LTTS CTO Khushu Claims AI-Powered Engineering Systems Can Cut Product Development Time to Months

AI Revolutionizes Engineering and Product Development Timeline

Artificial intelligence (AI) is dramatically compressing engineering and product development timelines, with work that earlier took years now being completed within months, according to L&T Technology Services (LTTS) chief technology officer Ashish Khushu.

AI's role in engineering and manufacturing is evolving beyond productivity gains into solving highly complex engineering problems and accelerating the development of intelligent products. Khushu made this observation on the sidelines of the ninth edition of LTTS's engineering innovation platform for students, TECHgium, held in Mysuru.

The reduction in design cycle times and the ability of AI to solve problems that were previously expensive and difficult to address will mark the true power of AI, Khushu said. He noted that AI can be applied to various industries, such as automotive, aerospace, and healthcare, to reduce production timelines. For instance, a car that earlier took three to five years to build can now be completed in 18 months with the help of AI.

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LTTS's Engineering Intelligence (EI) Strategy

LTTS is positioning this shift under its engineering intelligence (EI) strategy, which combines AI with engineering and manufacturing expertise to build production-grade industrial systems. The company is strengthening its AI-first delivery model through investments across generative AI, agentic AI, multimodal AI, and physical AI. Additionally, LTTS is scaling AI-led platforms such as PLxAI and AiNexus across more than 36 use cases.

Enterprise AI vs. Engineering AI

Applying AI in engineering differs significantly from traditional enterprise IT, as the systems involved are often mission-critical or life-critical. Incorrect implementation can result in huge challenges, making it essential to have expertise in AI implementation. Engineering firms can now solve problems that required massive infrastructure and long development cycles, thanks to AI. Processes that previously took weeks or months can now be completed in days or hours.

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The Future of Intelligent Products

The next generation of every product will be intelligent, with AI engines and algorithms built into the product itself, Khushu said. This requires the implementation of AI in manufacturing and industrial environments, which is critical for the complexity involved.

Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs)

Khushu also addressed the topic of forward deployed engineers (FDEs), a category of AI implementation talent being hired by frontier AI firms such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. While these companies will continue building foundational AI technologies and tools, engineering service firms will remain critical for implementing AI in manufacturing and industrial environments.

TECHgium Participation Rises

The 2026 edition of TECHgium, held on May 15, recorded more than 62,000 registrations from over 540 engineering institutes, marking a 60 percent rise over the previous edition. The event showcased student-led projects, including robotic automation for medical diagnostics, AI-powered multilingual video localisation, and live AI captioning systems.

The quality of engineering innovation emerging from colleges has improved significantly in recent years, as institutions deepen ties with industry through labs, internships, and collaborative projects, Khushu said.