Building a physical product in the age of AI

What happens when a software developer decides to build a physical product?

In this session, Levi Rosol will share the story behind GridSmith—a modular tabletop terrain system that started as a personal frustration with existing products and evolved into a real business. Along the way, AI became much more than a coding assistant. It became a design partner, a CAD tutor, a rubber duck, a technical writer, a marketing assistant, and an endless source of ideas.

We'll explore the entire journey: identifying the problem worth solving, designing hundreds of iterations of a physical product, learning OpenSCAD through AI-assisted development, optimizing for 3D printing and manufacturing, building an e-commerce website through "vibe coding," and launching a product that people can actually buy.

This isn't a session about replacing developers with AI. It's about how modern AI tools dramatically lower the barrier between an idea and a finished product, allowing a single person to wear the hats of engineer, product designer, manufacturer, and entrepreneur.

Whether you're a developer, maker, or simply curious about what AI can enable, you'll leave with practical insights, honest lessons learned, and hopefully the confidence to start building that idea you've been putting off.

Join us for the next DSM AI Group!
5:30 - 6:00 - Socializing/Networking
6:00 - Speaker begins