R&D organizations are changing how engineering work and capability are structured. As systems become more interconnected and product development more cross-functional, the focus is shifting from accessing individual expertise to building integrated engineering capability across teams and systems.
To understand how organizations are approaching this shift, we spoke with Camilla Maricic, Head of South Sweden within the Connectivity business area at Knowit, who works closely with companies across telecom, automotive and connected products.
Modern engineering environments are inherently cross-functional. Software, hardware, cloud and data systems are no longer separate layers but interdependent parts of the same system.
Traditional consulting models, built around individual specialists, are not designed for this level of integration. This creates a structural mismatch between how R&D work is organized and how it needs to be delivered.
Modern R&D organisations are facing increasing system complexity, faster time-to-market expectations and limited access to specialised talent.
The diagram shows how these structural drivers create a capability gap between demand and delivery. On one side, modern R&D requires cross-functional systems and coordinated execution. On the other, traditional models rely on individual specialists and fragmented delivery, limiting integration and scalability.
This gap is what is driving organisations to move from individual, fragmented execution toward integrated, capability-driven engineering models.
Organisations are redefining engineering value around capability rather than individual expertise. This shift is visible in how engagements are structured:
This reflects a broader move toward outcome ownership and continuous capability building in modern R&D organizations (BCG, 2023; McKinsey & Company, 2023).
Fragmented delivery models introduce friction in complex engineering environments. Multiple vendors across different parts of a system increase coordination overhead, slow integration and reduce accountability. These effects scale with complexity and directly impact delivery performance.
As a result, organizations are reducing vendor fragmentation and shifting toward fewer partners with broader responsibility. This reflects a move toward integrated delivery models aligned with modern engineering systems (Gartner, 2024).
Extended R&D is one model emerging in response. Rather than focusing on adding capacity through individual consultants, it focuses on integrating engineering capability across internal and external teams. This allows organizations to align engineering delivery with the way modern systems are built and maintained.
Extended R&D combines delivery with capability development. In practice, this includes:
The objective is not dependency, but continuity. This reflects a different definition of value. It is not only what is delivered, but what remains within the organization after delivery.
R&D organizations are becoming more integrated, more collaborative and more capability driven. Engineering is no longer confined within organizational boundaries. It is distributed across teams, partners and systems that evolve together.
Understanding this shift is essential to understanding how modern engineering organizations will operate.
BCG (2023). Addressing the engineering talent and capability gap.
Deloitte (2023). Engineering and R&D transformation insights.
Gartner (2024). Vendor consolidation and technology delivery models.
McKinsey & Company (2023). The future of engineering productivity.