Jon Hirschtick, founder of SolidWorks and co-founder of Onshape, shares his journey from developing groundbreaking CAD software to his current role as Executive Vice President and Chief Evangelist at PTC. His 44-year perspective on the CAD industry reveals how most design tools in use today predate both AI and the internet in their architecture, creating limitations as companies try to incorporate cutting-edge technologies.

• Cloud-native architecture uniquely positions Onshape for AI integration with massive compute capabilities, 50 million CAD data items, and three-week release cycles
• Most CAD tools still used today have major elements written before the internet existed, limiting their ability to fully leverage modern technologies
• Onshape was built as a collaborative PDM system with CAD built on top, addressing fundamental workflow challenges
• Regular release cycles (every three weeks) are essential for successfully integrating AI capabilities, which will require numerous iterations
• PTC is implementing AI features across all product lines including Onshape, ServiceMax, Creo, Windchill, and Codebeamer
• John's engineering journey began with electronics and computer programming before discovering product design in college
• The drive for continuous improvement remains central to Onshape's philosophy: ”We don't measure ourselves merely by how much better we are than old systems.”