Building the Future of Safety-Critical Systems: Inside FREQUENTIS with VP New Business Development Günter Graf

Why this session stands out for engineers

In “Günter Graf, VP New Business Development von Frequentis” (Speaker: Günter Graf, Company: FREQUENTIS), we heard a frank, detail-rich account of how a technology company builds, evolves, and operates safety-critical platforms across air traffic management, public safety communications, and rail. The conversation ranges from early-stage research and prototyping to the 20-year life cycles and update regimes that define mission-critical environments.

What became crystal clear is the blend that FREQUENTIS expects from its engineers: technical breadth, domain curiosity, comfort with uncertainty, and the discipline to design for redundancy, failover, and long-term maintainability. This is not hype-driven tech; it’s technology that has to work—always.

Mission: Make technology usable in safety-critical domains

FREQUENTIS doesn’t build features for their own sake. The mission is to apply technology in environments where availability and safety are non-negotiable. In this context, “safety-critical” means:

• Redundancy and failover by design: every device can fail; systems must continue in a safe degraded mode (a “notbetrieb” mindset) when components break.
• Prioritization of essential functionality: in public safety, an SMS feature can fail, but a call from a fire engine must always go through.
• Safety and security together: where systems were once isolated, today cloud and connectivity are key to maintaining strong security.

This mission runs across air traffic management, public safety (police, ambulance, fire), rail, and increasingly, drones.

Organizational design: Flexible predevelopment and distributed expert teams

Graf draws a clear line between a conventional product team and FREQUENTIS’s New Business Development (NBD) engine. The latter is set up to explore, prototype, and transition to product when the time is right—even if not all answers are known.

• Prototype-first collaboration: build, test, iterate—then do it again.
• Distributed expertise: “elite developers” join forces across locations (e.g., Bratislava, Karlsruhe) to advance prototypes and research projects.
• Early market-technology coupling: once a domain shows promise, NBD spins up product development with eyes open that some aspects are still evolving.

Corporate Research and a long-running Startup Center

Within NBD, Corporate Research is the forward-looking core: new standards, first prototypes, European collaborations, and practical thought experiments on how air traffic or rail might be organized differently.

In parallel, FREQUENTIS has operated a Startup Center “in der Vorausgasse” for about 20 years. The purpose: give ideas in the company’s technology/domain orbit a real shot—especially when they don’t yet fit inside the core organization or when individuals want to build something independently.

The result is a dual engine: research that matures technologies and an entrepreneurial pathway that can incubate innovations until they’re ready to integrate—or to stand on their own.

From experiment to product: When predevelopment clicks

Predevelopment at FREQUENTIS isn’t a sandbox; it’s a proving ground with a clear threshold for moving into product.

• Air traffic example: applying AI to optimize slot allocation between aircraft at an airport—implemented for Swiss air traffic control and Swiss.
• Mission Critical Services: communications for police, rescue, and fire. The 2025–2030 window is expected to be significant, as legacy technologies are replaced and 5G reaches a safety-grade maturity.
• Drones: an emerging, increasingly relevant domain marrying predevelopment with deep domain expertise.

For engineers, that’s the sweet spot: enough room to make meaningful architecture decisions, with the responsibility to make them stand up in the real world.

Engineering culture: All-rounders, domain depth, and comfort with the unknown

FREQUENTIS cultivates an engineering culture centered on outcomes, not on language orthodoxy.

• All-rounder mindset: a team that had been “Java-only” switched to C when performance demands (e.g., in video) required it. The job is to deliver, not to stay in a comfort zone.
• Domain expertise as a hard skill: whether drones, public safety, or air traffic, engineers are expected to absorb domain knowledge to create real impact.
• Uncertainty as a given: in research and new business development, there isn’t a single truth. The job is to test hypotheses and challenge assumptions.

In this setup, engineers are not order-takers. They’re expected to assert technical realities early and clearly:

Hiring, onboarding, and growth: Clear process, tutors, and steep learning

Graf emphasizes a crisp HR process with transparent and timely candidate communication—including when it’s a no. The onboarding model relies on a tutor system.

• A tutor for every newcomer: not only on tooling and code, but explicitly on domain knowledge, which is decisive in safety-critical contexts.
• Realistic expectations: no one can master every new technology at once. FREQUENTIS looks for learning capacity and targeted expertise-building.
• Social skills: enthusiasm for the new, cross-site teamwork, and peer-level dialogue between research, business development, and engineering.

The result is a path that isn’t strictly linear: you might move between prototypes in research projects and product development for international customers as markets and technologies ripen.

Platform and architecture principles: Cloud, containers, DevOps—with a safety lens

FREQUENTIS leans into modern platforms where they improve safety and security.

• Cloud for security: systems once isolated are now moving toward cloud-based implementations to meet today’s security requirements.
• Kubernetes and containerization: proprietary technologies heavily leverage the Google Kubernetes approach and container best practices.
• Languages and frameworks: strong Java on the backend; JavaScript on the application side; C where performance (e.g., in video) requires it.
• Workflow orientation: the aim of “digitalization” is to model and run actual real-world workflows—not technology for its own sake.

AI and deep learning: Real processes, known limits

FREQUENTIS runs multiple funded research projects to apply deep learning and AI to real processes. The tone is pragmatic, clear-eyed about known trade-offs:

• Value: modeling complex, dynamic workflows (e.g., airport slot allocation).
• Challenge: explainability. A long-standing issue since the 1980s that remains especially relevant in safety environments.

20-year life cycles: DevOps for the long haul

A defining trait in FREQUENTIS’s world is longevity. Systems are expected to live for 20 years—and that changes how you design.

• Ecosystem over product: deployment, testability, and updatability must be architectural first-class citizens.
• Automation required: yearly updates, security fixes, and continuous improvements—automated and standardized, not manual.

Engineers here make decisions with a two-decade horizon. If you love working on build, test, and deployment chains that keep critical systems safe and current, this is your arena.

Cross-site collaboration: Connect expertise, advance prototypes

Engineering at FREQUENTIS spans Europe and beyond. Instead of rigid silos, the company assembles project teams around prototypes and research outcomes.

• Teams across locations: Bratislava, Karlsruhe, and other sites contribute specialized capabilities.
• Expertise-driven staffing: people who have the right background for a prototype come together regardless of org chart.
• Research-meets-customer: initiatives like AI-based slot optimization happen where research, predevelopment, and real-world use intersect.

This setup accelerates learning: engineers work with colleagues who bring different domains, stacks, and markets to the table.

What FREQUENTIS expects from tech talent

The session points to a concrete profile beyond tool checklists:

• Learning-oriented all-rounders: solid engineering fundamentals, readiness to switch technologies (Java, JavaScript, C), and comfort with containers and cloud.
• Domain-driven builders: people who want to understand drones, public safety, air traffic, or rail deeply enough to make a difference.
• Uncertainty fluency: test hypotheses, build prototypes, seek feedback—accept there isn’t “one truth” early on.
• Safety mindset: design for redundancy, safe fallback, updatability, and long-term operation.
• Collaborative clarity: work across locations, articulate positions, and give feedback—including to business developers and researchers.

The reward is growth measured in responsibility, enduring architecture decisions, and tangible domain impact.

Why engineers should consider FREQUENTIS

• Real-world impact: you build systems that matter in urgent, life-critical contexts.
• Modern stacks with accountability: Kubernetes, containerization, and cloud framed by safety and security requirements.
• Real AI, not just demos: deep learning where it improves processes—paired with a clear-eyed stance on explainability.
• A learning-friendly culture: from a Java-heavy team to performance work in C—the use case decides, not the comfort zone.
• Structured onboarding: tutors and clear HR communication set you up to succeed.
• Research to product: corporate research, funded projects, and a long-running Startup Center provide multiple paths to realize innovation.
• Long-haul engineering: 20-year life cycles bring compelling challenges in DevOps, testing, and automated updates.
• Cross-site work: connect with experts across Europe and beyond, broaden your perspective, and grow faster.

Closing: For tech leaders who embrace responsibility

“Günter Graf, VP New Business Development von Frequentis” shows an organization balancing pioneering work with operational safety. If you see software as vital infrastructure, this is a place where modern engineering meets real responsibility.

For us, FREQUENTIS stands out as a destination for engineers who want to build robust software and shape domains—air traffic, public safety, rail, and drones—using cloud, containers, and AI, with safety and security in mind at every step.

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