Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS) says the era of AI assistants is giving way to autonomous engineering, where AI orchestrates entire product development workflows rather than helping engineers with isolated tasks.

In an exclusive interview, Chief Product Development Officer Shankar Krishnamoorthy told Benzinga that investors should look beyond today's AI copilots. "The most important trend to watch is the transition from AI-assisted to autonomous engineering," he said, adding that "AI will orchestrate end-to-end engineering workflows across design, verification, simulation, and system validation."

From assistant to orchestrator

Krishnamoorthy described a fundamental shift in how AI creates value inside engineering organisations. Rather than acting as another software tool, autonomous AI increasingly becomes the workflow itself, coordinating multiple stages of product development while allowing engineers to focus on higher-value innovation. As chip designs and intelligent systems grow more sophisticated, engineering teams face unprecedented complexity across hardware, software, and physics. In response, he said, "organisations are moving beyond point solutions and task-specific AI assistants toward autonomous engineering workflows that can help manage this complexity at scale."

Synopsys already has early data supporting this direction. One customer observed a 5x-6x productivity gain using Synopsys' agentic flow for formal verification, and the AI-driven workflow also identified a persistent modeling bug that traditional tools had missed. The company's autonomous debugging workflow, developed with Microsoft Discovery, has shown reductions of 25%-40% in debug cycle time, saving weeks of engineering effort.

Competitive advantage in autonomous engineering

Krishnamoorthy argued that the companies best positioned to lead will be those that successfully combine agentic AI, accelerated computing, and multiphysics simulation. The goal, he said, is to "improve engineering velocity, deliver first-time right silicon, and advance innovation." First-time right silicon refers to producing a chip that works correctly without costly redesigns. Krishnamoorthy noted that end-to-end autonomous verification workflows compress weeks of manual labor into hours of agentic execution, and that AI is enabling engineers to explore more design alternatives before production rather than replacing them.

What the numbers show

The divergence between productivity gains in verification (up to 6x) versus debug cycle reductions (25%-40%) indicates that agentic AI currently offers the highest leverage in formal verification tasks. While debugging benefits significantly, the complete automation of verification logic provides a disproportionately larger efficiency multiplier for engineering teams. This suggests that as autonomous workflows expand into more stages of chip development, the cumulative impact on engineering velocity could be substantial.

Investor implications

The AI conversation has largely centred on chatbots, coding assistants, and productivity software. Synopsys argues the next competitive battleground lies deeper inside enterprise engineering, where AI evolves from an assistant into an orchestrator. Synopsys is scheduled to report earnings after market close on Wednesday. Investors will be looking not only for evidence that demand for AI-enabled engineering software remains strong, but also for signs that customers are adopting more autonomous workflows rather than standalone AI features.

Synopsys Inc (NASDAQ: SNPS) is expected to report fiscal third-quarter revenue of $2.435 billion, representing a 40% year-on-year increase, according to Rosenblatt Securities analyst Blair Abernethy. The growth is largely attributed to the July 2025 acquisition of Ansys.

Abernethy reiterated a Buy rating with a price target of $575, noting that competitor results suggest supportive trends in EDA semi-systems technology development. The analyst highlighted steady adoption of Synopsys.ai products as a key growth driver.

Expectations For Q3

The chip design and verification company is likely to report the following figures for the fiscal third quarter:

Revenue growth is expected to be driven by EDA demand, elevated chip R&D spending, IC design complexity, and new hyperscaler AI chip programs. Non-GAAP operating margin of 40% aligns with consensus estimates.

What the Numbers Show

The acquisition of Ansys contributed significantly to recent performance, driving around 29% of total revenue in the fiscal second quarter. This integration continues to impact top-line figures, with the company set to provide details on the next phase of integration at its Investor Day on September 30.

Strategic Outlook

Abernethy noted that continued adoption of Synopsys.ai products is likely to serve as an increasing tailwind to growth over the next few years. In the second quarter, 20 customers were evaluating agentic EDA solutions.

For fiscal 2026, the analyst expects revenue growth of 37% to $9.664 billion, slightly lower than the consensus estimate of $9.682 billion. China revenue is expected to incrementally improve in the back half of the year, supported by market recovery and easing US trade disruptions.

Shares of Synopsys rose 1.71% to $401.25 at the time of publication on Tuesday.