecks.
Rish: Wearable devices have already had a profound impact on the industry, and I think their influence will only continue to grow. Companies are pushing the limits when it comes to providing excellent data, all from rather simple devices like rings, watches, etc. Details still need to be figured out on the regulatory side when it comes to indications, but patients want to know more about their health. My hope is that the trend of people taking a more proactive approach with their health continues with the continued rise of wearables.
Q: What regulatory shifts (e.g., EU MDR/IVDR enforcement, FDA changes, global harmonization) do you anticipate will most affect medical device and life sciences companies in 2026?
Matt: ISO 13485 brings with it a tremendous amount of explicit detail that was only present in regulations by ‘reading between the lines’. This increased detail about the behavior expected for compliance will affect medical device companies both broadly and deeply.
Smith: I think we’re about to see a wave of impact from AI systems that are purpose-built for regulated work, especially tools that can interpret standards, guidances, historical submissions, and clinical evidence in a structured way. I also believe digital twins and simulation platforms will start to play a bigger role in both device design and verification as companies look for faster ways to generate defensible evidence.
Celentano: There has been more regulatory focus on Interoperability and Cybersecurity lately. This will continue to intensify in terms of enforcement in 2026. More AI guidelines and perhaps regulations will also emerge.
Purvis: All agencies are continuing to focus on cybersecurity. Companies should make sure that they have a product cybersecurity (as opposed to general business/IT cyber) strategy right alongside development and manufacturing strategy.
Wade: The FDA’s harmonization of 21 CFR 820 with ISO 13485, which is slated to be effective in February 2026, will have a large impact on US-based companies. Many have known about this upcoming change for years, but will need to be fully compliant very soon.
De Los Santos: Of course, the FDA’s harmonization effort will have a large impact on the development of US medical devices. Meanwhile, in the EU, I expect that bottlenecks around full compliance with MDR for legacy medical devices will continue as manufacturers struggle, not only with making legacy development documentation compliant with the MDR, but getting it reviewed in a timely manner due to the limited capacity of notified bodies.
Rish: Without a doubt, QMSR is the thing I hear the most about. For those of us that have been in the industry for a while, we have seen a lot of changes (ISO13485 in 2016, ISO 14971 in 2019, EU MDR, and more). This is one change that feels like it is actually helping us out as the FDA is harmonizing with ISO 13485. It seems like this will help the industry become a little more streamlined, which hopefully leads to more and safer products being launched.
Balgos: QMSR transition will cause some immediate local impact on medical companies, especially those that are non-compliant to ISO 13485. Even those that are compliant, a revisit oftheir Quality Procedures will be needed. On a broader, global level scale, the continual changes in general strategy and the reduction in force in the medical related US Federal Agencies (FDA, NIH, CDC, etc) experienced personnel, will have longer term impacts in the way industry and academia pursue new medical innovation, the path to bring products to market, and the overall medical welfare of the general population.
Q: How are companies adapting their software and systems to meet evolving cybersecurity and data privacy requirements across global markets?
Matt: Cybersecurity is greatly under-considered in medical device design, resulting in extensive and growing opportunities for medical cyberattacks.
Celentano: Well, most MedTech companies are finally getting serious about Cybersecurity and privacy as well as data integrity, now that regulators are enforcing the regulations and standards more. Years ago, MedTech companies used to hire one person to be responsible for Cybersecurity. Now most companies have cyber teams, privacy teams, and data integrity teams, all with standard operating procedures, which makes each employee responsible for compliance.
Purvis: The best way to answer this is “systemically.” Companies are setting a comprehensive product cybersecurity strategy that bakes cybersecurity into every aspect of the pre-market cycle. Also, companies are realizing that post-market cybersecurity (ongoing surveillance) must be budgeted and planned for.
De Los Santos: Companies are purchasing or repurposing tools to help them generate new cybersecurity deliverables and update their customer notification systems to be in compliance with the final guidance on Cybersecurity in Medical Devices released just this year.
Rish: I believe the best companies will take a step back and rethink their approach to risk management. A lot of organizations complete risk activities in separate buckets. Things like cybersecurity, human factors, process risk, and more are all done at separate times and then merged into a disjointed system. Since technology is rapidly evolving, I think people need to take a more holistic view of risk. Put the patient or end user first by thinking about everything that can go wrong and how you can mitigate those risks at a systemic level.
Balgos: Due to the FDA’s Final Guidance on Cybersecurity in mid 2025, organizations are taking a more proactive approach to cybersecurity since it is now a required deliverable for device submissions. In addition, Med companies are seeking an integrated approach to both security + safety risk management in the processes & tools since both can impact each other’s associated Risk level, especially in this early era of AI.
Market Forces & Strategy
Q: What macro trends (e.g., supply chain resilience, sustainability, workforce shifts) do you think will influence strategic decisions in the industry next year?
Matt: The macro trend to bring employees who worked remotely back to the office after the rapid and uncontrolled increase in remote workers during the COVID pandemic.
Celentano: 2025 tariff wars will still have residual supply chain impacts in 2026 for MedTech. Reduced funding for research and other economic factors will make MedTech jobs more precious and harder to get. Reduced emphasis on sustainability will continue to flood the employment market with those specialists who now need to become more multi-disciplined. Software-related MedTech jobs will likely grow in comparison to electrical and mechanical job opportunities. Systems Engineering and Program Management jobs will likely increase next year due to the need for more integration of existing technologies and less investment in new technologies.
Purvis: The industry is seeing some positive changes in reimbursement. Several firms are seeing their strategic plan around study data pay off with reimbursement.
Wade: A lot of companies are very conservative with their make or buy decisions due to current tariffs, which will impact how they design their products.
Rish: It seems like the economy has been the main question mark ever since 2020. There have been some major highs and major lows. While private investment seems to be down, there is no denying that large companies are making news lately with some big mergers and acquisitions. I believe the larger players will continue to identify promising technology and take steps to acquire or partner with the organizations developing that technology.
Balgos: With lessons learned from the Covid Era and the current potential dynamics with the US Federal government, companies are focused on strengthening their supply chain to prevent or lessen global market & trade changes. Whether sourcing more locally, identifying equivalent substitutes, or even manufacturing their own materials, flexibility will be key to mitigate any turbulence in the supply chain.
Q: What differentiates companies that are thriving in this rapidly evolving landscape from those that are struggling to keep up?
Matt: A laser focus on the patient. This drives everything in medical devices, but many companies get distracted by technology, profit margins, or timelines. A laser focus on the patient cures all of these ills, but many companies don’t see the connection.
Smith: I think the companies that are thriving are the ones treating regulatory and quality work as a strategic asset, not a bottleneck, and adopting tools that give them clearer evidence and faster decision cycles. I also believe they’re the ones breaking down silos between engineering, clinical, and regulatory teams, so requirements, risks, and documentation stay aligned from the start. And I think the organizations that struggle are usually the ones holding onto legacy systems and manual processes, which makes it much harder to keep pace with shifting standards, rising submission volume, and growing complexity.
Celentano: Adapting to the sometimes surprising demands of the public and the governments. Being nimble to move resources toward new cash cows. For example, marketing Trizepitide, GLP, and GIP more for weight loss rather than diabetes.
Purvis: There are four key stakeholders in every MedTech business: patients, caregivers, corporate (hospital, surgery center, payers), and investors (which includes employees, management, and financial backers). The thriving companies have found a way to satisfy all of them well.
De Los Santos: Companies that are slow to use AI/ML may start to feel like their competition is speeding ahead of them.
Rish: From my experience in the industry, the companies that thrive fully reject the idea that regulations slow you down. Instead, they use regulations to build business practices that create efficiency and excellence. Those that set up smart business processes as part of a QMS significantly increase their chance of hitting product deadlines. They get products to the market faster and are also typically producing much safer products. They increase their revenue and reduce their audit findings.
Balgos: With the constant dynamics in the regulatory landscape, having a solid regulatory strategy that includes sub-topics like cybersecurity, quality compliance, and an actual commercialization plan will help keep companies nimble in the face of change.
Q: What’s the most innovative thing you’ve seen in the industry this year that you believe others will adopt in 2026?
Matt: A novel method to assess whether the benefits of a treatment exceed its risks. This has the ability to both bring new products to market more quickly and relaunch existing products into new patient populations and indications for use.
Smith: I think the most innovative shift I have seen this year is the way AI is beginning to shape entire medical device roadmaps rather than just isolated tasks. The work we are doing with the University of California is a good example, where Agent Astro is being used from the earliest concept conversations all the way through regulatory planning, predicate selection, testing expectations, and submission strategy. I believe this end –to-end use of AI will accelerate a broader shift in the industry, where regulatory affairs is no longer treated as a process-driven function at the end of development, but as a strategic driver that informs design choices, materials decisions, and overall product direction. I think this approach will spread quickly in 2026 because it brings consistency, reduces rework, and gives teams a much clearer path from idea to approval.
Celentano: Weight loss drugs will continue to make record profits. mRNA treatments will emerge to fight cancers. The most innovative products next year will solve medical problems for all patients and doctors, perhaps related to common pain points like healthcare access, healthcare insurance, or prescription drug costs.
Purvis: Bioelectric therapies that directly target the patient’s condition. More firms are realizing that a device play is valuable (in addition to pharmaceutical-based solutions).
Rish: I probably can’t claim it is the most innovative thing I’ve seen, but one of the most surprising innovative ideas is the FDA committing to using AI in their review process. It is great to see that the FDA is willing to modernize a bit, and I hope that leads to more streamlined and effective reviews for all parties. The goal shouldn’t be to just catch random things, but to focus on important topics so that safer products will be launched. I know companies are starting to use AI to prep for things like submissions and audits, and I think that will ultimately help them launch better products and reduce audit findings.
Balgos: The extraordinary rise in continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices and at-home testing kits (ala Covid) in the market demonstrates that device manufacturers can effectively market directly to consumers. This may open a wider range of wearables, at-home kits, and DIY applications that may broaden the adoption of FDA’s initial “Healthcare at Home”
Q: What’s one mistake or blind spot you see companies making that could hinder their success in the coming years?
Matt: Focusing on compliance instead of the patient.
Celentano: Many MedTech companies do a terrible job of eliciting and analyzing their stakeholder needs. They often build what they think their stakeholders want instead of providing them solutions they actually need.
Purvis: For startups: stick with what you are uniquely gifted to do and outsource everything else to quality partners. Your IP, your clinical, and your science should stay with you – all other aspects can be handled more cheaply and effectively by others.
De Los Santos: One of the biggest mistakes I see is companies creating huge and complex product development and risk management processes in response to regulatory changes. Congress has directed the FDA to take the least burdensome approach to evaluation of premarket medical devices. The amount of documentation and evidence should be commensurate with the security and safety risk of the device.
Rish: As discussed previously, I think rushing the use of AI increases the risk of a company falling greatly behind the competition. I highly recommend focusing on organizing data, building processes around usage, and training employees on how to use it. The longer you wait to do that, the deeper the hole gets before you can use AI effectively.
Balgos: Believing that only technical prowess is needed for a successful device submission and market penetration. I like the colloquial phrase of “it takes a village to raise a child,” with adaption that it takes a “system of systems approach” to develop a safe, effective, and successful medical product.
Q: Are there any major disruptors on the horizon that you believe could reshape the industry in 2026?
Matt: I don’t believe any disruptors are on the horizon that are so powerful they could reshape the industry in just one year. AI will be the disruptor that will reshape the industry over the next decade.
Smith: I think one of the biggest disruptors will be the shift in how companies access regulatory expertise. For years, firms have charged tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to help MedTech companies navigate predicates, draft documentation, and map out submission strategy, and there is still real value in working with consultants who bring human judgment and trusted relationships. But I believe the nature of that work is changing because AI is turning regulatory affairs into a strategic driver instead of a downstream, process-heavy function, and for only a few hundred dollars, any company can now access the equivalent of a team of regulatory veterans. I think this will make advanced regulatory support accessible to far more innovators than ever before and will reshape how new devices reach the market in 2026.
Celentano: The confluence of AI with other multipliers will be a dominating success factor in 2026. For instance, MBSE with AI will enable nearly automatize system architecture options based on requirements or vice versa, saving tons of manpower and reducing time to market.
Purvis: BCI is hot – and lots of investment has been thrown at it. I think that “data from the brain” is going to start opening more and more MedTech opportunity in the years ahead. Also, personalized medicine with tailored devices to individual anatomy will continue to grow (think Invisalign for many more conditions).
Wade: The recent government shutdown caused a huge backlog at the FDA for submissions, which will inevitably take a while to sort out.
De Los Santos: The possibility of more federal layoffs or cuts in funding to the sciences will cause uncertainty and may stall development. Innovation often requires significant public investment for technology to develop.
Rish: It is hard to think of anything that can match the potential AI holds when it comes to reshaping the industry. Those that use it wisely and effectively will equip their employees to do amazing things. I truly believe it will help the best minds in the industry spend more time on innovation, which will ultimately improve the quality of life of people all throughout the world!
Balgos: The continued dynamics of the US Federal Government and its impact on global businesses/trade, regulatory, international affairs, and the scientific and medical community.
Jama Software Announces Jama Connect Solution for Semiconductors for Developing Complex Products and Systems Faster without Compromising Quality
Streamline and Accelerate Semiconductor Product Development with Jama Connect
Jama Software, the industry-leading requirements management and traceability solution provider, has released a semiconductor solution for fabless design companies, IDMs, and companies in other semiconductor industry sectors. With increased product complexity challenges and rapidly changing industry landscape, semiconductor companies are facing competitive pressures related to growth and profitability that require development speed and product quality.
Jama Connect for Semiconductors is a custom-built solution pre-configured for common use cases for rapid adoption, accompanied by a Procedure Guide that provides simple process descriptions from initial stakeholder MRD and System level PRDs through validation and verification. This framework enables semiconductor companies to create scalable, consistent, and repeatable processes for bringing innovative high-quality products to market quicker, navigating product variations, and better serving their customers.
“For semiconductor companies facing ever increasing complexity of silicon products plus the need to align software deliverables that must be available at launch, the traditional hardware-centric approach of product definition and development is no longer viable,” stated Neil Stroud, GM, Semiconductors, at Jama Software. “Without Live Traceability™ across tools and engineering disciplines and the controlled coordination it establishes, semiconductor companies will continue to experience significant rework and respins, quality impacts, increased costs, and product delays.”
With effective requirements management and Live Traceability™ of Jama Connect, semiconductor companies can easily manage new product requirements from ideation through to implementation, enhancement, and revisions — enabling them to maximize development efficiency, accelerate speed to market, and meet regulatory or audit requirements.
To learn more about how Jama Connect for Semiconductor can help accelerate product development throughout your ecosystem, download the datasheet, or click here to speak with one of our experts and book a free trial.
Media Contact:
Mario Maldari
Director, Product and Solution Marketing, Jama Software
Jama Software is focused on maximizing innovation success in multidisciplinary engineering organizations. Numerous firsts for humanity in fields such as fuel cells, electrification, space, software-defined vehicles, surgical robotics, and more all rely on Jama Connect requirements management software to minimize the risk of defects, rework, cost overruns, and recalls. Using Jama Connect, engineering organizations can now intelligently manage the development process by leveraging Live Traceability™ across best-of-breed tools to measurably improve outcomes. Our rapidly growing customer base spans the automotive, medical device, life sciences, semiconductor, aerospace & defense, industrial manufacturing, consumer electronics, financial services, and insurance industries. To learn more, visit us at jamasoftware.com.
2026 Predictions for Consumer Electronics Product Development: AI, Sustainability, and the Rise of Connected Ecosystems
As we move closer to 2026, product development feels more like an evolving journey full of fresh ideas, new challenges, and real opportunities to create something better.
To kick off our annual predictions series, we turned to our own expert, Patrick Garman – Manager, Solutions & Consulting, Jama Software, for his take on what’s around the corner in the world of Consumer Electronics. If there’s one thing that stands out, it’s how fast everything is changing. New technologies are always pushing the boundaries of how products are dreamed up, built, and experienced.
In part one of this series, Patrick dives into how AI is shaking up the design process, why making products more sustainable and built to last matters more than ever, and how connected ecosystems are rewiring our expectations. He also tackles big-picture topics like data privacy and the need to build stronger, more adaptable supply chains.
Keep reading as Patrick takes a closer look at where consumer electronics might be headed, from the latest tech breakthroughs to the real-life hurdles and wins shaping the industry’s next chapter.
Q: What emerging technologies (e.g., edge computing, IoT, AI-driven automation, smart materials) will most transform the electronics industry in the next five years? How should companies prepare to adapt and innovate?
Patrick Garman: The next five years will be transformative for the electronics industry with innovations like modular chips, Edge AI, and AI driven engineering as the principal drivers.
Historically, chip performance has depended on how many transistors can fit onto a single die, and we are near a physical limit on this approach. Luckily, UCIe (Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express) open standard allows designers to mix and match process nodes, IP, and vendors to build tailor-made systems faster and cheaper.
Edge AI is moving intelligence and inference closer to the source of data – in the actual device. With neural processing units (NPUs) and advances in connectivity like WIFI 7 and 5G-Advanced, devices can perform sophisticated inference in real time. Consider Apple Intelligence, which runs most operations locally, only connecting to data centers or external services as needed. Edge AI means lower latency, better data privacy, and less dependence on cloud bandwidth – meaning smarter, more responsive products. For manufacturers, this also enables predictive maintenance, adaptive control, and more efficient energy use.
And finally, AI not just as a feature but as a collaborator in the design process. AI-assisted electronic design automation (EDA) is already accelerating design cycles, with early adopters reporting 2-3x productivity gains and faster time to market, often with improved design quality. These systems can learn from thousands of past layouts and simulations to guide engineers toward optimal designs faster than human intuition alone, and we are not far from reliable agentic design flows, where an AI model coordinates the entire toolchain, from schematics to verifications, autonomously.
Ultimately, competitive differentiation will no longer be based on performance and cost, but on how quickly and intelligently companies can adapt.
Sustainability and Circular Design
Q: How are sustainability initiatives—like reducing e-waste, improving recyclability, and minimizing carbon footprint—shaping product development and manufacturing strategies? What practices will define leaders in this space?
Garman: Sustainability is really starting to change how consumer electronics are designed and made. Companies are starting to think about how to make products that last longer and create less waste. That means designing things that are easier to repair or upgrade, using recycled materials, and finding ways to take apart and reuse components when a product reaches the end of its life. Some manufacturers are even rethinking how circuit boards are built so the parts can be separated more easily for recycling. On the production side, many are switching to cleaner energy sources and trying to reduce packaging and transportation emissions.
For a long time, sustainability has been more of a social cause, but now regulation is coming that will make sustainability its own requirement for products. The EU seems to be leading this charge with Sustainable Design Regulations and Digital Product Passports. I think savvy companies will be proactive in complying with the EU standards – taking the strictest state approach. In the long run, the brands that focus on making durable, repairable, and responsible products are the ones that will earn the most trust from customers.
Q: How do you see connectivity and data analytics changing the way products are designed, used, and supported? What are the most promising opportunities for delivering value through connected ecosystems?
Garman: One of the biggest benefits is that designers no longer have to rely on assumptions about how products are used – embedded sensors and connected feedback loops provide real-world and real-time observations. This not only shortens design cycles; it reveals new use cases and patterns and supports predictive modeling so that companies can develop more reliable, efficient, and user-centered products.
This connectivity also provides benefits for consumers – over-the-air updates, edge AI, and cloud coordination allow products to adapt to users, optimize performance in context, and anticipate service needs before failures occur. HP’s ink subscription program is a good example – their connected printers track ink supply levels and proactively order replacement cartridges just in time to avoid outages.
The greatest opportunity, though, is to move from individually connected devices to connected ecosystems. When devices, analytics, and digital services share data securely, companies can deliver cross-domain experiences. Smart home hubs are just scratching the surface in terms of automation – they are still pre-programmed routines that are responsive to conditions rather than predictive or even contextual.
AI and Automation
Q: How is AI transforming design verification, testing, and quality assurance in electronics design and manufacturing? What challenges do companies face in scaling automation while maintaining flexibility?
Garman: Ultimately, AI will transform verification, testing, and quality assurance into intelligent, adaptive processes rather than static checklists. We are already seeing machine learning models that can predict where design flaws are most likely to occur, automatically generate test scenarios (a la Jama Connect AdvisorTM’s Test Case Generation feature currently in beta), and analyze simulation or production data to optimize coverage. This means faster V&V cycles without sacrificing quality – most likely increasing quality over time. Human judgement will not be replaced in our lifetime, but the efficiency gains mean engineers focused on engineering rather than administration and management.
Ethical and Responsible AI
Q: As electronics become more intelligent, how can companies ensure responsible use of AI and protect consumer privacy? What frameworks or standards are most critical for responsible implementation?
Garman: Data stewardship and privacy protection should be core design principles. Ensuring privacy and ethical use begins with transparency, consent, and control – consumers should know when AI is making decisions, what data is being collected, and how it will be used. It’s also incredibly important that AI systems are auditable – you can clearly trace outcomes and prove that they are justifiable, especially in safety-critical or consumer facing applications.
Q: With consumers expecting seamless connectivity, personalization, and sustainability, how do you see these preferences influencing the next generation of products? What innovations will drive brand loyalty?
Garman: Three pillars that influence consumer expectations and brand loyalty are seamless connectivity, meaningful personalization, and visible sustainability. The next generation of products will succeed not by adding more features, but by delivering frictionless, adaptive experiences that feel integrated across devices and ecosystems.
Products will increasingly communicate and learn from one another—phones coordinating with vehicles and wearables, appliances responding to home energy data—creating personalized environments that anticipate needs rather than react to commands. AI and edge computing will make this contextual intelligence local, fast, and privacy-preserving, while modular hardware and software platforms will allow updates and upgrades throughout the product’s life.
Sustainability will also become a defining factor in brand loyalty. Consumers want devices to be designed for longevity and repairability. Companies that combine intelligent design with ethical production—using recycled materials, energy-efficient architectures, and verifiable carbon reporting—will differentiate themselves as trusted, forward-looking brands. Ultimately, successful products will simplify ownership and offer more personal experiences.
Q: What lessons from recent supply chain challenges can the electronics industry apply to improve resilience and reduce dependency on vulnerable regions or components?
Garman: The past few years have shown the electronics industry that running super-lean supply chains can backfire. When the pandemic and chip shortages hit, companies learned the hard way how risky it is to depend on just a few factories, regions, or single-source parts.
The big takeaway is that resilience matters as much as efficiency. Leading manufacturers are now spreading production across multiple regions, qualifying backup suppliers, and designing products that can use alternative components when needed. They’re also using data and digital twins to spot weak links early and plan around potential disruptions instead of reacting after the fact.
Modular products and standardized interfaces make it easier to swap parts or shift suppliers without starting from scratch. Teams are breaking down silos between engineering, procurement, and logistics so they can move faster when problems arise. In short, the focus is shifting from chasing the lowest cost to building smarter, more balanced supply chains—ones that can bend without breaking. Having live traceability from product requirements to parts is key to success.
Cybersecurity in Connected Devices
Q: As the number of connected devices grows, what cybersecurity threats are most pressing for manufacturers and users? How can companies build trust through secure-by-design principles?
Garman: Companies need to move from “add-on” security to secure-by-design thinking. There are probably more smart devices in market today than non-connected devices, making cyber security a top concern for consumers (and thus for companies designing products). The biggest risks come from things like hacked supply chains (where bad code slips in before a product ships), weak passwords or outdated firmware, and unprotected data in transmission.
Secure-by-design means building protection in from the start – using strong encryption, verified software updates, and secure hardware to keep data safe. It also means being clear and transparent with consumers about what data is collected and how it will be used. Conforming to standards like ISO 27001 and the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, and proactive compliance with the EU Cyber Resilience Act or US Cyber Trust Mark demonstrate a commitment to cybersecurity principles and build trust with consumers, but again, transparency is going to be key.
Regulatory and Compliance Challenges
Q: How are global regulations on safety, energy efficiency, and data protection affecting electronics innovation? How can companies balance compliance with speed to market?
Garman: Overall, governments have been slow to keep regulatory pace with technical innovations, but this is rapidly changing. We’re seeing new rules to help make products safer, more energy efficient, and to protect consumer data. Things like the EU’s Cyber Resilience Act or new energy labeling standards are pushing companies to design electronics that are not just clever, but also secure and sustainable. It does make development a bit more complicated, but it’s also forcing better design—like using parts that are easier to recycle, making software more secure, and being upfront about how data is handled.
It’s difficult to achieve compliance – especially when regulations are continually evolving – without sacrificing speed, but that does not mean it’s impossible! The key is to build compliance into your requirements management process so you have traceability from regulatory requirements to your product requirements, so you can show how you are complying, and V&V so that you can prove that you are compliant.
Future Trends
Q: What technological or market trends do you believe will still be shaping the electronics industry in five to ten years? How can companies remain agile and competitive in an era of rapid innovation?
Garman: For companies, staying competitive will mean staying flexible. That means designing products and organizations that can adapt quickly using modular architectures, software-driven features, and strong digital ecosystems that make updates easy. It also means keeping close ties between engineering, supply chain, and compliance teams so they can respond fast when technology or regulations shift. The winners will be the ones that move quickly and keep trust: innovating at speed, but with security, sustainability, and customer experience built in from the start.
Evolving Requirements Engineering: A Framework for the Semiconductor Industry
Unlike other industries, the semiconductor sector has no governing standards or regulations for developing and managing requirements and product data— despite being critical components of products across nearly every regulated industry. This absence makes aligning key methods and practices a critical lever for improving quality, reducing rework, and gaining a competitive edge.
Whether you’re defining your next generation of chips or improving process maturity across design teams, this webinar will help you align, simplify, and elevate your requirements engineering practices.
Advancing Requirements Engineering in Semiconductor
Sarah Gregory: Thanks everybody for joining us today for a discussion about requirements engineering in the semiconductor industry. After over 20 years of tackling challenges of requirements within a semiconductor company myself, it’s really great to be collaborating with the folks at Jama Software on the upcoming launch of a Jama Connect solution that’s tailored for what we do. This webinar is an introduction to that solution, kind of a soft launch of a broader set of resources that will be released in just a couple of weeks, significantly expanding Jama Software’s engagement in a sector in so many ways that’s foundational to industries overall. In this webinar, we’re going to give a brief overview of the current state of semiconductor requirements practice. We’ll talk through some challenges that are common to semiconductor, some are drawn from my own industry experience, but also from outside research publications and collaborations. These challenges may sound familiar to you too. And then we’ll also talk about the value of intentional movement towards aligning product development data practices both within your company and or any specific company, but also for semiconductor overall.
And we’re definitely seeing folks start to pick up on that. These aren’t alignments that a third party data model or a standard is mandating for you either, but practices that have a solid return on investment in your context both financially and in terms of quality and efficiency. Better alignment accelerates time to market and helps you respond effectively to change. A phrase that I found useful working in semiconductor about requirements as well as requirements engineering generally is common enough, not identical, not uniform, not standard even, but common enough practices that an organization or team can coalesce around in order to build some efficiencies in their product development practice. There are many ways to move toward alignment on common enough practices, but we’ll share just a few today and Steve will show you what they look like in practice if you were to choose to try them out using Jama Connect. Steve will also introduce the Jama Connect semiconductor framework that will be launching on December 4th the same day as a Jama Software hosted Digital Engineering Summit in San Jose. We’ll tell you a little bit more about that before we end today too.
And of course, we’re going to take some questions. We may not have time to catch them all in our short time together today, but please do put them in the Q&A. What we don’t get to today we’ll try to tackle over the next few weeks and we’ll make available in the semiconductor area of the Jama Software website. Let’s get started. A key first step in any collaborative engineering activity is to make sure that when you’re using a term, you’ve got a shared understanding of what that term means. When each of you signed up to attend today, you brought your own mental model of what we might mean by semiconductor, so let’s take just a minute to orient on that with the model that Jama Software uses describing eight different categories of companies. Now, this isn’t the only way to represent semiconductor and there are certainly different degrees of difference or commonality among these groupings, so don’t get wrapped around the picture here or those categories, it’s just to let you know that yes, semiconductor as comprehended by Jama Software is a very broad and diverse sector with different data management needs.
Gregory: For example, the requirements for a semiconductor chip, for a chip design, they’re going to different than the requirements for litho and etch equipment to fab that chip. Companies in some of the boxes may also exist in other industry categories and they could be subject to standards in those industries as well, so it’s all a matter of what an individual company does that it informs what information they need to manage and how they need to manage that product data. It’s also possible for two companies or more in the same subsegment to manage their product data in very different ways and then for there to be commonalities in company practices across those lines too. It’s not in the scope of Steve’s and my discussion today to dig into these differences within the segments, much less different data management practices among them. Just know that the work that Jama Software is doing to support requirements engineering and data governance in the semiconductor industry, beginning with this initial release of the new semiconductor solution comprehends the scope.
We have eight categories, a lot of overlap, but just as important so many differences sometimes even within a single company within one of those categories. And it’s those differences, the scope and the breadth of them that is a challenge that in many ways is unique to the semiconductor industry. Several industries, automotive, medical devices, even some areas of oil and gas have prescriptive standards that govern how product data is structured, developed and managed. If you’ve been following Jama Software for a while you’ve possibly noticed a lot of resources that enable companies across those industries to deploy Jama Connect to manage their requirements conforming to those standards. Jama Connect has several predefined traceability information models or data models and specific templates that are purpose-built to accelerate the work of companies that need to meet those standards. In semiconductor, we don’t have such a standard at the point of product definition. You may have your own mental model of the information architecture at your company or at least in the part of the company where you’re working.
And if you happen to work in a standards-adjacent area, for example, your company or the part of the company that you’re in provides devices to automotive, standards that govern the automotive industry may be familiar to you at least for that part of your business. Otherwise, even within the same subsector in semiconductor, you’re going to find a lot of differences, a lot of divergence in how companies may architect their product data. In the absence of prescriptive standards that govern product information architecture a lot of that information architecture has just grown up organically. Now, when you look across semiconductor as a whole you might see some resemblance in some areas, but in others the information to be managed is quite different. No standards, no common regulations, very different products, all leads to a lot of divergence in practice, and that divergence can create drag and inefficiencies. Now, that points to one of the common traits across many companies in the semiconductor industry too.
In this blog, we recap a preview of our webinar, “Best Practices for Writing Requirements” – Click HERE for the full version.
Discover How to Remove Ambiguity and Improve Development Outcomes
Regardless of what terminology your teams use—”needs,” “features,” or “requirements”—the purpose of good requirements is to create a shared understanding of the promise, functionality, and value of the products you develop across all stakeholders. Ineffective requirements can lead to scope creep, delays, and poor product quality.
Watch our webinar to learn proven methods for writing better requirements to remove ambiguity and improve development outcomes.
In this insightful session, you will learn how to:
Create a simple, systematic, and standardized process that your teams can follow.
Separate requirements from design and establish a clear hierarchy.
Ensure complete traceability of requirements throughout the development lifecycle.
Below is a preview of our webinar. Click HERE for the entire presentation.
Below is an abbreviated transcript of our webinar.
Best Practices for Writing Requirements
Patrick Garman: Hello everyone, let me introduce myself and my co-host. I am Patrick Garman, I’m a Principal Solutions Consultant here at Jama Software, and I work with customers across multiple industries to optimize requirements management practices to help innovators succeed. Before coming to Jama Software, I had 10 years of product development experience and I’ve led teams to successful product launches in soft tech, consumer electronics, logistics, healthcare, government and public sector, and the financial services industries. And now I serve as the services lead for improving requirements quality at Jama Software. Joining me today as well is Danny.
Danny Beerens: Hi. Thank you, Patrick, for introducing me. I’m Danny Beerens, Senior Solution Consultant here at Jama Software, and I will be assisting Patrick today. I have nearly two decades of experience in system engineering, and I have successfully implemented, trained, maintained, and supported application lifecycle management application, specifically requirements management application. Throughout my career, I have worked on projects and collaborated with customers in the medical device, aerospace and defense, automotive, and semiconductor industries.
Beerens: So let’s start off today. Jama Software’s purpose is to help innovators succeed, as Patrick already mentioned. And the key to successful innovation is writing high-quality requirements for your products. We want you to walk away from this session with an understanding of why requirements are important and give you a useful framework from which to build your requirements-authoring skills. Basically, we are setting the groundwork here. We’ll expose you to the challenges in product development as they relate to requirements, and we will talk about how requirements help to bridge communication challenges. We’ll also provide you with important information and tools for authoring better requirements. So helping you write better requirements is why we are here, but what does that matter, why are we really here?
What we want and what I suspect you want too is to build safe and high-quality products, and requirements are an essential element in defining, designing, and developing great products. So yes, we want you to write better requirements, but writing better requirements is a means to a better end, a high-quality safe product, and good requirements also mean getting that great product with hopefully less communication friction, reduced rework, and building a work environment that encourages collaboration, transparency, and focuses on quality.
Beerens: So, let’s start with talking about why requirements are important. Requirements are the building blocks of product development and strong requirements lead to better products. Conversely, vague and unclear requirements cannot only lead to product issues but also to safety concerns. These quotes you see here from the US Food and Drug Administration Design Control Guidelines for Medical Device Manufacturers, and highlight the importance of quality requirement management in delivering safe products to the market. But these justifications for requirements can be applied to any industry or product. Keep in mind, that design control activities are intended to drive quality and safety into the product development process. And here, they are stating that requirements are the foundation to those safety activities.
Of course not all benefits of proper requirements management are related to safety, these also call out the impact to later product development lifecycle activities, finding that missing requirements or even ill-defined requirements can cause expensive redesign and rework, which makes sense considering the later issues are found in the product lifecycle, the more expensive the issue is to resolve, as you’ll need to circle back to previous phases to identify and address the issue at the root, and their impacts along the way. Requirements management activities are a way to avoid these issues from the start, thus reducing rework and redesign, and improving your quality. It also ensures you make the time to market. While the specific regulations and standards may vary, the same requirement management practices and principles are applicable to any industry.
The TrustRadius Buyer’s Choice Award is a prestigious honor in the B2B technology landscape, awarded solely on the basis of verified customer feedback. Rather than relying on analyst opinions, this award represents the voices and experiences of professionals who use Jama Connect every day to deliver high-quality, innovative products across industries. It reflects exceptional customer satisfaction, product momentum, and market relevance.
Earning this award validates our commitment to supporting organizations with solutions that address real-world challenges and deliver measurable value.
Jama Connect continues to set the standard for requirements, risk, and test management by helping teams manage complex engineering projects with clarity and confidence.
Whether enabling product innovation in aerospace and automotive, ensuring compliance in regulated medical fields, or streamlining processes in software development, Jama Connect delivers a collaborative, structured environment for every stage of the development lifecycle.
Key capabilities that set Jama Connect apart include:
Live Traceability™: Teams can maintain real-time visibility across requirements, risks, and test cases to ensure accuracy and compliance.
Streamlined Regulatory Compliance: Pre-built templates and automated tracking simplify adherence to industry standards such as ISO 26262, DO-178C, and FDA regulations.
Collaboration at Scale: Distributed teams benefit from intuitive workflows, a robust review center, real-time commenting, and advanced export options, supporting effective decision-making and seamless stakeholder engagement.
These powerful features empower teams to accelerate time-to-market, reduce risk, and deliver trusted results in highly regulated and complex environments.
User Feedback Fuels Our Progress
We are deeply grateful to our users, whose feedback directly shapes the evolution of Jama Connect. Their insights help us prioritize enhancements, develop intuitive features, and refine the platform for an even better user experience. We continuously listen, adapt, and innovate, ensuring Jama Connect remains the leading solution you can depend on.
Here’s what some of our customers have to say about their experience:
“Jama Connect has the best UI compared to DOORS, Codebeamer, and [PTC Integrity]. It’s the clearest to use with the best usability. For example, making traces between requirements is as straightforward as clicking a button. The trace matrix view is highly configurable to show anything you need.”(Verified User, Medical Device Company)
“We use Jama [Connect] for centralized requirements administration of sector-wide projects and development. The intuitive review module and quick-marking features make managing requirements seamless.”(Verified Professional, Oil & Energy Company)
“We are using Jama Connect to be more than just a requirements management tool – we are using Jama Connect as the single source of truth to contain not just the requirements, but also the why and how the system is the way it is. It helps us engage stakeholders, both junior and senior, due to its user-friendly interface.”(Chris Armstrong, Lead Systems Engineer, JFD)
These testimonials illustrate Jama Connect’s powerful impact on our users’ workflows and show why teams across the globe trust us as their go-to solution for requirements management.
Top organizations across the globe turn to Jama Connect as their central platform for managing the product and systems development lifecycle. Customers consistently note the impact of features like Live Traceability™, configurable templates, export options for compliance, and collaboration tools. These elements are designed for flexibility, efficiency, and confidence, no matter the scale or regulatory demands.
Our Continued Commitment
Winning the 2026 TrustRadius Buyer’s Choice Award inspires us to keep raising the bar. Our team is actively investing in new advancements including greater automation, advanced analytics, and a more powerful, user-friendly experience so you can meet tomorrow’s challenges efficiently and confidently.
Experience Jama Connect’s Impact
This latest honor from TrustRadius underscores why leading teams worldwide trust Jama Connect to drive their projects forward. If you’re seeking to improve compliance, streamline product development, or enable advanced collaboration, we invite you to discover the difference Jama Connect can make for your organization.
Thank You
To our valued customers, thank you. Your continued partnership and feedback have made this achievement possible. We look forward to working together to drive your next wave of innovation and success.
As organizations grow, the complexity of their projects multiplies. Managing tens of millions of requirements and thousands of simultaneous users can strain legacy systems that persist in the market. For large enterprises, a requirements management platform must do more than just store information; it must scale effortlessly, perform reliably under pressure, and provide clear, comprehensive insights. Jama Connect is engineered specifically to meet these enterprise-level challenges, ensuring that your teams can innovate without being hindered by their tools.
The Enterprise Challenge: Scaling Without Compromise
In a large-scale environment, systems are constantly tested by the sheer volume of data and user activity. A platform might work well for a small team in a startup mode, but how does it perform with 1,000s of users accessing and modifying tens of millions of requirements? The risk of slowdowns, data conflicts, and system instability becomes a major concern. Large enterprises need a solution that guarantees high performance, data integrity, and a seamless user experience, regardless of scale and volume. Users that experience performance issues will often abandon the tool and find other means to complete their work. For a requirements management process, this effectively causes more work, introduces defects, and undermines the value of having a single source of truth. This frequently occurs in legacy requirements management tools with antiquated architecture that do not scale well.
Jama Connect addresses this with an architecture designed for high-volume, high-concurrency environments and dynamic scalability. It allows organizations to manage complex and large product development lifecycles effectively, from initial concept to final launch and beyond, ensuring that every team member is aligned and productive while enjoying a positive user experience.
Supporting Hundreds of Thousands of Users Simultaneously
One of the most significant tests for any enterprise platform is its ability to support a large number of concurrent users without performance degradation. Jama Connect is architected to handle this demand, allowing global teams to collaborate in real time. Whether it’s engineers in one country, testers in another, and project managers in a third, everyone can access and update requirements simultaneously.
This capability is crucial for maintaining project velocity. Delays caused by system lag or user lockouts can create bottlenecks and push timelines back. Jama Connect’s robust infrastructure ensures that as your user base grows, the platform remains responsive and stable. This allows teams to focus on their work, not on waiting for their tools to catch up.
Managing Billions of Requirements with Ease
Modern products, from medical devices to aerospace systems to autonomous driving vehicles, can involve millions of individual requirements, test cases, and risk analyses. Managing this volume of data is a monumental task. Jama Connect is optimized to handle large amounts of requirements and other related assets, allowing enterprises to centralize all their requirements in a single, organized repository.
The platform’s performance isn’t just about storage; it’s about accessibility and usability. Users can quickly search, filter, and analyze millions of items to find the exact information they need. This efficiency is vital for making informed decisions and ensuring that all project components are aligned with top-level goals. For example, the ability to create a detailed requirement traceability matrix or view remains fast and fluid, even with extensive data sets.
The Power of Live Traceability™ at Scale
Traceability is the backbone of compliant and high-quality product development. In an enterprise setting, maintaining this traceability across integrated toolchains can be incredibly complex. As data is created across the V model, the number of requirements grows exponentially, and so do the numbers of traces. Jama Connect simplifies this interoperability. The concept of Live Traceability is to provide a dynamic, real-time view of the relationships across your integrated tool chain. For example, when integrated with a tool like Jira or a modeling tool, it is essential to know when a user story or aspects of the model have been updated and how it impacts requirements in your requirements tool.
As one team member updates a requirement, the impact of that change is instantly visible to everyone else. This immediate feedback loop is essential for impact analysis. Before committing a change, teams can see exactly which downstream items will be affected, preventing unintended consequences and reducing rework. When the requirements tool is integrated with other systems in your toolchain, it is essential that this process be scalable in order to handle the level of change that occurs at enterprise scale, where tens of thousands of requirements and tests can be impacted by upstream change.
For an enterprise, downtime is not an option. Jama Connect is built on a modern, service-oriented architecture that delivers the performance, scalability, and reliability required for mission-critical projects. It is designed to integrate smoothly into existing enterprise IT ecosystems, offering flexible deployment options, whether on-premises or in AWS cloud.
This focus on enterprise-grade performance means that teams can depend on Jama Connect to be available and responsive when they need it most. Performance of the tool is measured “at the glass,” ensuring that the user experience is the main focus. The P75 load time for cloud hosted environments is under 3 seconds. The platform’s advanced architecture is optimized for handling complex queries and large data loads, ensuring that generating reports, conducting reviews, and navigating trace relationships is always a fast and efficient process.
The ultimate definition of scale is that user experience remains consistent regardless of the amount of data in the system. Jama Software’s focus on user-experienced performance proves that while managing billions of requirements, the user experience (measured via P75 load times) remains consistent and well within best practices. No other tool in the industry can make such a claim because no other tool in the industry combines the modern architecture and performance monitoring of Jama Connect.
Conclusion: Scale Your Innovation with Confidence
When shopping for a requirements tool, there are many considerations: features, price, and industry position. One of the main aspects to consider is scalability and growth. If you are serious enough to be seeking out a requirements management tool, you understand the value of formalized requirements to your business and are certainly expecting your business to grow and be successful. Why invest in a tool today that won’t be able to grow with you tomorrow?
For large enterprises, selecting a requirements management platform is a strategic decision that impacts productivity, quality, and time to market. The solution must be able to grow with the organization and handle the complexities of modern product development.
Jama Connect proves itself as a true enterprise-grade platform by delivering exceptional performance, supporting hundreds of thousands of concurrent users, and managing billions of requirements with ease. With Jama Connect, enterprises can scale their operations and ambitions without being limited by their tools, empowering them to build the next generation of innovative products with confidence.
![[Webinar Recap] Transform Engineering Processes: Bridge Gaps Between Teams and Tools Effectively](https://www.jamasoftware.com/media/2025/01/Transform-Engineering-Processes.png "[Webinar Recap] Transform Engineering Processes: Bridge Gaps Between Teams and Tools Effectively")
