From Weeks to Minutes: How Sketch Design Achieved 10x Innovation Gains with Leo AI
Oliver Diebel
Co-Director, Sketch Design Consultancy
About Sketch Design
Sketch Design Consultancy is a Cardiff-based mechanical design engineering firm founded in 2017. The company specializes in Design for Manufacture, Design for Assembly, and Design for Serviceability, serving clients ranging from individual inventors to market-leading manufacturers. Working across CAD platforms, including Onshape and SOLIDWORKS, the team delivers everything from rapid prototyping to full product lifecycle management.
The transition to Leo AI has fundamentally shifted Sketch Design's development curve, moving them from incremental improvements to transformational gains:
From weeks to minutes: Research tasks that previously took days or weeks (such as searching for relevant formulas) now take only as long as it takes to type the question. This compression of research time has fundamentally changed project timelines.
Immediate prototyping: Before Leo, the information-gathering phase was slow and often blocked progress. Now, Sketch Design is often prototyping within the first week because they have the data they need immediately.
Enhanced client perception: The speed of response allows the agency to appear more capable and more impressive to clients, as they can speak knowledgeably about new fields almost instantly.
The 10x innovation gain: Rather than looking for marginal 10% improvements, the team uses Leo to achieve 10x gains through rapid, high-quality iterations. This shift in mindset has opened up new possibilities for what the consultancy can deliver.
10X
Innovation gains through rapid iteration
Weeks to minutes
Research time reduction
Reclaimed on delayed project
For the team at Sketch Design Consultancy, Leo AI is not a replacement for engineering judgment but a force multiplier for it. By providing verified technical knowledge with cited sources, Leo allows their engineers to bridge the gap between their core expertise in Design for Manufacture and the specialized requirements of client projects in unfamiliar domains.
The human-in-the-loop approach gives the team a safe space to fail and learn while maintaining the engineering rigor their clients expect.
As Sketch Design Consultancy continues to take on complex, cross-disciplinary projects, Leo AI remains their digital engineering partner, helping them deliver results that would have been impossible on traditional timelines.
