In this episode of the Printed Circuit Podcast, host Steph Chavez sits down with Antonio Becerra Esteban, Head of Customer Success at Celus, to explore how AI is reshaping the front end of PCB development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Siemens and Celus announcing a new integration, this conversation dives deep into how automation and artificial intelligence can eliminate busy work, enhance accuracy, and accelerate the path from concept to schematic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Celus was born out of frustration. As Esteban recalled, co-founder Tobias Paul was completing his master\u2019s thesis and discovered how inefficient PCB design could be. While software had already embraced code-free tools and automation, hardware engineers were still stuck manually sifting through data sheets, filtering components, and patching together symbols and footprints. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you have a set of requirements for your PCB, good luck,\u201d Esteban said. \u201cYou have to dig through Mouser, DigiKey, or ask the elders at your company.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Celus aims to change that. By capturing requirements in a block diagram and applying AI to suggest circuit-level solutions, Celus helps engineers generate PCB schematics and symbols quickly, all without starting from scratch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One key driver behind Celus\u2019 growth is the widening knowledge gap in hardware design. \u201cA lot of engineers are retiring, and newer ones are going to software,\u201d Esteban explained. \u201cIt\u2019s getting harder to find people who know how to build hardware.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This hits small businesses especially hard. While enterprise teams might have ten or twenty developers, many startups have just one or two. If one leaves, 50% of the company\u2019s design capacity disappears. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey can maybe output one or two boards a year,\u201d he said. \u201cYou start with the research, burn through months of component selection, and then maybe your part is obsolete. Back to square one.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is where AI-driven design can provide relief \u2014 accelerating decisions, reducing risk, and helping small teams do more with less. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Chavez noted, many engineers are wary of AI. But Esteban sees it differently: \u201cAI won\u2019t replace the engineer. It\u2019ll help you solve problems, not solve them for you.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rather than trusting AI to build an entire board unsupervised, Celus users review and validate recommendations. This preserves engineering judgment while removing grunt work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t want to tell your boss, \u2018the AI did it,\u2019 if something fails,\u201d Esteban laughed. \u201cBut if AI can help you get answers in a day instead of six months, that\u2019s huge.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The biggest win from AI? Saving engineers from repetitive tasks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
From requirement gathering to schematic generation, Celus\u2019 platform lets users describe what they need in natural language and get back possible circuit implementations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Kubot, the platform\u2019s AI assistant, engineers can request a DC-DC converter, a wireless module, or any other function, and Kubot will suggest validated building blocks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each \u201cKubo\u201d is like a digital data sheet, containing the application, schematic, interface, and even BOM data. Users can trace suggestions back to original sources, accelerating evaluation and avoiding bad fits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019re no longer reading 40 data sheets to find one viable part,\u201d Esteban said. \u201cYou\u2019re reading one \u2014 the right one.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Chavez, one of the most exciting implications of AI is faster onboarding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow do you get a young engineer to become an ROI instantly?\u201d she asked. \u201cWith AI, they can ramp faster and design faster.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Esteban agreed. \u201cYou won\u2019t fully replace 30 years of experience. But you can help a junior engineer reach productive output much sooner.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Celus doesn\u2019t just reduce workload, it helps scale talent. What makes the Celus and Siemens partnership powerful is how it compresses the full front-end cycle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSiemens tools are top-tier for layout and routing,\u201d Esteban said. \u201cNow we help engineers get to the schematic faster, with validated content ready for design.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using Celus with Siemens Connect, engineers can move from requirement capture to schematic generation in hours. Once validated, the schematic transfers into Siemens EDA tools for layout\u2014removing multiple manual steps and potential errors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re talking about getting from idea to prototype in a day,\u201d he emphasized. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This integration is especially important for small and mid-sized businesses. As Chavez noted, \u201cIf you’re okay being second or third to market, you can stay status quo. But those who want to lead? They need this.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Esteban agreed. \u201cAdvanced tools are no longer a luxury. They\u2019re critical for survival. If you don\u2019t adopt these tools, you risk getting stuck in the past.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Celus and Siemens want to remove that barrier, giving smaller teams the power to produce high-quality designs without massive budgets or dedicated research departments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does Esteban look forward to most in the 2025 rollout? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can\u2019t wait to see engineers using this in the wild,\u201d he said. \u201cTo see real boards built from this integration \u2014 fast, accurate, and innovative. That\u2019s what it\u2019s all about.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The goal isn\u2019t to eliminate the engineer\u2019s role, but to let them focus on what drew them to this field in the first place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNobody got into this because they love reading data sheets,\u201d he joked. \u201cWe do this because we love solving problems. AI just helps us do it faster.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For engineers ready to test it themselves, Celus will be demoing the integration at Electronica, or you can learn more at celus.io. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Learn more expert advice on <\/strong>Celus and Siemens<\/strong><\/a> and listen to the<\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>Printed Circuit Podcast<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In this episode of the Printed Circuit Podcast, host Steph Chavez sits down with Antonio Becerra Esteban, Head of Customer…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110515,"featured_media":11750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spanish_translation":"","french_translation":"","german_translation":"","italian_translation":"","polish_translation":"","japanese_translation":"","chinese_translation":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13,12,15,17],"tags":[112,113,1730,1883],"industry":[],"product":[693],"coauthors":[1847],"class_list":["post-11738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-learning-resources","category-podcast","category-tips-tricks","tag-pcb","tag-pcb-design","tag-pcb-design-best-practices","tag-pcb-manufacturing","product-pcbflow"],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-27-at-4.34.55-PM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110515"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11738"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11751,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11738\/revisions\/11751"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11738"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11738"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=11738"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}