Embedded software teams are often asked to move quickly while requirements are still shifting. That pressure can lead to code that technically works, but does not line up well with test needs, integration timing, or the decisions that matter most to the customer.
A better approach is to tie software work to milestone outcomes. What capability has to be demonstrated next? What data does the team need? What hardware or controls assumptions need to be stable before another sprint of implementation really pays off?
When software work is framed that way, teams can prioritize more confidently. The roadmap becomes clearer, and technical progress becomes easier to explain to non-software stakeholders.
That is especially important in drone and autonomy programs, where firmware, sensing, controls, and hardware integration all depend on each other more tightly than teams often expect.