Ford has rehired hundreds of experienced engineers after concluding that AI alone wasn't enough to deliver the vehicle quality it expected.
Over the past three years, the automaker has hired, promoted, or brought back around 350 veteran engineers as part of a broader effort to improve quality after relying too heavily on AI-driven systems.
According to Bloomberg, Ford Chief Operating Officer Kumar Galhotra said the company had placed too much confidence in automated quality tools, which ultimately failed to meet expectations.
Ford's Vice President of Vehicle Hardware Engineering, Charles Poon, said AI remains a valuable tool, but only when it's trained with high-quality engineering knowledge.
"Artificial intelligence is a fantastic tool, but it's only as good as the information you use to train it," Poon said.
He added that Ford had wrongly assumed AI could produce high-quality results simply by being given engineering requirements.
The company also acknowledged that many experienced engineers retired before their expertise had been passed on to younger employees or incorporated into its AI systems.
Those returning veterans—known internally as "gray beard" engineers—are now mentoring younger staff, leading quality reviews, and helping improve Ford's AI tools by contributing decades of engineering experience.
Ford is one of several companies rethinking how quickly to rely on AI alone, instead emphasizing a combination of human expertise and automation.