Ford pivots back to veteran engineers as AI quality goals stall

Chief operating officer Kumar Galhotra admitted the company leaned too heavily on automated quality systems, leading to disappointing outcomes. By bringing back technical specialists—affectionately dubbed "gray beards"—the company is now tasking them with identifying failure points before components reach the factory floor. These experts are also mentoring younger staff while reprogramming the company's AI tools to align with real-world engineering standards.

Charles Poon, vice president of vehicle hardware engineering, acknowledged the previous oversight, noting that the firm mistakenly assumed ingesting design requirements into AI would automatically yield a high-quality product. The strategy appears to be gaining traction: Ford projects $1 billion in cost savings this year and recently secured the top spot among mainstream brands in the latest JD Power Initial Quality Survey.