S1E9 - Engineering Tools that Build Themselves (w/Stijn Jansen)

Update: 2025-12-09

Description

“When engineers start trusting AI, what exactly are they trusting?”

In this episode of The Structural Intelligence Podcast, host Owen Keenan sits down with Stijn Jansen, co-founder of VIKTOR, to explore what happens when engineers begin building tools that build themselves. From aerospace engineering to software automation, Stijn explains how VIKTOR enables engineers to replace brittle spreadsheets with custom applications that integrate BIM models, simulation software, and now, AI-generated code.

Together, they unpack one of today’s core tensions in engineering: how do we reconcile the reliability of deterministic systems with the flexibility of AI-driven workflows? If machines now help author our tools, where does responsibility live?

🔑 Key Takeaways:

Why engineers struggle to trust AI and how deterministic code restores confidence
How AI can generate tools, without becoming the tool itself
What it really means to “automate the boring and engineer the awesome”
Why Python is becoming the new engineering literacy
How hybrid workflows blend human judgment with machine speed
Why engineers must evolve from tool users into workflow architects

⏱ Timestamps

00:00 – When does automation become too unpredictable to trust?

02:15 – From aerospace engineer to code-curious

05:11 – What is VIKTOR and why build your own tools?

08:52 – Why engineers default to Excel under pressure

13:52 – “Automate the boring, engineer the awesome”

24:38 – Case study – automating the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel design

29:31 – Trusting AI vs trusting deterministic tools

35:59 – Unit tests and verification for engineering apps

41:16 – Connecting BIM, FEA and reports into one workflow

51:10 – When AI agents start acting like colleagues

56:18 – Where engineers should start with automation