A Second Beginning at 72
At 52, I took voluntary retirement and founded K-Mechatronics.
Those years were shaped by engineering discipline, industrial partnerships, and the quiet satisfaction of solving practical problems as entrepreneur & Managing Director. I remain grateful to the many organizations and individuals who trusted and supported that journey.
When I turned 72, I believed my professional chapter had gently closed but not without fanfare.
However, I felt I should remain active, and therefor enrolled in a formal program in Artificial Intelligence. I increasingly feel that the future of leadership — especially in engineering and industry — will depend not merely on adopting AI tools, but on exercising judgment in their use.
Mechanical systems demand precision.
AI systems demand discernment.
In work-holding engineering, we asked:
- Is the clamp rigid
- Is it ensuring dimensional and form accuracy
- Is it consistent
In the AI age, we must ask:
- Is the data reliable?
- Is the model biased?
- Is the decision explainable?
- Who remains accountable?
Experience taught that the solution may fail.
AI is teaching me how decisions may fail.
The intersection of the two is where I now wish to think, write, and contribute.
This is not a reinvention.
It is a continuation — from mechanical intelligence to artificial intelligence, without losing human judgment.
I have begun exploring these reflections through writing at krobustinsights.com.
In the age of AI, will accumulated experience diminish — or become more necessary than ever?
#AIforLeaders #EngineeringLeadership #Robust #Insights