AI is entering engineering practice faster than the contracts, insurance policies, and professional guidance meant to govern it. For licensed engineers, the question is not whether familiar responsibilities disappear, but what AI adds to them. That question drives the work of NSPE’s AI Work Group, and it framed the latest Workability Wednesday webinar, “AI and the Licensed Engineer: Navigating a Changing Professional Landscape.”
Girija Subramaniam, P.E., presented on behalf of the AI Work Group, drawing on both the group’s findings and her own practice. She leads a small Maryland engineering firm that adapts emerging technology for rail, specializes in signal processing and communication systems, and holds NICET’s Systems Software Integrator (SSI) certification. She approaches AI the way most attendees do: as a practicing engineer putting it to work, not as an AI specialist.
Through outreach to engineering firms, academia, the insurance sector, and the legal community, the AI Work Group is mapping where current practice falls short as AI takes hold. The session shares what the group has heard so far, including how engineering firms are approaching their first AI-enabled projects and where insurers and attorneys are still searching for answers.
Subramaniam examines AI applications from several well-known organizations, each handing a different degree of control to the AI. She then revisits each one to surface the professional and ethical questions it raises for the engineers responsible.
Many of today’s most capable AI systems cannot fully show how they reach a decision. The session explores what that means for verification, documentation, and the evidence an engineer needs before relying on an AI-assisted result.
AI raises questions an ordinary software agreement never had to answer, from what counts as an error to who is responsible when a supplier’s model changes. The session outlines the issues engineering firms need to settle with clients and insurers before something goes wrong.
Subramaniam’s talk returned repeatedly to accountability: who verifies the system, who documents it, and who answers for it when something fails. NICET’s new Systems Software Integrator (SSI) certification sets a defined competency standard for the professionals who integrate software into physical infrastructure. The exam covers program management, quality assurance, system integration, and risk mitigation, including cybersecurity and functional safety. Learn how to become a certified Systems Software Integrator.
The full webinar walks through the questions engineers should ask at every stage of the AI lifecycle, from sourcing a model to monitoring it after deployment. It closes with the six focus areas the AI Work Group is pursuing, from member education and state policy coordination to engineers’ role in data center development, along with how members can get involved.
Watch the full webinar on demand at NSPE’s PE Institute (pdh.nspe.org) and earn 1 PDH credit. Free for NSPE members; $75 for non-members.