Circuit raises $30M to scale AI for manufacturing and service operations
Circuit, an Austin-based technology firm, has secured $30 million from individual investors to expand its AI platform for manufacturing and product-centered service teams. The focus: help organizations configure complex products, quote accurately, and resolve technical issues faster-without relying solely on a shrinking pool of veteran experts.
"The work is getting harder and the people who know how to do it are leaving," said co-founder and CEO Tyson Tuttle. "Products are more complex, tools are changing, and U.S. manufacturers are being asked to produce more with fewer experienced hands. Circuit exists to make sure expertise scales with the business."
Why it matters for Ops, Support, and Product
Manufacturers face rising product complexity while institutional knowledge lives in legacy systems-or in the heads of retiring employees. Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute have warned about a persistent talent gap that could leave millions of roles unfilled over the next decade. See their research.
If you run operations, customer support, or product development, the mandate is clear: capture expert logic, standardize execution, and reduce error rates-without slowing teams down.
How Circuit works
The platform converts technical manuals, schematics, CAD files, and exploded views into structured workflows. It integrates with ERPs, quoting tools, and CRMs, pulling documentation from systems you already use.
Frontline users describe a job in plain language-field conditions, options, constraints. Circuit then applies proprietary reasoning to interpret configuration logic, compatibility rules, and technical dependencies, guiding steps for quoting, installation, and troubleshooting.
What teams can expect
- Operations: Shorter quote cycles, fewer handoffs, and cleaner governance because rules live in the workflow-not scattered across PDFs and spreadsheets. Explore AI for Operations.
- Customer Support: Guided diagnostics and fix paths reduce repeat calls and speed up first-time resolution. New hires ramp faster with embedded how-to steps, not ad-hoc tribal knowledge. See AI for Customer Support.
- Product Development: Configuration logic and field feedback become assets you can maintain, test, and reuse across SKUs, options, and regions-without rewriting the same rules in five places.
Early traction
Manufacturers and product-centered service organizations, including Culligan and furniture brand Four Hands, report faster quoting, fewer support errors, and quicker onboarding. Tony Bender, an executive and adviser at Culligan, said: "In a market crowded with general-purpose AI, it matters that Circuit actually understands manufacturing and service workflows-and how to measure success. They're turning our years of product documents and operational know-how into guided execution our teams and dealers can rely on."
Funding, investors, and pedigree
The round includes prominent business leaders who have built or scaled multi-billion-dollar companies: Jim Breyer, Charlie Amato, Lew Cirne, Niccolo De Masi, Tom Long, Gary Petersen, Gary Rieschel, and Craig Robins.
Circuit was founded by former Silicon Labs executives, including ex-CEO Tyson Tuttle, bringing decades of manufacturing and industrial product experience. That background shows up in how the platform fits into daily workflows, not just proofs of concept.
Practical next steps for teams
- Start with one high-friction flow: complex quoting, field configuration, or recurring troubleshooting paths with high error or rework rates.
- Aggregate the source of truth: latest manuals, schematics, CAD, parts lists, compatibility matrices, and existing macros or rules.
- Integrate where work happens: ERP for parts/pricing, quoting software for approvals, CRM/case systems for support history.
- Measure impact: quote cycle time, approval turnaround, first-time fix rate, support error rate, onboarding time to proficiency.
- Close the loop: feed field outcomes and exceptions back into product rules so the system improves with each deployment.
What to watch next
- Change management: clear ownership for rules and documentation keeps workflows trustworthy.
- Governance: versioning, approvals, and audit trails for configuration logic and fix procedures.
- Security and data residency: ensure controls match your ERP/CRM and customer data policies.
Bottom line: if your teams wrestle with complex configurations, quotes, or field fixes-and your experts are stretched thin-operationalizing product knowledge is the highest-leverage move you can make. Circuit's funding signals there's serious momentum behind that shift.
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