Essentially, the Growth of Complexity of system intricacy begins with something simple: adding new parts or functions. Furthermore, every addition seems small, but the effect is rarely contained to just that element. Moreover, each part connects with others, and each connection introduces more interactions. Growth is not linear; it accelerates as elements multiply.

This natural pattern appears across every engineering discipline. In software, one new function often requires multiple supporting libraries. In electronics, a single new sensor may need additional wiring, signal conditioning, and communication protocols. Each supporting element then links back into the larger architecture.

In vehicles, growth appears in both expected and surprising places. Adding a driver monitoring system does more than place a camera in the cabin. It requires data storage, links to driver displays, algorithms for detection, and cybersecurity measures to prevent misuse. Each of these layers introduces its own connections to existing systems. What began as one feature now ripples through the architecture.

A similar pattern occurs in infotainment. Adding a single app or feature—say, voice recognition—seems like a small improvement. But it requires microphone hardware, signal processing, natural language models, user interface updates, and connections to navigation or media systems. Each of these creates dozens of new test cases, validation steps, and potential points of failure.

This natural accumulation explains why programs often underestimate cost and effort. Each new requirement, sensor, or line of code is never isolated. Instead, it reaches outward, touching multiple parts of the system. The more we add, the harder it becomes to predict where all the interactions will lead.

Growth is not a side effect of complexity—it is its defining property. Once present, system depth expands naturally as new parts, functions, and relationships accumulate. The pace of growth is shaped by hidden multipliers, such as software modules or shared requirements, that add far more connections than expected. In modern vehicles, this growth is visible everywhere: ADAS, electrification, and connectivity all introduce layers of interaction that spread across the entire architecture.

Philosophically, growth reflects the nature of living systems as well. Human societies, ecosystems, and markets all show the same pattern: once relationships form, they tend to expand. Complexity is therefore not an anomaly of engineering but part of how systems evolve.

For engineers, the challenge is not to stop growth. That would mean stopping progress itself. The real task is to recognize where growth occurs, anticipate the effort it will demand, and prepare systems to handle it. When engineers account for growth early, they avoid being surprised by the web of connections that appears later in validation or integration.

The next article in this series will take a closer look at the statistics behind growth. In Counting Complexity – Why Interfaces Grow Faster Than Parts, we will examine how adding elements creates a progression of requirements and interfaces, and why verification and validation burdens grow faster than intuition suggests.