Majority of aerospace leaders look to AI and digital twins
A total of 63% of aerospace manufacturing leaders are open to adopting AI tools to help manage supply chains, but only 6% currently do so. That shows both a high level of readiness but also an innovation gap in the sector.
While AI leads the charge in innovation in the aerospace sector, digital twins and robotics are also a big part of the ongoing transformation. This is according to a survey from Tata Consulting of over 300 senior aerospace industry leaders across North America and Europe in sectors like Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), Manufacturing, Repair and Overhaul (MRO), and electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL).
The aerospace industry has long been at the cutting edge of new technologies, constantly seeking the next frontier of precision and safety in manufacturing. Now, as automation and machine learning continue to mature, the role of AI is shifting from simply supporting operations to transforming how aircraft are designed, manufactured, and operated.
Though AI tools in industries like aerospace are well on the way to maturity, respondents indicated that human involvement is still very much integral to decision making, especially in the area of supply chains.
Only a small number of respondents (6%) say they trust AI agents to fully automate operational supply chain decisions and are already deploying or piloting such tools. However, the majority are open to it – with the appropriate transparency and control, of course.
Autonomy in MRO
When it comes to manufacturing and repairs, the respondents in the MRO sector mostly agreed: Very few of the MRO providers surveyed expected to see full autonomy by the end of the decade, but 33% did say they expect semi-autonomous repair workflows.
The rest of the respondents – the majority – expect humans to remain integral in the maintenance process. The reality for manufacturers is that, though there has been heavy investment in digital technologies (like mobile task cards for technicians, digital planning, and data insights), there needs to be more progress in digitalization in order to unlock further autonomy.
There has been a shift in how decisions are being made using AI, but it is clear from the survey that most aerospace leaders believe that human involvement is still super important in decision making, especially when it comes to engineering and regulatory requirements.
Digital twins and digital threads
Approaches to autonomy may differ among organizations, but it is clear that AI is already having a significant impact across the aerospace industry and the strong optimism has led to some major investments.
But beyond AI, many aerospace companies are also benefiting from digital twin technologies, which are comprehensive digital models of physical systems that allow close monitoring and data collection over the entire lifespan of a product.
Digital threads are also big in aerospace. Similar to digital twins yet distinct, digital threads provide the continuous, end-to-end data flow that connects all information about an aircraft, from its initial design to its maintenance history, creating a single source of truth throughout its lifecycle.
When asked to rate their digital thread maturity, three-fifths of surveyed respondents have begun implementing digital threads. The reason aerospace leaders see digital twins and threads as being so useful is because they inherently span design, manufacturing, and in-service support. For that reason, they are a sort of ‘meta platform’ that can absorb AI, edge analytics, and even future technologies.
“Manufacturers anticipate that within the next five to seven years, 40% of aerospace production will run as dark factory operations, powered by intelligent robotics, analytics, and AI,” said Anupam Singhal, president of manufacturing at Tata Consultancy Services.
“70% of advanced air mobility companies are already pursuing commercial initiatives, accelerating the transformation of infrastructure, scale, and business models. Yet this momentum coexists with fragility.”
US aerospace giants like Boeing and Airbus are at the forefront of digital innovation, leveraging digital twins to transform their design and manufacturing processes. Boeing, for instance, used this approach to design its T-7A Red Hawk trainer jet, significantly reducing both development time and costs.
