What’s Coming Next: The Future of AI in Onshape

Hanen Bdioui

21 January 2026 5 mins to read

AI is quickly becoming a natural part of how we design and build products. At Onshape, AI is not added as a separate tool, it is built directly into the platform itself. Because Onshape is fully cloud-native, new AI capabilities can be delivered faster, more securely, and to everyone at the same time.

In this article, we take a closer look at what’s coming next for Onshape AI and how these upcoming features will help engineers, designers, educators, and students work more efficiently and with less effort.

Why Onshape Can Move Faster with AI

Because Onshape is 100% cloud-native, it has several advantages that make advanced AI possible:

No installs, no upgrades – Onshape runs fully in the cloud, so everyone always uses the latest version. AI features are available instantly.
Work together in real time – Teams can collaborate at the same time, with built-in data management, full history, and infinite restore. This helps AI understand what changed and why.
Strong security by default – Enterprise-grade encryption and permission controls keep AI actions safe, controlled, and traceable.
Fast innovation cycle – New releases every three weeks mean AI features improve quickly and continuously.
Built for AI from the start – Centralized cloud data makes AI reliable, practical, and easy to scale.
Used across many industries – Onshape supports robotics, aerospace, consumer products, education, and more, so AI is shaped by real engineering needs.

This foundation allows Onshape to introduce AI in a practical, safe, and scalable way.

AI Available Today

Onshape AI Advisor is a built-in AI assistant designed to help users work more easily in Onshape. It gives clear, practical answers based only on Onshape’s own official learning content, not random information from the web.

AI Advisor is free for all users and is available directly inside Onshape as well as in the Learning Center, so help is always close when you need it.

What’s Coming for Onshape AI

1. FeatureScript Autocomplete: Smarter Custom Features

FeatureScript is one of Onshape’s most powerful capabilities, allowing users to create custom CAD features.

What’s coming next is AI-assisted FeatureScript autocomplete. While writing code, users will receive intelligent suggestions that:

Speed up scripting
Reduce syntax errors
Make custom feature creation easier for more users

This means engineers can spend less time debugging code and more time building tools that match their exact workflows.

Onshape AI-Advisor Example Dump Trailer

2. AI-Assisted Rendering: From CAD to Visuals in Seconds

High-quality renderings are essential for design reviews and presentations, but they often require extra tools and time.

With AI-assisted rendering, users will be able to generate professional visuals using simple text prompts, such as:

“A red plastic detergent bottle with no label and a blue lid, sitting on a marble countertop in a modern kitchen.”

In seconds, Onshape will generate realistic images—no rendering setup or long wait times required.

Onshape AI-Assisted Render

3. AI Agents: A New Way to Work with CAD

One of the most forward-looking developments in Onshape is the introduction of AI Agents.

These user-controlled AI agents will be able to:

Analyze models
Modify geometry
Export parts
Create drawings

Most importantly, every AI action will follow strict permission rules and include full audit logs. Companies remain in control, while AI handles repetitive or time-consuming tasks.

Over time, these AI agents have the potential to act as true design assistants—supporting engineers, not replacing them.

Onshape AI Agents

4. AI-Assisted Drawings: Faster, More Consistent Documentation

Creating technical drawings is a repetitive but critical task.

Onshape’s upcoming AI-assisted drawing tools will help automate:

Annotation placement
Replication of notes across similar parts

This will help teams produce drawings faster while maintaining consistency and quality.

5. AI-Powered Search: Find Parts by Shape, Not Just Name

Searching for parts can be frustrating when naming conventions are inconsistent.

Onshape is developing AI-powered visual search, which will allow users to find parts and components based on geometry and visual similarity. Even if a part is poorly named, the AI will help locate it.

This will:

Improve design reuse
Reduce duplicate parts
Save time across large projects and teams

AI-powered visual search

Powered by a Strong AI Ecosystem

A strong ecosystem actively supports Onshape’s AI roadmap:

Active collaboration with AWS to provide secure, scalable cloud infrastructure for AI services
Partnerships with MIT, including research at the Decode Lab, where AI is trained on 41,000+ Onshape CAD videos to learn real design workflows
Industry collaboration across simulation and manufacturing, bringing real-world engineering insight into AI development

This ecosystem helps ensure that Onshape AI is practical, reliable, and built around real engineering needs.

Wrapping Up

Onshape AI’s next developments will focus on one goal: making design work simpler, faster, and more intelligent.

From smarter scripting and search to automated drawings and AI agents, Onshape is shaping a future where AI works alongside engineers handling routine tasks and unlocking more time for innovation.

With its cloud-native foundation and rapid release cycle, Onshape is setting a clear direction for the next generation of CAD.

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Hanen Bdioui

Sales Development Representative at ChampionXperience

Hanen Bdioui is the Editor-in-Chief at ChampionXperience, where she leads content on CAD, VR, and emerging engineering technologies. She works with Dassault Systèmes as a Content Creator and SOLIDWORKS Application Engineer, and contributes as a technical writer for Engineering.com and EngineeRules, covering topics in CAD, PLM, and simulation. Hanen also creates specialized content for 3DEXCITE, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, and Onshape, supporting engineers and companies in adopting modern digital workflows.