With every new technology platform or toolset, and with the general maturation of manufacturing alongside design and engineering, we’ve seen something subtle but powerful happen over the past few decades: deeper integration. Teams that once worked in parallel now converge. Those who thrive are those who can bring together supply chain thinking, manufacturing expertise, material innovation, and advanced engineering.
Consumer electronics brought out the best in this convergence, especially for electrical engineers. But I’d argue it was the mechanical designers who defined the interface, who built the shell between emerging technologies and the real world.
On the design side, we’ve always chased that moment when an innovation doesn’t just give us better tools—it gives us more freedom. More expressive range. More opportunity to shape something meaningful.
Whether it was early CAD, SolidWorks, or modern simulation platforms, the deal was always the same: learn the tools deeply and you’ll unlock their potential. Fluency was the price of freedom.
Now something else is happening. The tools are changing—and so is the nature of fluency.
What we’re seeing with AI is a different kind of liberty. You don’t necessarily need to master a tool in the traditional sense. Instead, you need to engage with it intelligently. If you can articulate your intent—if you can curate a process—AI can help you realize ideas that once required years of technical training. That’s a profound shift.
