Legacy Reimagined: How AI is Finding Its Place in Aerospace
SEEING OPPORTUNITY WHERE OTHERS SAW COMPLEXITY
Service: Opportunity Roadmapping
Industry: Aerospace, Transportation & Equipment
\ Challenge
One of our large aerospace clients has been exploring AI for years across its engineering division alone, more than 1400 different AI related initiatives have emerged. This company was rich in technical talent and extremely ambitious when it comes to AI, but its efforts were fragmented, highly tactical and often stalled because of legacy systems and siloed ownership.
New edge was brought in to help the organization make sense of its AI roadmaps. The goal was to unlock the strategic value of AI by organizing and prioritizing the true opportunities. I was enabling and engineering. The company's internal roadmaps were dense with activity but lacked a clear narrative. Teams were building tools, launching pilots, and experimenting with machine learning, but few could articulate how these efforts connected to address broader business goal.
\ Our Approach
The Starting Point
The company's internal roadmaps were dense with activity but lacked a clear narrative. Teams were building tools, launching pilots, and experimenting with machine learning, but few could articulate how these efforts connected to address broader business goals. Legacy systems that were designed for safety, quality and reliability were seen as barriers, and while leadership was eager to move faster, the project team struggled to get the necessary Buy-In from key decision makers to approve AI initiatives.
NewEdge began by listening - through one on one interviews, workshops, and voice of the customer - we surfaced a core insight. The company didn't need more tactical AI roadmaps, they just needed a better story.
Opportunity Thinking® in Action
Using the needs, values and conditions framework, NewEdge helped the organization identify eight strategic opportunity spaces for AI. These weren't just use cases, they were key areas where AI could create value for both the engineers and the company as a whole. One opportunity focused on enabling engineers to make faster decisions without compromising safety. Another explored how AI could help streamline the documentation and certification process, freeing up engineers time to focus on more complex tasks.
The workshops were pivotal. They brought together stakeholders who rarely shared the same room. As we engaged with engineers, IT leaders, product managers and strategists, it was evident that there had never been clear alignment between the people with the AI expertise, the engineering expertise and access to the right data that brought it all together.
Reframing Legacy
One of the most powerful shifts came from how the company began to see its legacy systems. Instead of viewing them as outdated constraints, NewEdge helped reframe them as foundations for responsible AI. The systems weren't broken, they just weren't designed for a world with AI in it.
The reframing came from changing who was responsible for AI development. With this pivot, IT moved from a gatekeeper to an enabler. Engineering teams began to see AI as a compliment to their expertise rather than a threat, and leadership gained a clearer view of where to invest, where to pause and where to just let go.
Success!
By the end of the engagement, we'd achieve some pretty big outcomes.
- We had a strategic AI roadmap that was grounded in larger company objectives.
- We had a shared language for cross-functional collaboration.
- We had a replicable workshop model that could be used in future initiatives.
- But most importantly, we had a renewed sense of possibility within the engineering team.
This case wasn't just about AI. It was about storytelling, grounding hype and aligning teams. It was about seeing opportunity where others saw complexity. It was how to use a strategy not to control innovation, but to guide it.