AI is driving unprecedented growth in data center compute, with the market projected to approach $2 trillion by 2030 and revenue growth averaging approximately 24% annually from 2025 to 2030. As AI adoption progresses from infrastructure and physical systems to scientific discovery, it is creating a major opportunity for verification and in particular formal verification - the crown of design. Natural-language interfaces and AI-driven productivity are introducing a new level of abstraction, while emerging examples of AI-assisted mathematical reasoning demonstrate the potential to extend scientific and engineering capabilities.
This keynote traces the evolution from the man–machine communication vision presented at DAC 1964, through collective intelligence and human-in-the-loop formal methods presented at JUG 2013, to today’s agentic verification workflows in Cadence ChipStack. These workflows combine specialized formal agents, proof engines, machine learning, and expert guidance to address properties that remain difficult to prove manually. By interleaving design and verification, and using platforms such as Cadence ChipStack, the Formal Verification AI Flywheel can transform productivity at scale into greater proof power, enabling engineers to build increasingly complex systems with higher confidence and much less manual effort.
Short bio: Ziyad Hanna is a Corporate Vice President at Cadence Design Systems and R&D General Manager of Cadence Israel. He leads system verification products and Cadence-wide AI initiatives for autonomous chip-design development. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President of Jasper and senior PE and management roles at Intel, where he developed three generations of formal-verification suites widely deployed since the start of Pentium. Hanna earned degrees from Tel Aviv University and a PhD from Oxford University, where he is a visiting professor. An IEEE Senior Member, he has published over 30 articles, 20 patents, and delivered hundreds of industrial and academic presentations and talks. His honors include Intel IAA awards and an honorary doctorate from Ruppin Collage. Ziyad initiated a formal-verification course at the Technion that attracts hundreds of students interested in pursuing advanced studies in the field.