Don’t just automate, collaborate The Volkswagen Microbus is the definition of an The VW and Autodesk collaboration ultimately iconic design. Just saying “VW Bus” conjures a created parts for the Microbus that were lighter and mental image of the 1960s mainstay; even people stronger than any prior designs. The AI, for example, who haven’t seen one in person can immediately inspired a tree-like design concept for the wheels picture it. So, when VW decided to reconceptualize that made them 18 percent lighter than a standard the 1962 Microbus, the company wanted to stay true set. The generative approach also allowed VW to to the vehicle’s historic design—but update it to be reduce the time spent getting from development lighter and greener in line with today’s standards. to manufacturing—a 1.5-year cycle was reduced to just a few months. Those metrics were big wins. To solve this problem, VW partnered with But what was more important was how VW got there. engineering software services leader Autodesk The designers credited generative design and their 1 to experiment with generative design tools. AI collaboration with creating structures they could Generative design enables iterative collaboration never have created on their own.2 between human engineers and artificial intelligence: humans provide design goals and constraints to an AI system, which outputs a wide range of feasible—though sometimes unexpected—solutions. From there, the parties continue to iterate, with the machine generating ideas and human co-workers curating and refining them.