Let’s be blunt: if your sales process still requires an engineer to quote a standard part, you’re...
AI + Configure-Price-Deliver (CPD) platforms are replacing the need for manual quote-building, technical presales, and CAD customization. The future doesn’t need middlemen—it needs automation.
Let’s rip off the Band-Aid: the traditional roles of Application Engineers and Sales Engineers are on life support and they won’t survive the next five years.
For decades, these professionals have been the unsung heroes, bridging the gap between sales and engineering, customizing CAD models, building quotes, and translating customer needs into manufacturable realities. But as AI-driven CPD platforms like Spokbee gain momentum, those middle layers are rapidly becoming obsolete.
AI doesn’t sleep. It doesn’t miscommunicate. And it doesn’t need three meetings and a six-week lead time to generate a quote. With platforms that can automatically turn engineering files into live product configurators—complete with pricing, dimensional logic, and photorealistic visuals—the technical heavy lifting of an AE or Sales Engineer can now be handled in milliseconds.
Spreadsheets and Screenshots Are Dead
Traditional quoting relies on a patchwork of spreadsheets, CAD screenshots, tribal knowledge, and human interpretation. It’s slow. It’s error-prone. And in a world where buyers expect instant answers, it’s a liability.
Today’s manufacturers are done waiting. They want their sales teams empowered to quote complex, customized products directly from a website. No middlemen. No bottlenecks. No friction.
That’s exactly what Spokbee 2.0 delivers.
Built for the Future of Manufacturing
Spokbee 2.0 is the world’s first integrated cloud app product configurator built directly on PTC’s Onshape engineering platform. It allows manufacturers to publish interactive, photorealistic, CAD-connected configurators in minutes—not weeks. Every product rule, dimension, and pricing logic is sourced directly from the engineering data, ensuring real-time accuracy without human intervention.
With Spokbee 2.0:
- Sales teams generate quotes in seconds
- Customers customize products themselves online
- Engineering teams maintain control of logic without building custom tools for sales
No More Quoting Bottlenecks
The truth? If you're still relying on Application Engineers to manually build custom quotes, you're already behind. Spokbee turns your CAD files into a sales engine that works 24/7, empowering customers and sales reps alike with instant access to accurate configurations and pricing.
Why pay six figures for someone to chase down PDFs and tweak parametrics when a fully cloud-native platform can do it better, faster, and at scale?
The AE and SE Aren’t Evolving—They’re Vanishing
Here’s the prediction: within five years, AI and Product Configurators will replace 95% of Application Engineering and Sales Engineering jobs.
Yes, humans will still play critical roles in product development, core engineering, and strategic sales. But the repetitive, quote-driven work that once required a skilled AE or SE? It’s getting eaten alive by automation.
If you’re in sales, it’s time to upgrade your toolkit. If you’re in engineering, it’s time to stop babysitting your quote process. If you’re a manufacturer, it’s time to ditch the bottlenecks.
Explore Spokbee 2.0 on the Onshape App Store and see how AI-powered CPD is changing the game.
The future of Application Engineering isn’t a person. It’s a platform.
