"Industrial artificial intelligence (AI) should not stop at chatbots that simply generate text or images; it must understand the real world and possess manufacturing knowledge."
Pascal Daloz, CEO of Dassault Systèmes, said this in a keynote speech at "3DEXPERIENCE World 2026," which opened on the 2nd (local time) at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas. AI chatbots based on large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and Gemini can answer questions, but because they do not understand the physical world, it means the industrial field needs AI models specialized for manufacturing.
Daloz said, "The real world is not made of text and images but of physical laws, materials, and energy constraints," adding, "The 'Industry World Model' that Dassault Systèmes is building is based on manufacturing experience accumulated over decades with customers and on industrial sites." He went on to say, "If corporations use this kind of 'AI that works in the real world,' they can boost productivity more than tenfold."
At this year's event, Dassault Systèmes put forward the core message that "AI should not stop at chatbots but must work in the real world." According to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) survey, 95% of corporations have invested billions of dollars in adopting AI but have not achieved return on investment (ROI). Dassault Systèmes said AI's success depends not on consumer chatbots like ChatGPT but on how effectively AI is integrated into core industrial processes.
Daloz said, "We are living in an era of unprecedented acceleration, and this massive wave led by AI is completely changing the landscape of manufacturing processes," emphasizing that as AI is applied across manufacturing—from product design to drawing creation and simulation—the role of engineering has become more important than ever.
He continued, emphasizing that "AI is not a technology to replace engineers but a 'force multiplier' that amplifies their capabilities." This dismissed concerns that AI will take engineers' jobs. He said, "AI is not a black box or an autopilot but a 'companion,'" explaining that for AI to work on industrial sites, engineers' creativity and judgment are necessary.
Dassault Systèmes unveiled its AI assistants "AURA," "LEO," and "MARIE," embedded in its core design platform SolidWorks. SolidWorks is Dassault Systèmes' flagship 3D CAD (computer-aided design) software, focused on improving efficiency across the entire engineering process, from product design to drawing creation, simulation, and 3D modeling.
"AURA" orchestrates knowledge and context across projects, and "LEO" handles engineering and reasoning. "MARIE" covers scientific domains such as materials, chemistry, composition, and regulations. For example, if you enter the question in SolidWorks, "What material should we use for the wings of this electric hydrofoil?" AURA explores possibilities, MARIE presents the scientific rationale, and LEO explains how to apply it to make it work in the real world.
Daloz said, "The virtual world no longer stops at reproducing reality; it is creating reality," assessing that "we are now entering the era of the Generative Economy, where the virtual world influences the physical world." He said, "The core asset of the Generative Economy is intellectual property (IP) that contains know-how in design, simulation, and manufacturing," adding, "We will work to support the creation of IP, which has emerged as the true currency of the AI era, and to increase its value."
Headquartered in France, Dassault Systèmes is a frontrunner in AI-based Virtual Twin technology. A Virtual Twin is a technology that implements a virtual model identical to reality, creating a "twin" of a real-world object in virtual space to run simulations, predict outcomes in advance, and use that to optimize products and services.
Dassault Systèmes' largest annual technology event, "3DEXPERIENCE World 2026," is being held in Houston from the 1st to the 4th of this month. This year's event drew more than 6,000 users of Dassault Systèmes' 3DEXPERIENCE platform and SolidWorks, as well as manufacturing and design engineers from around the world.