Black Duck Software, Inc. has released The State of Embedded Software Quality and Safety 2025 report, based on a survey of 785 development and security professionals conducted by Censuswide in June 2025.
The embedded software landscape is undergoing a profound transformation, driven by the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and the maturation of software supply chain management. According to the report, these shifts are redefining how companies develop, deploy, and secure their software.
The report shows that while AI adoption is universal, governance is lagging. 89.3% of organizations already use AI-powered coding assistants and 96.1% are integrating open source AI models into their products, most commonly for data processing, computer vision, and process automation. However, this rapid adoption has outpaced the development of necessary governance and security measures, with 21.1% of companies lacking confidence in their ability to prevent AI from introducing security vulnerabilities. Additionally, the emergence of shadow AI, where developers use AI tools against company policy, poses a significant unmanaged risk, affecting 18% of companies.
“The old software world is gone, giving way to a new set of truths being defined by AI,” said Jason Schmitt, CEO at Black Duck. “To navigate the changes, technical leaders should carry out rigorous validation on AI assistants. Managers should establish formal AI governance policies and invest in training for emerging technologies. Security professionals should update their threat models to include AI-specific risks.”
