u/National-Feed107

I am a hardware engineer with experience in RF, wireless systems, PCB design, embedded IoT, and hardware validation. Currently full time at a semiconductor company but looking to start my own consulting as a side hustle, supporting early stage hardware startups that need technical help.

The challenge I am running into is that I have the technical background but no existing client network outside my current employer. I have started sending cold emails to relevant startups but responses are slow as expected.

How did you get started? What actually worked?

I’m currently working on the test engineering side, mostly in analog/RF, but I want to move into design.

One concern I have is how AI might affect that path. It seems like AI is already accelerating a lot of design work, or at least automating parts of the design process. I know test engineering is also mostly automated, but test still often requires physical lab presence, hands-on debugging, measurement setup, correlation, production support, and dealing with real hardware issues.

Design, on the other hand, seems more likely to be done remotely and potentially more exposed to AI-driven productivity gains.

Do you think analog/RF design roles will be hit harder by AI over time, while test engineering could actually become more valuable because it still requires hands-on work with physical systems?

Is this somewhat similar to the argument that skilled trades may see more demand because they are harder to fully automate?

I’m currently working on the test engineering side, mostly in analog/RF, but I want to move into design.

One concern I have is how AI might affect that path. It seems like AI is already accelerating a lot of design work, or at least automating parts of the design process. I know test engineering is also mostly automated, but test still often requires physical lab presence, hands-on debugging, measurement setup, correlation, production support, and dealing with real hardware issues.

Design, on the other hand, seems more likely to be done remotely and potentially more exposed to AI-driven productivity gains.

Do you think analog/RF design roles will be hit harder by AI over time, while test engineering could actually become more valuable because it still requires hands-on work with physical systems?

Is this somewhat similar to the argument that skilled trades may see more demand because they are harder to fully automate?