"It showed concretely what engineering AI is."

Bae Jae-in (배재인), head of the CRE division at Dassault Systemes Korea, repeatedly stressed that the company has implemented engineering AI in the real world, distinct from a large language model (LLM), with its new virtual companions Leo and Marie unveiled at the annual SolidWorks conference, 3DExperience World 2026, held from April 1 to 4 local time.

With the unveiling of Leo and Marie, Dassault Systemes can now offer a virtual companion lineup that can play a practical role in design work, alongside Aura, which it launched last year. Leo and Marie were introduced this time in preview versions and are scheduled for an official launch in the first half. Pricing has not been finalised, but a pay-as-you-use charging model is considered likely.

According to the company, Aura is specialised for discovering and exploring ideas. It links internal data with external knowledge on the web to help users make design-related ideas more concrete. Leo is an engineering AI that reviews manufacturability and design feasibility and suggests designs suitable for actual product production. Marie focuses on science-based analysis and also covers high-difficulty areas such as drop tests, ergonomic evaluations and responses to medical device regulations. The company said the unveiling of Leo and Marie firmly equips the virtual companion with the attributes of engineering AI.

Bae said, "Aura has already been launched and used, but it did not sufficiently serve as an engineering solution. Leo and Marie are meaningful in that they have made the engineering AI roadmap concrete."

Dassault Systemes also stresses that the key is not to replace design engineers but to raise design productivity. The company said that even if AI can replace some tasks, the role of design personnel will remain valid.

Bae said, "If we take semiconductor equipment makers as an example, narrowing the time from concept design to manufacturing production is an urgent task, but there are often cases where design fails to keep up with requests from the production division." He added, "In particular, mid-sized and small companies will be able to significantly reduce go-to-market (GTM) through virtual companions." He added that startups will also be able to greatly reduce the time it takes to turn ideas into reality.

Leo and Marie operate based on engineering-related data that Dassault Systemes has accumulated and on customers' own data. Customer data is owned only by the customer and cannot be seen by external parties, including Dassault Systemes. Among these, a company's own data is the decisive factor in determining how much benefit it can gain from virtual companions. This means internal design data must be reorganised and optimised for AI before using virtual companions.

South Korean manufacturers are assessed to still be lacking in this area, and Dassault Systemes is also emphasising the importance of AI-optimised data governance. Bae said, "Because the Dassault Systemes platform is cloud-based, companies need to upload their own data to the cloud and expand knowledge based on it." He added, "For a knowledge base to evolve into companies' know-how, data ultimately needs to be on the cloud."

Dassault Systemes Korea is looking first at mid-sized and small companies rather than large manufacturers for its virtual companion business in South Korea. Bae said, "Mid-sized and small companies have difficulties building their own AI and enterprise solutions." He added, "If they start in the cloud, they can ensure scalability and compatibility for investment."

Virtual companions based on natural-language prompts represent a major interface change for design personnel who have worked with a mouse. As it may not be easy to part with a familiar interface, Dassault Systemes plans to provide various support measures and training to lower barriers to entry.

Bae said, "Prompt engineering may be an area that design personnel need to learn anew, just as they learn SolidWorks." He added, "We will support this effectively."

Dassault Systemes expects that expanding virtual companions will also broaden the SolidWorks user base. Bae said, "In addition to robots, interest in virtual twins and AI is also growing in life sciences." He added, "This year, we will accelerate efforts to target the life sciences sector in South Korea as well."