Inspiring the Next Generation: Inside the High Integrity Software Lab 2026

Taking place at a fantastic new venue, The Vox in Birmingham, UK, and with the largest attendance and speaker count yet, this year's High Integrity Software Conference (HISC) was a huge success and marked the inauguration of the High Integrity Software Labs (HISL). Born out of discussions from various HISC delegates, work started immediately following the 2025 event, and an HISC subcommittee, led by Jamie Ayre from Rapita Systems and made up of Paul Butcher (AdaCore) and Stuart Mathuews (Capgemini Engineering), who also co-lead the HISC Program Committee, was formed with help from the main HISC organizing committee.

The High Integrity Software Lab (HISL) brought together 35 registered early-career candidates for an energizing day of networking, direct mentorship, and hands-on engineering challenges. Designed as a collaborative precursor to the annual High Integrity Software Conference (HISC), the Lab offered emerging engineers a rare opportunity to connect directly with senior industry leaders across the high-assurance sector.

The day began with an icebreaker exercise that grouped attendees from different organizations, setting a collaborative tone. During the Industry Leaders Panel, several senior executives shared their career journeys and offered guidance to early-career attendees. The delegates then had the opportunity to ask candid, unfiltered questions about career paths, industry trends, and real-world engineering management. This led directly to table-by-table speed-networking rounds, where senior personnel shared practical advice and mentorship in small groups.

The Industry Leaders Panel was made up of experts from Motorola, Rolls-Royce, MBDA, DSTL, BAES, and AdaCore.

Reflecting on the day's exchanges, Paul Butcher, UK Programme Manager & Unit Director for Dynamic Analysis at AdaCore—who served as a panelist and co-organizer—noted:

"High-integrity software engineering isn't about following a rigid, one-size-fits-all rulebook—it's about learning how to evaluate complex trade-offs, ask the right questions, and take ownership of critical decisions. Seeing 35 talented early-HIS-career engineers collaborate, challenge assumptions, and defend their ideas with such enthusiasm gives me complete confidence in the future of our industry."

Reflecting on his experience as a panelist, Lee Jacques, Senior Director of Software Engineering at Motorola Solutions, shared:

"I was privileged to be part of the panel and to be able to talk to the delegates. All of them were really keen and asked some insightful questions. I hope they found the opportunity inspiring and I look forward watching and supporting their, and future years, journeys through High Integrity Software development"

In the afternoon, delegates rotated through two hands-on, scenario-driven workshops simulating realistic industry dilemmas:

• Workshop A — "Building Bridges in Borsetshire" (Led by Capgemini): Teams navigated complex requirements engineering for safety-critical systems, deriving technical specifications from high-level user needs using satisfaction arguments while maintaining strict regulatory compliance.
• Workshop B — "Assurance à la Carte: Architecting the Mid-Life Upgrade" (Led by AdaCore & Rapita Systems): Teams acted as engineering consortia, designing a software development and verification plan to upgrade a legacy flight control module. Operating under sealed corporate constraints (balancing budget, safety, speed, and maintainability), participants selected design, implementation, and verification methods before defending their decisions to a peer Design Assurance Review Board

Mike Bennet, Senior Software Specialist from Rolls-Royce, noted that "it was honour to be part of the panel and support the delegates as they begin their careers. The feedback from the Rolls-Royce apprentices and interns was extremely positive, and I am looking forward to next year already!". Judy Kington- Duong, Specialist from Rolls-Royce, also joined Mike on stage as part of the Industry Leaders Panel.

The success of the event is best measured by the feedback from delegates, and the following was provided by the Rolls-Royce HISL cohort:

Reflections from the High Integrity Software Lab (HISL) and Conference (HISC)

On 12th and 13th October, a group of interns and apprentices had the opportunity to attend the High Integrity Software Lab (HISL) and Conference (HISC) in Birmingham. Across the two days, we had the chance to learn more about high-integrity software, hear from experienced professionals across the industry, and gain a broader understanding of both the technical and non-technical aspects of working in the field.

The first day was the High Integrity Software Lab, which was aimed at those at the beginning of their careers. The day featured two interactive workshops. The first workshop, delivered by Capgemini, focused on requirements engineering for high-integrity systems and challenged us to work from a high-level set of user needs towards a compliant solution. The second workshop, delivered by experts from AdaCore and Rapita Systems, explored assurance planning and the different approaches that can be taken when developing and verifying high-integrity software. Working through these challenges in groups allowed us to put technical thinking into practice while also developing transferable skills such as communication, collaboration and decision-making. We also had the opportunity to speak with experienced professionals and ask questions about their work and careers. A key takeaway from these conversations was that learning continues throughout a career, with new technologies, challenges and experiences providing constant opportunities to develop.

The second day was the High Integrity Software Conference, featuring talks from professionals across the industry on a broad range of topics, including Trusted AI Systems, Secure and Safe Software, and Next-Generation Engineering. One particularly interesting area was Trusted AI Systems, which explored the opportunities AI could provide in high-integrity environments, alongside the challenges of using and assuring it where trust and reliability are critical. Other talks covered topics ranging from next-generation engineering practices and technologies to the importance of integrating security alongside safety in airborne software development. The variety of sessions gave us valuable insight into both current challenges and emerging developments across the high-integrity software industry.

Being early in our careers, the two days were a valuable opportunity to step outside our day-to-day roles and gain a wider perspective on both the industry and our own development. Learning directly from experienced professionals, hearing about the paths they had taken and the challenges they had encountered, and having the opportunity to ask questions gave us new perspectives on the industry and the different opportunities available within it. It also highlighted the importance of continuing to learn throughout our careers, building connections and developing transferable skills alongside our technical knowledge."

Reflecting on his role facilitating one of the workshops, Stuart Matthews, Senior Architect in the Embedded Software division at Capgemini Engineering, said “Accurately capturing the requirements at the start of any high-integrity system development project remains one of the key challenges for our industry. Seeing the delegates quickly get to grips with some of the core concepts of Requirements Engineering and apply them to the exercise we gave them was both rewarding and inspiring. For the delegates it was a rapid immersion in applying some foundational techniques that will be useful throughout their engineering careers.”

Jamie Ayre, who led the HISL subcommittee, added: “When we started planning the Lab straight after last year’s conference, we hoped it would give early-career engineers something genuinely useful. The day went far beyond what I expected. The energy in the room was fantastic from the first icebreaker to the evening reception, and the panelists gave their time and experience so generously. But the real highlight for me was hearing from the delegates themselves. Their feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and seeing how much they took away from the day makes all the work worthwhile. We’re already looking forward to building on it next year.”

The day concluded with an informal evening networking reception, allowing delegates and industry veterans to solidify new relationships. By combining direct mentorship with practical decision-making, the Lab reinforced a key lesson for the next generation of high-integrity engineers: in high-integrity software, success comes down to justified, context-driven engineering choices and strong evidence-based assurance arguments.