GLOBAL CASE STUDY · USA × UK
AI Beat a Human at Programming? The US TITANS of CNC Test and the CAM Assist Case Adopted by 1,000 Shops
01One video: the most demanding American machinists let AI program their own part
In the American CNC world, TITANS of CNC is a singular presence: founder Titan Gilroy came up from the front line of the shop floor, and the channel and its free education platform, TITANS of CNC Academy, have trained tens of thousands of programming and machining professionals worldwide. He's always spoken bluntly, and is famously exacting about his tools. So when this channel uploaded a 2026 video titled "I Let AI Program My CNC… It Beat Me"[1], the whole industry took notice.
This wasn't the channel's first brush with AI programming. Starting with "TITANS OF CNC VS CAM ASSIST" in early 2025, Titan Gilroy and senior programming instructor Jessie Smith ran a series of in-depth reviews of CAM Assist[4], and later even featured the tool on their own platform[6]; around the same period came follow-up tests like "AI Just Took Over CNC Machining"[2]. The point isn't the dramatic "AI won" headline, but the framing they gave it: AI is a tool that makes machinists more productive, not something that replaces them—exactly the human-in-the-loop stance this blog has held throughout.
02Who is CloudNC: an AI company that runs its own factory
The developer of that AI in the video is the UK's CloudNC, founded in London in 2015 by Theo Saville and Chris Emery. It shares a trait with Japan's ARUM: it isn't a pure software company. CloudNC runs its own precision machining plant in Essex, England, where the software is repeatedly validated and iterated on its own machines[5]—in other words, this AI is honed every day in a real cutting environment, not in a slide deck.
The capital markets' endorsement is concrete too: in 2022 CloudNC closed a $45M Series B, led by CAD/CAM giant Autodesk, with defense major Lockheed Martin and British Patient Capital participating[5]. When the leader in design software and an aerospace-defense giant both bet on the same AI programming company, the credibility of this technology path needs little further explanation.
03What CAM Assist does: embedding into the CAM you already know
CAM Assist's product philosophy comes at it from the opposite direction to ARUM: it asks the shop to replace nothing. It embeds directly, as a plug-in, into mainstream CAM software—Autodesk Fusion, Mastercam, Siemens NX, GibbsCAM, SolidCAM[3]—so the engineer keeps the software they've used for over a decade open and hands the 3D model to the AI:
- Automatic machining-strategy planning: The AI analyzes the part geometry and generates 3-axis and 3+2-axis machining strategies and toolpaths[3].
- Automatically completes about 80% of the CAM work: The official figure is that machine, material and tool setup is done in minutes, with roughly 80% of the overall programming work handed to the AI and the remaining 20% refined and gate-kept by the engineer[3].
- Low-barrier adoption: The company says it takes about an hour to learn, installs and goes live the same day, and holds ISO 27001 and SOC 2 security certifications[3].
Note that "80% / 20%" division of labor—it's exactly the point TITANS of CNC hammers in their reviews, and the shared conclusion of every serious AI CAM product: AI is fast at the repetitive groundwork; the human is invaluable in the final judgment. For the full argument on this division of labor, see Generative AI Enters the Factory: 7 Real Use Cases and Their Limits.
04The verifiable adoption and investment figures
| Item | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Shops adopting it worldwide | More than 1,000 (since the 2024 launch) | CloudNC official press release[3] |
| Share of programming automated | About 80% | CloudNC official[3] |
| Series B round | $45M (led by Autodesk, with Lockheed Martin participating) | PR Newswire[5] |
| Supported CAM software | Fusion, Mastercam, Siemens NX, GibbsCAM, SolidCAM | CloudNC official[3] |
| Third-party testing | TITANS of CNC review series; 2026 test "AI won" | YouTube[1][2] |
The "1,000 shops" figure is worth zooming in on: these aren't sign-here trialists, but machine shops across many countries paying to slot AI into their daily programming flow. CloudNC's own reading is that this reflects a shared trend across all of advanced manufacturing—using AI to cope with the technical-labor shortage and raise output[3]. For the Taiwan-specific breakdown of the same labor-shortage pressure, see The CNC Labor-Shortage Self-Help Guide.
05Two validated routes: contrasting Japan's ARUM
Put this case alongside the Japan Kanazawa ARUM case and the picture of global AI CAM is complete—both routes have already been validated by the market:
- Route one, "fully automate by rebuilding the flow" (Japan's ARUM): ARUMCODE outputs NC programs and quotes fully automatically straight from CAD, and has even built a machine tool running GPT-5 that you talk to by voice—removing programming from the flow entirely, suited to shops willing to restructure their process.
- Route two, "embed into existing tools and accelerate" (the UK's CloudNC): CAM Assist burrows into the CAM software engineers already use, automates 80% of the repetitive work and leaves the 20% of judgment to the human—no change of habits, just amplify throughput first.
Each route has its trade-offs: the former is the most automated, but the process-restructuring cost is high; the latter adopts painlessly, but still presupposes "you have a 3D model and a CAM engineer." And that's exactly where a third reality of Taiwanese job shops surfaces: what the customer hands over is often not a 3D model but a 2D drawing, a PDF, or even a photo—at that starting point, both overseas routes are still missing the very first stretch.
06How do CAM Assist, ARUMCODE and BestAI CAM compare?
Let's put the two overseas cases and BestAI CAM in a single table—first, to be clear on the premise: all three are "AI helping the shop program," but their entry points and fit differ; this is not a better-or-worse ranking of the same product, and the two overseas columns are drawn only from public sources.
| Dimension | CAM Assist (UK's CloudNC) | ARUMCODE (Japan's ARUM) | BestAI CAM (Taiwan) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry point | An AI assistant embedded in existing CAM | Fully automates by rebuilding the programming flow | A human-in-the-loop platform that starts from the actual starting point of Taiwanese order intake (2D drawings) |
| Primary input | 3D model (inside the CAM software) | 3D CAD data | 2D drawings (DWG/PDF/photo) read directly to build 3D, also accepts 3D files |
| Automation scope | About 80% of CAM programming (3-axis / 3+2)[3] | Fully automated from feature recognition to NC program and quote | The full flow from reading the drawing, modeling and code generation through cutting simulation to AI dimensional cross-verification |
| The human's role | Engineer refines and confirms inside the CAM | Not detailed in public sources | The master only makes the key judgments—tolerances, datums and the pre-run sign-off |
| Deployment & security | Cloud service (ISO 27001 / SOC 2)[3] | Microsoft Azure cloud | Cloud platform + confidential-data protection (not retained, not used for training); a fully offline on-premises option is on the roadmap |
| Localization | Mainly English | Mainly Japanese | Traditional-Chinese interface, local Taiwan onboarding consultants, tuned to the shop's tool library, controllers and drawing conventions |
In one line: CloudNC proves that "embedding into the existing flow" can scale to a thousand shops, ARUM proves that "full automation" can support billions of yen in revenue, and BestAI CAM fills in the stretch Taiwanese job shops lack most—starting from the 2D drawing the customer actually gives you, AI does the prep work, judgment and sign-off stay with the master, and the confidential drawing stays inside the shop.
074 takeaways for Taiwan's CNC job shops
- Even the most demanding people were convinced. TITANS of CNC is known for being exacting, and after the test they admitted the AI's program beat their own—the gut feeling that "AI programming is unreliable" should be tested by a real trial, not by impression. We suggest following the controlled-pilot assessment checklist and running a head-to-head on your own shop's real drawing.
- A thousand shops prove that scaling works. ARUM is one company's success; CAM Assist's 1,000+ adopting shops prove that "AI programming" can be used day to day by shops of every size—it's not a toy reserved for big manufacturers.
- The 80/20 division of labor is a consensus, not a compromise. The two cases plus the TITANS reviews point to the same conclusion: human-in-the-loop, with AI taking over the repetitive prep and the human keeping the key judgment, is currently the most reliable production model—and it's the everyday described in A Master Machinist Brings AI to Work.
- Solve your input problem first. The overseas solutions all assume you have a 3D model; the starting point on the Taiwanese order-intake floor is often a 2D drawing and a PDF. Before adopting, take stock of the structure of your own drawing sources, then choose which stretch to automate first—this is also why BestAI CAM puts "reading the drawing and modeling" at the very first station of the flow; see The Complete Guide to CNC Automated Programming.
08FAQ
What is CAM Assist?
An AI programming assistant developed by the UK's CloudNC, embedded into mainstream CAM like Fusion, Mastercam, Siemens NX, GibbsCAM and SolidCAM, automatically generating 3-axis and 3+2-axis machining strategies; the company says it can automatically complete about 80% of the CAM work. Launched in 2024, it has since been adopted by more than 1,000 machine shops worldwide; CloudNC raised a $45M round led by Autodesk with participation from Lockheed Martin.
What did the TITANS of CNC test video say?
They pitted CAM Assist against a human programmer on the same part, and the conclusion is in the title: "I Let AI Program My CNC… It Beat Me." The channel has run a series of in-depth reviews since 2025, and its position is that AI is a tool to raise a machinist's throughput, not to replace the machinist—consistent with the human-in-the-loop principle for adoption.
How is CAM Assist different from BestAI CAM?
CAM Assist starts from the 3D model inside the CAM software and automatically generates toolpaths as a cloud service. BestAI CAM starts further upstream: Taiwanese customers usually supply only 2D drawings (DWG/PDF/photo), so it first uses AI to read the drawing and build the 3D, then generates G-code according to the shop's tool library and machine conditions, and after cutting simulation and a second AI dimensional check, a master signs off; confidential data is not retained and not used for training under the commercial terms (a fully offline on-premises deployment is on the roadmap). See the comparison table above.
What do these overseas cases mean for Taiwanese machine shops?
Japan's ARUM, the UK's CloudNC, plus the front-line tests from an American channel, mean AI programming has been independently validated across different markets. For Taiwanese shops, the question has shifted from "can AI do it" to "which model suits my shop"—we suggest starting by taking stock of your drawing sources and cataloging your tool library, and running a controlled pilot on one real drawing.
We'll let you know when new articles and video walkthroughs go live—no inbox flooding, one-click unsubscribe. (newsletter in Chinese)
VALIDATED ABROAD, LOCALIZED FOR TAIWAN
AI programming, validated abroad—starting from one 2D drawing in your shop
BestAI CAM brings drawing reading and modeling, G-code generation, cutting simulation and AI dimensional verification into your shop's conditions, with a clear protection boundary for confidential drawings (not retained, not used for training). Leave your contact details and an onboarding consultant will get in touch.
Training courses · ← Back to the BestAI CAM product overview
09References
- TITANS of CNC MACHINING (YouTube). I Let AI Program My CNC… It Beat Me. youtube.com/watch?v=HiYXoulNBTY
- TITANS of CNC MACHINING (YouTube). AI Just Took Over CNC Machining. youtube.com/watch?v=B6s5NxvrErA
- CloudNC Newsroom. CAM Assist now used by over 1,000 machine shops globally to accelerate CNC programming with AI. cloudnc.com/news-room
- CloudNC Blog. Titans of CNC: getting to grips with CAM Assist!. cloudnc.com/blog
- PR Newswire. CloudNC raises $45m to deliver autonomous manufacturing (Autodesk-led Series B, Lockheed Martin participation). prnewswire.com
- TITANS of CNC. CloudNC CAM Assist for Smarter CAM Programming. titansofcnc.com/products/cloudnc-cam-assist