Moving beyond mobility: why the shift to software-defined vehicles can't wait

"If you don’t know where you are in the SDV journey, it’s hard to define your strategy," said Maite Bezerra, Senior Principal Analyst at Omdia. "This framework gives the industry a common language."

Bezerra cuts straight to the heart of a monumental shift reshaping the automotive world. The move toward software-defined vehicles isn’t just about adding smarter features, it’s about reimagining how cars are designed, built and experienced.

Yet, across the industry, conversations about SDVs are happening in silos, each company using its own terms and definitions. To bring some order to the confusion, HERE Technologies teamed up with Omdia in July 2025 to launch a research initiative.

The goal: build a shared, industry-neutral framework to help everyone speak the same language about SDVs.

By surveying 647 experts from automakers, suppliers and ecosystem partners across eight countries (including the US, China and Germany) HERE and Omdia have created a practical guide to help the industry find its bearings and move forward with confidence.

The SDV Maturity Framework consists of four phases that evolve in capability, maturity and sophistication: connected, augmented, adaptive, and agentic.

Where cars meet code

The move to SDVs is often compared to the leap from landline phones to smartphones. At first, it was hard to see the advantages. “I remember asking myself several times back then, ‘What’s so smart about them? What benefits do they really bring?’” said Bezerra.

Today, we see cars at a similar turning point. The industry knows the transition is inevitable, but many are still trying to figure out where the real value lies for both the manufacturer and the driver.

The HERE-Omdia SDV Maturity Framework breaks the SDV evolution into four distinct phases: connected, augmented, adaptive and agentic. Each phase is defined by its enabling technologies, organizational readiness, customer benefits and business models.

Using this framework, automakers and their partners gain a clear roadmap to assess progress and plan their next steps. It illustrates the journey from Phase 1 (connected), where vehicles are simply connected to the internet, to Phase 4 (agentic), where they function as intelligent personal assistants that anticipate needs and act on behalf of their owners.

A frictionless future

Creating a unified map for all vehicle domains stands out as a central focus across all SDV phases. In our survey, the "adaptive" phase emerges as the critical turning point, holding the highest importance (36%), followed by the "agentic" phase (31%) and the "augmented" phase (22%).

While the "connected" phase is the least significant (11%), Bezarra emphasized: "Location is what gives you context, and context is what makes these devices smart."

HERE works with automakers to speed up their shift to smarter, more connected vehicles. We offer one unified map that supports everything seamlessly, from infotainment to advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), removing the confusion caused by separate systems. With access to consistent source of location data, automakers can deliver a smoother, more reliable experience from the start.

We’ve built a robust ecosystem of partners to help speed up the development of software-defined vehicles. This includes our new cloud-based SDV Accelerator, developed in collaboration with AWS, which provides automakers with practical guidance, ready-to-use code and a comprehensive software architecture tailored specifically for vehicles.

Ultimately, the goal is for the term "SDV" to fade away entirely. "The perfect software-defined vehicle would be invisible," said Bezerra. "The car would simply remain a car, functioning so seamlessly that drivers would only experience the improved safety, comfort and convenience."

This focus on the customer experience will be the true measure of success in the new era of automotive innovation.