Between an idea and a physical test, hardware teams repeat the same chain. Someone sketches a change, someone turns it into CAD, the team checks the geometry, picks a material, reviews manufacturability, sends it to production, waits, gets a part, tests it, and starts again. The product may be new, but the cycle is familiar, and AI is starting to speed up parts of it. AI use across business is now routine. The 2026 Stanford AI Index found that 88% of surveyed organizations used AI in at least…