Ford brings back over 350 veteran engineers as AI overhaul backfires

Ford Motor Company has rehired more than 350 veteran engineers after an aggressive push to replace experienced staff with artificial intelligence tools led to costly failures. The automaker acknowledged that relying too heavily on automated quality systems was a mistake, and the so-called "gray beards" are now returning to lead quality reviews and mentor younger employees, according to reports from neowin, Hacker News, and The Independent. Over the past three years, Ford has been quietly bringing back experienced engineers to fix diagnostic systems and AI tools that failed to meet quality standards, neowin reported. Charles Poon, Ford's vice president of vehicle hardware engineering, admitted that leadership had underestimated how much deep experience mattered. "Leadership underestimated the value of deep experience from engineers who survived multiple product cycles, and that simply replacing them with AI was a mistake." Poon's acknowledgment underscores a broader miscalculation. The failed automation strategy cost Ford billions of dollars, Hacker News reported. Executive Kumar Galhotra said the company had not paid enough attention to the expertise of its most knowledgeable engineers. "The company didn't pay enough attention to the expertise of its most knowledgeable engineers." Now, the rehired veterans are tasked with training the very AI systems that were supposed to replace them. Their return signals a recognition within Ford that seasoned human judgment remains indispensable, even as the company continues to pursue automation in other areas.

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