Training course · AI Agents · Engineering

AI Agents for Engineers

Agentic AI for business teams: understand AI agents, automate workflows safely and keep control with human-in-the-loop and governance.

Duration
2 days (14 hrs)
Format
Online or on-site
Language
German or English
Participants
open dates or exclusive for your team
Certificate
Certificate of attendance

Overview

“AI Agents for Engineers” is designed for roles such as Design and development engineers, Project engineers in plant and machine building and Test and validation engineers and shows step by step how to use AI Agents productively, safely and transparently in Engineering – from the fundamentals to advanced workflows.

AI agents go a step beyond conventional chat assistants: they plan sub-tasks, use tools such as search, files or business applications and complete multi-step work largely on their own. Over two days you will learn how agents are built, how they differ from chatbots and traditional automation, and which tasks genuinely justify their use. Widely used platforms serve as practical examples, including Microsoft Copilot Studio, custom GPTs and Claude with projects and tool connections.

In the hands-on sessions you design agent workflows for tasks from your own area of work, from triaging requests through research and drafting to handing results over to business systems. You decide where a person reviews and approves, which permissions an agent receives and how errors are detected. A dedicated block covers governance, data protection and accountability, so that your agents not only work but remain controllable, traceable and defensible within your organisation.

Engineers in design, development, plant engineering and technical planning spend much of their time on research, documentation, coordination and calculations. Generative AI can reduce that share considerably: AI assistants summarise standards and technical literature, structure requirement and design specifications, support requirements analysis, generate calculation scripts in Python or spreadsheets and produce technical documentation and reports. Automation helps with change management, comparing document revisions and analysing test and measurement data. Creative problem-solving, plausibility checks and responsibility for technical safety remain with the experts. Using AI for routine work and as a sparring partner frees time for real engineering: developing concepts, evaluating variants and delivering robust solutions.

The course is delivered live – either online in a virtual classroom or on-site in our training rooms in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern. We can also run it exclusively for your team.

Who is this course for?

  • Design and development engineers
  • Project engineers in plant and machine building
  • Test and validation engineers
  • Technical writers
  • Engineers in planning and engineering consultancies

Typical challenges we address

  • Evaluating extensive standards, guidelines and requirements efficiently
  • Producing technical documentation and reports alongside development work
  • Analysing and interpreting test and measurement data quickly
  • Managing changes traceably across many documents and stakeholders

What you will be able to do

  • You can explain how AI agents are structured and clearly distinguish them from chatbots and classic automation.
  • You can select a suitable agent platform for your requirements using transparent criteria.
  • You can design an agent workflow for a real process in your area and build a working prototype.
  • You can define human-in-the-loop checkpoints, test cases and escalation rules.
  • Use AI for requirements analysis, standards research and technical documentation.
  • Have AI create calculation and analysis scripts and validate them systematically.
  • Protect engineering know-how and observe product safety and liability requirements when using AI.

Course outline

Day 1

Module 1 What makes an AI agent
  • Agent building blocks: language model, instructions, knowledge, tools and memory
  • How agents differ from chatbots, macros and classic workflow automation
  • Levels of autonomy: from suggestion-making assistants to agents that act independently
  • Realistically judging which tasks suit agents and which do not
Module 2 Platform overview: Copilot Studio, GPTs and Claude
  • Microsoft Copilot Studio: agents grounded in company data and connected to Microsoft 365
  • Custom GPTs: configuring instructions, knowledge files and actions
  • Claude with projects, knowledge bases and tool access via the Model Context Protocol
  • Selection criteria: data access, integrations, administration and licensing
Module 3 Designing and building agent workflows
  • Breaking tasks into steps and defining hand-offs between agent and human
  • Writing system instructions, examples and knowledge sources for consistent output
  • Connecting tools: search, documents, email, spreadsheets and business applications
  • Building a prototype agent for a real process from your own area
Module 4 Human-in-the-loop, quality and error handling
  • Setting approval steps, escalation rules and thresholds for human review
  • Test cases, evaluation criteria and spot checks for quality assurance
  • Common failure modes: wrong tool choice, endless loops and fabricated facts
  • Using structured user feedback to improve the agent over time

Day 2

Module 5 Governance, security and roll-out
  • Roles and responsibilities across business units, IT, data protection and works council
  • Least-privilege permissions, logging and protection against prompt injection
  • Positioning under the EU AI Act and GDPR: transparency, documentation and data flows
  • From pilot agent to production: operation, maintenance and measuring success
Module 6 Practice lab: Engineering
  • Structuring requirements
  • Standards and literature review
  • Calculation scripts
  • Test data analysis
  • Technical documentation
  • Change management support
Module 7 Data protection, quality & transfer to daily work
  • Design data, drawings and development results are trade secrets and may be subject to export control; they belong only in approved AI environments. Product safety and liability law apply unchanged to safety-related designs, so AI output must be verified and documented traceably.
  • Ground rules for safe AI use in your team
  • Checking results: facts, sources, tests and the four-eyes principle
  • Personal action plan for the next 30 days
  • Open questions, outlook and resources for further learning

Practical scenarios from your field

Structuring requirements

An AI assistant analyses customer requirements and specifications, spots contradictions, gaps and vague wording and turns them into a structured, verifiable requirements list for the design specification.

Standards and literature review

AI summarises relevant sections of standards, guidelines and technical papers, creates comparison tables and checklists and references the passages, which engineers check in the original.

Calculation scripts

Instead of coding formulas by hand, describe the calculation and receive a commented Python script or spreadsheet, for example for sizing, tolerance stack-ups or unit conversions, ready for testing and validation.

Test data analysis

Test bench data is cleaned, statistically analysed and visualised using AI-generated analysis code, anomalies are flagged and a draft test report is created.

Technical documentation

Design data, notes and previous documents are turned into drafts of operating manuals, maintenance handbooks, specifications and project reports with consistent terminology.

Change management support

AI compares document revisions, summarises technical changes clearly, identifies affected documents and interfaces and prepares change requests for the change board.

Prerequisites

You should already use an AI assistant such as ChatGPT, Copilot or Claude on a regular basis. No programming skills are required. You have an engineering or technical background and work in development, design, planning or testing.

Technical requirements

You will need a laptop with an up-to-date browser. Ideally you have access to at least one agent platform such as Copilot Studio, ChatGPT with GPTs or Claude; practice accounts can be provided if needed.

Data protection & compliance

Design data, drawings and development results are trade secrets and may be subject to export control; they belong only in approved AI environments. Product safety and liability law apply unchanged to safety-related designs, so AI output must be verified and documented traceably.

Suggested dates

All dates are suggestions – your preferred date is always possible.

  • Tue, 24 November 2026 – Wed, 25 November 2026 Online Request
  • Thu, 3 December 2026 – Fri, 4 December 2026 Munich Request
  • Tue, 8 December 2026 – Wed, 9 December 2026 Online Request
  • Thu, 17 December 2026 – Fri, 18 December 2026 Stuttgart Request
  • Mon, 11 January 2027 – Tue, 12 January 2027 Hanover Request
  • Wed, 27 January 2027 – Thu, 28 January 2027 Online Request

Frequently asked questions

Do I need programming skills to build AI agents?

No. The platforms used on the course rely on visual interfaces, plain-language instructions and ready-made connectors. You learn to specify agents precisely from a business perspective, connect tools and test workflows. Where deeper technical integration would be needed, you will know which requirements to put to your IT team.

Which platform will we use during the course?

The course is vendor-neutral and uses Microsoft Copilot Studio, custom GPTs and Claude as examples. You build your prototype on the platform that is available or planned in your organisation. The principles of workflow design, control and governance you learn carry over to other agent solutions as well.

How do I stop an agent from acting without control?

Through deliberate design: agents receive only the minimum permissions they need, critical actions such as sending, booking or deleting require human approval, and every step is logged. In addition, you define test cases and escalation rules. These are exactly the control mechanisms you develop for your own use case during the course.

Can I use AI calculations for safety-related designs?

Only as support with full verification. Language models can get formulas, units or standard values wrong. Have calculation steps output as traceable code or formulas, check them against standards, hand calculations or validated software and document the check. Responsibility remains with you.

How do we protect design data?

Use only approved enterprise environments where inputs are not used for training. Also observe export control rules, for example for dual-use technologies, and agree with IT and export control which information may go into which tools. We discuss practical rules in the course.

How much does “AI Agents for Engineers” cost?

The course costs a flat €949 plus VAT per participant – whether online or on-site. This includes 2 training day(s) with a live trainer, course materials, a lab environment and a certificate of attendance.

Can I suggest my own date?

Yes. Our suggested dates are just a guide. In the request form you can always describe your preferred date or period in free text – we check availability and confirm within one working day.

Is the course online or on-site?

Both are possible: live online in a virtual classroom or on-site in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart or Kaiserslautern. We can also run the course exclusively for your team.

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