Ninety-seven percent of senior decision-makers said that they believe artificial intelligence will impact their organization’s product development and manufacturing processes, according to a survey conducted by Fictiv, a custom manufacturing technology company.

Fictiv said in its report, “2023 State of Manufacturing,” published June 21, 85% of respondents said they plan on adopting or have already adopted AI technologies. Meanwhile, 78% of those surveyed said they are evaluating the use of technology tools to efficiently develop new products.

Respondents also raised concerns about workforce productivity, with 62% of interviewees claiming they are training existing staffers to enhance their skills and productivity.

The engineering sector could end up taking a major hit because 97% of respondents said they are preparing for a shortage of mechanical engineering talent in the future.

“With a variety of tools at their disposal, companies are leveraging the power of digital manufacturing technologies to eliminate barriers to innovation, while leaning into the potential for AI to act as a force multiplier for their workforce. They’re increasingly looking to vendors closer to home and on-demand manufacturers to build the higher performing supply chains they need,” the report’s authors wrote. “Leaders that keep their minds open to these new possibilities will be the ones who win in 2023 and beyond.”

Interviews for the report were conducted between April 24 and May 8, 2023. Fictiv, a custom order manufacturing company, interviewed 241 senior decision-makers in engineering, manufacturing, supply chain and R&D roles for the study.