Inside Neural Concept Connect 2025: Shaping the Future of Engineering Intelligence

The second in-person edition of Neural Concept Connect (NCC) brought together a select group of visionary engineers, AI researchers, and decision-makers who are redefining what’s possible in product development.

More than just a conference, NCC has become a one-of-a-kind event; an intimate, customer-only gathering where leading innovators exchange concrete results, lessons learned, and Engineering Intelligence.

Held over 4 days, NCC brings together three complementary experiences:  

• The Executive Evening: a high-level networking event for strategic leaders, focused on vision and partnerships.
• The Conference: where customers share concrete results, success stories, and breakthroughs in Engineering Intelligence.

• The Expert Bootcamp: a 2-day immersive, hands-on training program, for engineers and data scientists to deepen their expertise.

Together, these experiences form a unique ecosystem that connects strategy, innovation and practice, defining the future of Engineering Intelligence.

Where Vision Meets Reality

This year’s edition offered a panoramic view of how Engineering Intelligence is reshaping design and development across industries, from high-performance mobility and renewable energy to defense, electronics, and advanced manufacturing.

Speakers from leading organizations, such as Valeo, Mahle, Leonardo, GE Vernova, Toyota, and Audi, shared how they combine simulation, AI, and domain expertise to accelerate product innovation and improve performance.

Academic and industry thought leaders from Meta/Université de Geneve also shed light on the next frontier: reasoning AI models, and how large-scale learning architectures embed Engineering Intelligence. Meanwhile, Neural Concept’s own experts offered a glimpse into the platform’s upcoming capabilities and long-term vision, underscoring its role as AI design co-pilot.

Together, these perspectives showcased the breadth and maturity of the ecosystem evolving around Neural Concept — where data-driven design is no longer theoretical, but a proven force for innovation across every engineering discipline.

As highlighted by Dr Uli Christian Blessing, Vice President Product Development Thermal and Fluid Systems at MAHLE during his presentation:
"Through close collaboration with Neural Concept and the use of generative and predictive AI, MAHLE is succeeding in significantly accelerating innovation cycles in the development process, thus designing reliable, efficient, and sustainable thermal systems for the e-mobility of the future.
AI-supported optimizations enable us to implement solutions that not only push technological boundaries but also significantly increase cost-effectiveness and sustainability. Three technical breakthroughs using bionic design and AI have been presented in the NCC 2025."

3 Key Takeaways from NCC2025

1. AI Has Moved From Concept to Core: From Pilots to Production Value

For years, organizations have struggled to extract real value from AI pilot projects. Today, that’s changing. In Engineering, AI is no longer a peripheral tool — it’s getting embedded at every stage of the product lifecycle, from concept and design to validation and production deployment. AI becomes the engine of innovation, accelerating development cycles, improving performance, and driving measurable business impact.
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2. Integration Defines Leadership

The next wave of engineering excellence will come from the seamless integration of AI, simulation, and data understanding. As highlighted across presentations, true value emerges when AI integration is purposeful — when it connects tools, teams, and decision-making into a coherent process rather than isolated initiatives. Organizations that succeed will merge technical domains and human expertise into unified, intelligent design workflows, transforming integration from a technical challenge into a strategic advantage.
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3. Empowering Engineers to Lead the AI Transformation

True transformation in engineering is, at its core, human-led. Engineering Intelligence delivers its full value only when people remain at the center, guiding models, interpreting insights, and translating them into tangible innovation. This “human-centric” mindset bridges the precision of AI with the intuition of engineering expertise, ensuring technology serves as an enabler rather than a replacement.

Through programs like Neural Concept Bootcamps and NCC, engineers learn not just to use AI, but to take ownership of it — shaping it to their specific challenges and goals. This empowerment ensures that organizations retain full control over their innovation, technology, and product development. By teaching engineers how to build with AI rather than depend on it, these initiatives preserve the link between human creativity and technological advancement.

The Momentum Continues

NCC2025 confirmed that Engineering Intelligence isn’t just a technology — it’s a new paradigm, defined as the foundation of modern engineering. A new way of thinking that unites physics, AI, and human creativity to redefine how we design the world around us.

To all our speakers and participants: thank you for inspiring the next chapter of this journey.

We’re more excited than ever  and already gearing up for what’s next.