Logo Elektrobit

Elektrobit

Established Company
Show all Videos

Dr. Michael Ziehensack, Vice President Automotive Networks bei Elektrobit

Description

Vice President Automotive Networks bei Elektrobit Dr. Michael Ziehensack erzählt im Interview darüber, wie die Devteams im weltweiten Unternehmen die Software entwickeln, was dort Herausforderungen sind und auf was der Fokus beim Recruiting liegt.

By playing the video, you agree to data transfer to YouTube and acknowledge the privacy policy.

Video Summary

In "Dr. Michael Ziehensack, Vice President Automotive Networks bei Elektrobit," Dr. Michael Ziehensack describes how Elektrobit builds the OS for the 30–100 ECUs in modern cars and develops the in‑vehicle communication software in Vienna (120 people) using agile sprints and quarterly program increments, including a focus on software‑defined networking. The stack spans C for real‑time controllers and C++ on POSIX (Linux, QNX, Android), Java/JavaScript/Python tooling, and networks from CAN/LIN/FlexRay to Automotive Ethernet with TSN; heavy test automation with nightly builds plus MISRA, ISO 26262 and AUTOSAR drive quality, performance, security and OTA updates, and their OS runs in 100M+ vehicles. Hiring runs via the Elektrobit website with a phone screen, an online coding test and on‑site interviews leading to a second round; mutual fit and enthusiasm for Automotive Networks, C and C++ are key, and investing in an accessible process (team lead involvement, office walk‑through) results in very low attrition.

Building the car’s nervous system: Inside Elektrobit Vienna with Dr. Michael Ziehensack, Vice President Automotive Networks bei Elektrobit

Context: A TechLeadStory about operating systems, networks, and responsibility

In our TechLeadStory session with Dr. Michael Ziehensack, Vice President Automotive Networks bei Elektrobit, the stakes of automotive software come into sharp focus. Elektrobit builds software for cars—specifically, the operating systems that power electronic control units (ECUs). Modern vehicles contain “about 30 to 100 ECUs,” handling everything from engine management and navigation to cameras and radar sensors for driver assistance. These ECUs must communicate reliably and quickly. That communication stack is part of the operating system—and it’s built in Vienna.

Elektrobit counts roughly 3,000 people across eleven countries. In Vienna, an approximately 120-person team specializes in automotive networking: communication software that connects everything from real-time controllers to high-performance compute domains. The goal is unambiguous: high quality, low latency, resource efficiency, robust security, and fast startup times—in a product domain where software literally bears tons of responsibility.

Mission and impact: An OS running in more than 100 million cars

Dr. Michael Ziehensack lays it out plainly: Elektrobit builds the operating system for ECUs. What sets this work apart is scale, depth, and real-world impact. Elektrobit’s operating system is “in more than 100 million cars by now.” Engineers working on its foundations and communication stack don’t just ship prototypes—they deliver functions that go to series production at scale.

A defining part of those platforms is built in Vienna: the communication stack. It ensures that the vehicle’s many ECUs talk to each other reliably—over CAN, LIN, FlexRay, or Automotive Ethernet with TCP/IP and IEEE TSN standards. This foundation determines responsiveness, stability, and security for everything layered on top.

“ECUs in a vehicle need to communicate. That must happen reliably and quickly … we build this communication stack in Vienna.”

Working on this means focusing on core logic used across domains—from powertrain to ADAS data paths. That’s why quality and efficiency lead the agenda and why test automation, norms, and standards are not formalities but essential tools.

Teams that deliver: Agile with clear roles and predictable cadence

Elektrobit Vienna operates through “very autonomous small teams.” The company “switched to an agile software development process” some years ago. Each development team has three clearly defined roles:

  • Scrum Master – organizes the team and process
  • Product Owner – decides what gets built
  • Roughly eight developers – decide how to build it

Teams work in sprints lasting two to four weeks, coordinated through cross-team “Program Increments” where all teams “jointly create new functions” and “finish them every three months.” This setup blends team autonomy with a company-wide heartbeat that bundles and releases features predictably.

Two outcomes matter here:

  • Cross-team coordination and delivery reliability
  • Team-level ownership for quality, velocity, and continuous improvement

For a safety-critical environment, the combination is crucial: short feedback loops, clear accountabilities, and a predictable program cadence.

Engineering reality: C, C++, POSIX—and tools that scale testing

Vienna’s software stack is built for efficiency, determinism, and portability:

  • Primarily C for real-time controllers
  • C++ for performance controllers on POSIX-based operating systems (Linux, QNX, Android)
  • Java, JavaScript, and Python for configuration and test tools, along with XML and JSON

A “very high degree of test automation” anchors this work. Immediate tests and “nightly builds” ensure developers see results quickly and can adjust early. In an environment where corner cases are critical, fast, continuous verification is not a nice-to-have—it’s the prerequisite for confidence.

“We really have to test a lot … there are immediate tests, there are nightly builds.”

Standards form the backbone of the workflow:

  • MISRA-C and MISRA-C++ coding standards
  • ISO 26262 for safety-related functions
  • AUTOSAR as a defining software architecture

This discipline produces robustness and traceability—crucial for shipping connected, safety-relevant functions at scale.

In-vehicle networking: CAN, LIN, FlexRay, Ethernet, TCP/IP, and IEEE TSN

The car’s network landscape is diverse. Elektrobit addresses established buses (CAN, LIN, FlexRay) as well as Automotive Ethernet with TCP/IP and “cool IEEE TSN standards.” In the vehicle, Time-Sensitive Networking is especially relevant: it brings deterministic latency for time-critical data flows needed across driver assistance and distributed control functions.

Ziehen­sack describes Software-Defined Networking (SDN) as a “favorite topic.” The goal: make the vehicle network more flexible and scalable, while remaining reliable, fast at startup, and secure. SDN in this context is an approach to manage topology, QoS, and security policies through software rather than static wiring.

“Our favorite topic is Software-Defined Networking … make the vehicle network more flexible and scalable while staying reliable, ensuring fast startup times and security.”

If you join the Vienna team, you won’t merely work on protocols—you’ll help control the network fabric itself, with direct impact on boot times, latency, redundancy, and defense-in-depth.

Security posture: Updates “like a smartphone,” with automotive-grade rigor

Vehicles are “increasingly connected to the outside.” That raises the bar for cybersecurity. Over-the-air updates that pull the latest software “like a smartphone” are convenient and economically attractive. But they also expand the attack surface: a car can be bought by anyone and “taken apart.” Where data centers are physically secured, cars are widespread, movable targets.

Elektrobit invests in protective mechanisms at the operating system and communication layers:

  • Authenticated message transmission
  • In-vehicle software updates
  • Firewalls
  • Intrusion detection

Together these elements protect communication paths, limit attack vectors, and enable continuous updating without increasing risk. Because security is a process, not a static state, this ties directly into the high test coverage and steady cadence of nightly builds—every change needs to hold up in the wild.

Quality, resources, cost: The grand optimization

Ziehen­sack distills the main challenges of automotive software into three areas:

1) Quality and spec conformance

  • Software must do “exactly what is specified—and nothing else.”
  • Corner cases matter—a lot; driver assistance and automated driving are unforgiving.
  • Behind each decision lies real-world responsibility: “a two-ton device … moving at 100–150 km/h.”

2) Resource use and performance

  • Keep CPU load low; achieve fast response times; minimize RAM usage.
  • Optimize startup times; ensure deterministic responsiveness.
  • Hardware footprint scales across millions of vehicles.

3) Economic effect

  • With high volumes, every optimization adds up. Ziehensack points out that “if you save two euros on a control unit,” the impact is significant over millions of cars—especially given the OS already runs in over 100 million vehicles.

These dimensions can’t be tackled in isolation. A strong security function that burns too much memory is as problematic as a fast stack that fails at corner cases. The engineering target is “both/and”—driven by test automation, standards, and continuous integration.

Hiring at Elektrobit Vienna: A clear process that honors the “perfect fit”

If you want to join Elektrobit, the best path is via the Elektrobit homepage. Select Austria, browse the open roles, and apply directly. The process is intentionally multi-step, designed so both sides can be confident about fit.

The flow in brief:

1) Application via the Elektrobit homepage (select Austria)

2) Review by an approachable team lead together with HR

3) First phone interview

4) A small online test with programming examples and questions

5) Onsite meeting at the Vienna office: HR and the team lead discuss the role in depth, get to know the candidate, and show the office

6) Second round with a department head or with Dr. Michael Ziehensack

7) Offer

“It’s really important to us that it’s a perfect fit for both sides … If someone enjoys the work, they’ll do it well. That’s why we take the time.”

This approach shows results: “very, very low fluctuation” and people who “feel comfortable” at the company.

What Elektrobit looks for: A passion for automotive networks, C, and C++

The sought-after profiles are clear. If you’re considering Elektrobit Vienna, you should be excited by:

  • Automotive networks: from CAN/LIN/FlexRay to Automotive Ethernet with TCP/IP and TSN
  • Systems programming in C (real-time controllers) and C++ (POSIX-based performance controllers)
  • Working under strict coding standards (MISRA-C/C++), with safety norms (ISO 26262) and architecture standards (AUTOSAR)
  • Test-driven, automated workflows (immediate tests, nightly builds)

Complementary strengths for tools and test workflows include:

  • Java, JavaScript, and Python for configuration and test tooling
  • XML and JSON as configuration and data formats

Motivation is key. Ziehensack puts it simply: if you “really enjoy programming Automotive Networks in C and C++,” you’ll likely be in the right place—and do strong work.

Day-to-day and collaboration: What engineering looks like here

A few operating principles from the session stand out:

  • Short cycles, clear deliverables: 2–4-week sprints and program increments every three months
  • Real team roles: Product Owner for the “what,” developers for the “how,” Scrum Master for organization
  • Early feedback: immediate tests and nightly builds
  • High standards: MISRA, ISO 26262, AUTOSAR
  • Performance focus: low CPU load, low RAM usage, deterministic latency, fast startup
  • Security-first defaults: authenticated messages, firewalls, intrusion detection, update-ready systems
  • Networking expertise at the core: protocols, stacks, and SDN in the vehicle

The Vienna unit has “a heart for this communication software.” You can see it in the topics: from message formatting and endpoint protection to orchestrating the vehicle network through SDN. Working here means holding the system’s threads in your hands—and seeing the results ship.

Why this appeals to tech talent

From a developer’s perspective, several factors make Elektrobit Vienna compelling:

  • Impact at scale: The operating system runs in “more than 100 million cars.” What you build truly goes to series production.
  • Technical depth: C/C++ close to hardware, POSIX-based stacks on performance controllers, network protocols and TSN—engineered at system level.
  • Quality and safety culture: MISRA, ISO 26262, AUTOSAR; test-driven, automated, traceable.
  • Agile rhythm with predictability: sprints and program increments combine team autonomy with dependable delivery.
  • Hiring values: time invested to ensure fit, enjoyment of the work as a criterion, low attrition.
  • Vienna’s focus area: a 120-person team owning the communication stack—the backbone of modern in-vehicle software.

This mix suits engineers who embrace responsibility, treat standards as powerful tools, and enjoy turning constrained resources into performant, secure systems.

The unique challenge: Doing everything well at once

“Quality,” “resources,” “security,” “fault tolerance”—each is hard by itself. In automotive, they must be met simultaneously. That reality shapes architecture decisions, coding standards, and protocol choices. TSN, for example, helps make latency predictable, but it doesn’t make integration trivial—you still need tests, nightly builds, and disciplined MISRA adherence.

Ziehen­sack’s account underscores one thread throughout: test automation as the central hinge. It binds agile iteration to safety requirements and performance optimization. Letting developers “see results quickly” is not merely motivational—it enables early course corrections and, at scale, the cost savings that matter across millions of vehicles.

How to apply: From first click to offer

One more time, the path from application to offer:

  • Apply via the Elektrobit homepage by selecting Austria
  • Team lead and HR review your profile
  • First phone interview
  • Online test (programming exercises and questions)
  • Onsite session in Vienna with HR and the team lead, plus an office tour
  • Second round with a department head or Dr. Michael Ziehensack
  • Offer

This process is an investment—deliberately designed to build mutual clarity. If you enjoy systems work in C and C++, feel at home in automotive networking, and are comfortable with standards-driven engineering, this is a chance to contribute to a platform already in nine digits of vehicles on the road.

Conclusion: Communication software as the foundation of modern mobility

The session with Dr. Michael Ziehensack, Vice President Automotive Networks bei Elektrobit, paints a crisp picture: in Vienna, the communication layer of an automotive operating system is being built—software that makes ECU interaction safe, fast, and efficient in millions of cars. It’s delivered by small autonomous teams, anchored in strong standards and heavy test automation, and supported by a hiring culture that prizes mutual fit.

If your energy goes toward impact, quality, and system depth—and you “really enjoy programming Automotive Networks in C and C++”—you’ll find not just a role here, but a platform to exercise your engineering craft: in real time, with safety and performance constraints, and with the realities of large-scale series production always in view.

More Tech Talks

More Tech Lead Stories

More Dev Stories