People & culture
From accelerating design processes to enhancing quality control and enabling product features, AI is becoming an indispensable tool across a variety of projects. But, Mirko adds: ‘The key lies in applying it to the right tasks. While it’s the future, its potential is still largely untapped today’. It’s clear that with greater efficiency and innovation also comes greater responsibility.
Mirko Vermezović, Principal Electronics Architect, sees AI as not just a trend, but a transformative force.
With over 20 years’ experience in electronics engineering, Mirko explains there’s a big opportunity for AI to reshape the industry – and the careers within it. So what is its true potential in this space?
Here at Zühlke, Mirko is on a mission to find out. In this blog, we talk to Mirko about the impact of AI on electronics development, looking at what’s already possible, and how it will continue to reshape careers in the industry.
Insights in brief
The use of AI is accelerating across a range of domains, and electronics is no exception. As the industry becomes more sophisticated and interconnected, the demand for efficient development processes and innovative products has never been higher.
It’s also becoming a key differentiator for those looking to accelerate their careers in electronics engineering. AI gives a competitive edge for developers using these tools, as the impact on projects is already being felt.
It can enhance design, manufacturing, testing, and product innovation, something we’re exploring more and more here at Zühlke.
Mirko has first-hand experience of this. ‘Because we regularly switch between projects, we’re able to work with different teams and technologies’, he says, ‘pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in electronics’.
On a recent client project, Mirko was working as a system architect for several devices for a new system. On this project, he was able to upskill in security and the relevant industry, and a lot of the tests he did for the automated devices were supported by AI.
‘AI helped to analyse information collected in the system and recognise 10 different problems just based on vibrations coming from it’, he explains. ‘The AI had a 95% success rate in identifying when a component is likely to fail, which meant we could use predictive maintenance much more effectively’.
‘Leveraging a video module, the system could detect hazardous situations and assess the number of individuals involved, automatically triggering relevant alerts for a timely response’.
This is just one early use case for AI in electronics, but its practical development is already impacting ways of working. ‘This is just the starting point of what AI can achieve in electronics, but it’s incredibly exciting’, Mirko underlines.
“To be at the forefront of experimentation with live projects means using AI doesn’t feel like a daunting career overhaul. The future of electronics development is undoubtedly bright, with AI leading the charge toward greater efficiency, innovation, and connectivity.”
Although artificial intelligence in electronics has huge potential, it’s at a very different maturity level compared with software engineering (check out our related article: ‘Will AI replace software engineers?’).
Why? ‘Firstly, the data we need for training is not so readily available on the internet’, Mirko says. ‘At Zühlke, the data we use is from existing projects that have been successful. As we experiment and learn more, the data will grow too’.
Mirko also explains that some of the most commonly used applications don’t have a lot of AI plugins. ‘Everything requires electronics knowledge, but it also involves a whole new set of skills that electronics professionals don’t traditionally explore’.
In order to make the most of what’s possible with AI in electronics, people need experience from other disciplines, such as data engineering, AI frameworks, and even programming languages such as Python and C++.
‘It’s a big step to upskill in this field’, he says, ‘but one that is certainly needed. AI automation could lead to job displacement in the electronics sector, but it will also create new opportunities and require a shift in skill sets toward more strategic, decision making, and interdisciplinary approaches. It’s therefore crucial for companies to balance efficiency gains with the social responsibility of retraining and upskilling employees to work alongside AI technologies’.
Without these skills, it’s easy to use AI for shortcuts that come with real challenges, Mirko explains. For example, you don’t want to end up with a solution you don’t understand that’s costly to unpick.
‘That’s why AI should mostly be used for repetitive work, rather than the creative’, he underlines. ‘It can have its place when keeping engineers up to speed on the most creative tasks, but jobs such as finding components, for example, are repetitive. If you have enough data, it’s much easier for AI to find alternatives than searching manually through endless piles of datasheets’.
But anything more creative should have a skilled electronics engineer to oversee architectural decisions and the route towards a solution.
‘The design phase is critical in electronics development, often determining the feasibility and performance of a product. Traditional design methods typically involve extensive manual labour and iterative testing, which can be time-consuming and prone to human error. AI can analyse vast datasets from previous designs, identify patterns, and suggest optimal configurations, reducing the time taken to develop new products’.
There’s a huge amount of potential with AI in electronics, and we’re just beginning to realise it. Some early use cases are already being developed, but there’s still a way to go.
So how do we get there in the best way that supports career development?
‘The best way to incorporate AI into more of what we do is to start early’, Mirko says. ‘It should be baked into our onboarding process. While general knowledge in the sector is essential, it’s also important to work more on creativity, architectural design and to be able to make more complex decisions’.
He explains that this will help lay a better foundation for using AI in the right way. Whether you’re new to electronics, or have been in the field for a long time, upskilling is critical.
‘We should all be able to use analysis tools, and be more capable with programming languages to develop AI algorithms we use or develop in our domains’, Mirko says. ‘AI isn’t there to give you the final answer, but it’ll help with processes to bring you to a better solution, faster’.
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