Master Thesis 2027: Cybersecurity in AI-Assisted Product Development

Ready to turn your ideas into impact? Join us for your Master's Thesis at NIRA Dynamics in spring 2027!

Objective

Develop and empirically evaluate a risk-based framework for secure AI-assisted product development in AWS and GitHub environments.

Keywords: Cybersecurity, Generative AI, Secure Software Development, Risk Assessment

Summary

AI can help developers review code, analyse security findings and propose fixes, but access to code, data and development tools also introduces new risks. How can product companies benefit from AI while maintaining security and human oversight?

Within NIRA's Road Surface Information (RSI) area, you will investigate the risks and opportunities of AI-assisted development. You will examine how AI changes the threat landscape, which safeguards are effective, and when AI adds value compared with established security checks. The work will provide evidence to support decisions about AI adoption and security priorities.

Scope

This 30 ECTS thesis combines a structured literature review with threat modelling and controlled experiments in an isolated environment. You will:

• Define representative scenarios involving code changes, data handling and tool permissions.
• Compare a baseline workflow with AI-assisted alternatives, with and without selected additional safeguards.
• Measure security findings, false positives, unauthorised actions, human review effort and cost through repeated trials.
• Deliver a reproducible evaluation and recommendations on safeguards, residual risks and human control points.

Experiments will use synthetic data and approved tools, without access to production systems. The final research questions and scope will be agreed with your company supervisor and university examiner.

Your profile

We are looking for an engineering student studying a master's programme in computer science, computer engineering, information technology, cybersecurity or equivalent. Knowledge within any of the following areas is beneficial:

• Python programming
• Cloud platforms and access management
• Cybersecurity and secure software development
• CI/CD
• Experimental methods and statistical analysis

We expect you to have a solid academic record, be driven, take initiative, and work independently. You will be carrying out the thesis at our head office in Linköping.

We are looking forward to your application! Do not forget to include a personal letter, CV, and course listing with grades. We will be considering applications on a rolling basis. The earliest expected start date is January 2027.

About NIRA

We at NIRA believe in making roads safer by developing sophisticated software solutions for passenger cars. The Road Surface Information cloud platform is a family of products with a common aim of improving the safety and comfort of our roads. The primary input is data from millions of cars carrying NIRA's sensor fusion algorithm, and based on the output and our cloud algorithms, we are providing a complete view of the state of the road surface and vehicle surroundings in our cloud applications.