Before we move on to the improvements in the new ALM tools, let’s take a moment to talk about one of the most important commercial projects that PTC Codebeamer is involved in, the Volkswagen Group case. After the initial effort in 2023, the partnership has expanded significantly to 2025 and 2026, with a focus on large-scale implementation and AI integration. This means that VW continues to see PTC as a strategic supplier for its group-wide product development strategy. It can also be noted that Codebeamer is used by all VW Group brands, including Audi, Škoda, and SEAT, to manage software requirements, testing, and release cycles. It also looks like the use of the tool continues to grow.
One point in this is the focus on electric vehicles (EVs), where it is the primary platform for developing the software backbone of VW’s next-generation EVs, and as part of the company’s Software Defined Vehicles architectures.
Also notable, as noted in the introduction, are the investments in AI. In collaboration with Microsoft, VW has integrated generative AI into the platform (Codebeamer Copilot). This ”Copilot” helps engineers automatically generate requirements specifications and test cases, which reportedly saves 20-40% of development time.
Important Improvements in the New Versions
That said, let’s take a closer look at some of the improvements in the newly launched versions, which will help engineers manage complexity and meet regulatory requirements, Codebeamer 3.2 and Pure Variants 7.2 introduce new features and enhancements.
These include:
• Digital Wire Integrations, which seamlessly connect Codebeamer to PTC’s PLM solution Windchill and other enterprise systems. This makes it easier for teams to track requirements, manage changes, and ensure compliance across software and hardware development – enabling teams to reduce manual work, improve interoperability, and accelerate delivery with less risk.
• Stream Baselines, which allows teams to take complete snapshots of all projects within a stream. This provides consistent baselines, simplifies identification of relevant project states, and helps streamline change management across complex portfolios.
• UI enhancements to the Review Hub, which enable bulk approvals and rejections, clearer notifications, and visual highlighting of differences, help teams complete reviews faster and with fewer errors.
• Feature-based PLE, which automates the creation of streams and Stream Baselines. It also uses Delta Merge (Beta) to support concurrent development across platforms and variants, enabling teams to deliver new features at both levels while optimizing reuse across the product line.
AI in Place in Codebeamer
Codebeamer AI 1.0 builds on these features and introduces two new AI assistants: the Requirement Assistant and the Test Case Assistant.
Traditionally, maintaining high-quality, standards-compliant requirements has relied on manual reviews, which can lead to ambiguities, inconsistencies, and delays. Here, the AI Requirement Assistant, aligned with INCOSE and ISTQB guidance, automatically detects requirements quality issues, enabling faster creation of clearer, standards-compliant requirements with less reliance on expert review.
Manual test case creation, in isolation, is often time-consuming and error-prone; the Test Case Assistant generates and optimizes test cases directly from requirements, enabling improved accuracy and consistency, strengthened traceability, and accelerated validation activities.
“We built Codebeamer AI to simplify and streamline time-consuming tasks in the requirements development process,” said Joseph June, Global Head of AI Innovation, PTC. “By working alongside engineers in real time, Codebeamer AI brings greater clarity and consistency to everyday decisions, helping teams act faster with confidence and keep pace with the demands of modern, software-driven product development.”
Supporting the Intelligent Product Lifecycle Vision
Codebeamer and Pure Variants, along with the rest of PTC’s portfolio, support the company’s vision for the Intelligent Product Lifecycle, enabling manufacturers and product companies to build a product database in technology, extend the value of that data across the enterprise, and drive AI-driven transformation. Codebeamer AI works in conjunction with other AI solutions, such as PTC’s Windchill AI and ServiceMax AI solutions, helping organizations scale AI-driven transformation with confidence.
