BEYOND THE CHATBOT: HOW AI VIRTUAL COMPANIONS ARE REDEFINING THE FUTURE OF ENGINEERING
Artificial Intelligence is entering a new industrial era where intelligent digital companions do far more than answer questions. With the introduction of AURA, LEO and MARIE, Dassault Systèmes is embedding AI directly into engineering, manufacturing and scientific workflows, combining virtual twins, trusted industrial knowledge and agentic AI to accelerate innovation, strengthen collaboration and drive the next wave of Digital Transformation. rtificial intelligence is rapidly
A evolving beyond simple automation into a new generation of collaborative digital intelligence capable of working alongside highly skilled professionals. Rather than answering isolated questions or generating content on demand, the latest AI systems are increasingly expected to understand complex objectives, reason through technical challenges and contribute meaningful expertise throughout entire projects. Dassault Systèmes believes this evolution will redefine industrial design, engineering and manufacturing through a significant expansion of its AI-native 3DEXPERIENCE platform with three specialised Virtual Companions.
The company’ s new assistants – AURA, LEO and MARIE – have been developed as intelligent collaborators instead of conventional chatbots. Each focuses on distinct industrial disciplines while drawing on extensive scientific knowledge, engineering expertise and sector-specific experience. Together they aim to help engineers, designers, project managers and researchers complete sophisticated tasks faster while improving the quality, consistency and speed of decision-making across organisations. Rather than serving as passive digital assistants, the companions are intended to become active contributors throughout product development, helping multidisciplinary teams tackle increasingly complex engineering challenges.
Unlike consumer-focused AI assistants, the Virtual Companions have been designed around structured industrial knowledge and missioncritical engineering processes. Rather than simply retrieving information or summarising documents, they are intended to understand user intent, reason within technical contexts and actively complete meaningful work. This represents a significant shift from conversational AI towards intelligent engineering systems capable of becoming trusted digital colleagues. By integrating technical understanding with contextual reasoning, the assistants can support users in making informed decisions while reducing the time spent navigating increasingly sophisticated engineering environments.
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