GenAI Sets Off Digital Engineering Technology Shift in U.S.

The digital engineering services sector in the U.S. changed significantly in 2023 as several major enabling technologies converged, according to a new research report published today by Information Services Group (ISG), a global technology research and advisory firm.

The 2024 ISG Provider Lens Digital Engineering Services report for the U.S. finds that the power and importance of generative AI (GenAI) sparked this transformation, with service providers integrating GenAI capabilities into their software platforms and services. This was only the latest development to change the way enterprises think about digital engineering, as they were already evaluating innovations around agile development, composable architecture, microservices, artificial intelligence deep learning, predictive machine learning and other technologies.

“GenAI has led U.S. enterprises to revisit their technology roadmaps,” says Gaurav Gupta, partner and global leader, Digital Engineering, at ISG. “Companies are eager to adopt new tools that can deliver solid benefits, so the digital engineering technology sector is heading for strong growth.”

While several global system integrators have added GenAI capabilities into their portfolios, enterprise adoption of GenAI for digital engineering so far has been cautious and selective, the report says. Integrators are beginning to offer GenAI for automating the creation of design alternatives, optimizing solutions to complex engineering problems and enabling rapid prototyping. GenAI algorithms promise to help engineering teams quickly assess many design possibilities and optimize them based on parameters such as performance, cost, security and sustainability.

Modular, agile business processes and workflows are also reshaping digital engineering practices, allowing companies to rapidly respond to customer demands and bring new products and experiences to market, ISG says. Enterprises are embracing composable design, an approach based on selecting and assembling components in various combinations to fulfill specific user requirements. Many are also adopting microservices architectures to break down monolithic applications into more manageable units for faster development and deployment.

By embedding IoT, AI and ML into the fabric of business operations, enterprises are creating intelligent networks that can predict maintenance needs, allocate resources and enhance customer experience. Digital twins and process twins, which provide virtual representations of physical assets and systems for analysis and simulation, enable optimized performance.

“Companies have recognized the need to replace legacy engineering systems and modernize how they perform engineering and design,” says Jan Erik Aase, partner and global leader, ISG Provider Lens Research. “Service providers are helping clients move toward the next generation of solutions.”

The report also explores other trends affecting digital engineering in the U.S., including the use of AI to improve customer experience and the importance of designing sustainability into products and processes.

The 2024 ISG Provider Lens Digital Engineering Services report for the U.S. evaluates the capabilities of 41 providers across four quadrants: Design and Development (Products, Services and Experiences), Integrated Customer/User Engagement, Platform and Application Services and Intelligent Operations.

The 2024 ISG Provider Lens Digital Engineering Services report for the U.S. is available to subscribers or for one-time purchase on this webpage.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.