The upcoming 2026 Functional Verification Study from Siemens EDA and Wilson Research Group suggests that the nature of IC verification is changing, not just growing in scale. The report points to five signals that together describe a shift from verifying individual designs to building system confidence in increasingly software-driven silicon. These signals include declining first-silicon success, more participation from CPU, GPU, and AI accelerator designers, and a near-universal presence of embedded processors across all implementation categories.
The study also notes a broadening verification ecosystem, with more tools and methods entering the flow, and a clearer view of how firmware, safety, and security issues contribute to chip respins. Rather than simply managing more complex logic, teams are now grappling with the interaction between hardware and software, and the confidence that a chip will work as part of a larger system. This is a meaningful change for hardware engineers and the toolchains they rely on.
While the source presents these as five distinct signals, they are deeply interwoven. For instance, embedded processors drive firmware involvement, which in turn raises safety and security concerns. The declining first-silicon success likely reflects this added systemic complexity. The study does not claim verification is becoming impossible, but it does suggest that the old equilibrium has broken, and the industry is still adjusting.