Guideline for Introducing AI Application in Product Development – Model‐Based Assessment of Implications for AI‐Based Solutions

Incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into Product Engineering Processes (PEP) is a growing trend driven by increasing product complexity, shorter lifecycles, and the demand for faster innovation (Brossard et al. 2020). AI offers promising potential to enhance various PEPs by automating repetitive tasks and supporting data management and analytics thereby reducing costs and time. However, challenges such as a lack of standardized models, use cases, and understanding of AI's implications hinder its wide adoption.
This paper proposes a model‐based approach to understand and access implications for incorporating AI into PEPs. Key aspects include identifying stakeholder needs, relevant PEP, potential AI use cases, benefits, and implementation requirements. To demonstrate the application of the framework, we use the system life cycle processes defined in ISO 15288 as illustrative PEPs. This offers organizations a structured guideline to pinpoint processes that can benefit from AI, assess expected advantages, and evaluate technical complexity and costs, enabling a strategic approach to AI integration and informed decision‐making.