Comment by nickpsecurity
1 day ago
What you describe sounds nothing like most, safety-critical development I've heard of. Whereas, I've heard the other person's story countless times when I studied high-assurance systems. Very slow, top-down, process-heavy, paperwork-heavy, and outdated tools.
On the other hand, it sounds like the company you mentioned is worth imitating where possible. They sound awesome. Are you allowed to name them? Is there any writeup on how they balanced velocity and regukatory approval?
> Are you allowed to name them?
Unfortunately not. But the devices they make are absolute life savers and I found it one of the most interesting jobs I did in the last couple of years because I think I learned more from them than they learned from me. I was just focusing on a handful of details, they had to keep the broader picture in mind all the time and educate me to the point that my knowledge became useful to them.
You are probably right that they are uncommon, but the fact that the company was led by a scientist who was very much involved in the process and the mission and offloaded as much of the non-essentials of the CEO job to others made me feel I had gone back in time to be near HP when they were just founded. In the longer term I expect them to dominate the space.