Podcast EP378: An Overview of the 2026 Wilson Research Group Functional Verification Study with Harry Foster
Daniel is joined by Harry Foster, Chief Scientist of Verification for Siemens Digital Industries Software. Harry is also the Co-Founder and Executive Editor for the Verification Academy. Harry served as the 2021 Design Automation Conference General Chair and is currently serving as a Past Chair. He holds multiple patents and has co-authored six books on verification.
Daniel discusses the recent 2026 Wilson Research Group Functional Verification Study with Harry. One of the headline findings is that reported first-silicon success has fallen to 5%, after remaining relatively stable for many years. The study also shows a dramatic increase in projects developing CPUs, GPUs, and AI accelerators. Another striking result is that 97% of designs now report one or more embedded processors, while there is also greater use of C/C++, SystemC, Python, and PSS.
Harry and Daniel explore how verification complexity is changing and what the study results suggest for future work. Harry offers some excellent observations regarding what the study findings mean going forward.
You can find out more about the 2026 Wilson Research Group Functional Verification Study here.
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