I should have expressed this in a more clear way: the most interesting thing to understand for me here is the non-technical aspect of different jobs. It is not specifically about embedded, just more systems and low level than working with (as opposed to implementing from scratch) APIs, workers, queues, DBs.

To rephrase the original question: it is not easy to imagine an "Agile" approach to a kernel/network or other kind of systems programming. I would be glad to know there is a chance for a more natural, R&D driven development and bit less fuss about corporate "values".

Thanks guys. Your answers provide some really good and unexpected insights!