Professional Role and Company Overview
Duncan Haldane is the Founder, CEO, and Co-founder of JITX, a San Jose-based technology startup focused on automating printed circuit board (PCB) design through innovative AI-driven electronic design automation (EDA) tools. JITX provides a software-powered platform that accelerates circuit board design by automating what traditionally has been a manual, skill-intensive process performed by engineers, aiming to make PCB design faster, cheaper, and more efficient.
JITX has been recognized as a Y Combinator alumnus and has secured Series A funding from Sequoia Capital, signaling substantial investor confidence. The company is actively growing its engineering team as of late 2024 and gaining traction in industry events like DesignCon, where its AI-enabled PCB design technology was notably well-received.
Key Responsibilities and Initiatives
As CEO, Duncan Haldane leads JITX’s strategy, product development, and market positioning. He spearheads efforts to develop and refine their code-powered PCB design platform, exploiting software reuse and generative AI technologies such as large language models (LLMs) to automate complex circuit design workflows traditionally performed manually.
He advocates for transforming PCB design from a manual art into a more deterministic, software-defined engineering discipline, enabling hardware engineers to "write code" to design circuits. His leadership is instrumental in addressing long-standing industry challenges surrounding the speed, scalability, and accuracy of board design.
Professional Background and Expertise
- Duncan Haldane’s technical background includes early work in robotics, where he earned recognition such as a best-paper award from the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems and even set a Guinness World Record related to robotics (prior to JITX’s focus).
- His educational background includes studies at the University of California, and his career trajectory transitioned from robotics and electronics research into pioneering EDA innovation with JITX.
- He is highly engaged in industry thought leadership through appearances on technical podcasts such as PCB Chat and the OnTrack PCB Design Podcast, where he elaborates on JITX’s innovative approach and the unique confluence of AI and circuit board design.
Company Market Position and Product Highlights
- JITX’s platform represents one of the pioneering efforts in AI-enabled PCB design automation and is positioned as a transformative tool for hardware engineers, introducing a paradigm shift by combining software engineering techniques with traditional circuit design.
- The company’s approach emphasizes the automation of schematics, component placement, and circuit routing through AI and code generation, resulting in significantly reduced design times and lowered cost barriers.
- Recent notable accomplishments include:
- Successful completion of Series A funding led by Sequoia Capital.
- Positive industry reception at major electronics conferences (e.g., DesignCon 2025).
- Increasing presence and recognition in professional podcasts and industry media throughout 2022-2025.
- JITX is actively hiring engineering talent to expand its capabilities and accelerate product roadmap delivery.
Industry and Technical Insights
- Duncan Haldane highlights the limitations of manual PCB design and sees vast potential in applying generative AI models to transform and optimize workflows. He has publicly tested and discussed the use of LLMs for circuit design, noting the potential for significant productivity gains.
- The company promotes a vision where hardware engineers benefit from software reuse, utilizing code to create circuit designs rather than relying exclusively on manual, graphical layout tools.
- JITX’s technology targets to reduce common design errors and inefficiencies, offering a holistic, automated approach to circuit design that aligns with trends in the broader EDA market towards AI and automation.
Relevant Links
- LinkedIn Profile: [Duncan Haldane](https://www.linkedin.com/in/duncan-haldane)
- Company Website: [JITX About Page](https://www.jitx.com/about)
- Podcasts & Interviews:
- PCB Chat 135 (Sep 2024)
- Macrofab Podcast (Dec 2022)
- OnTrack: The PCB Design Podcast (Oct 2022)
This detailed profile establishes Duncan Haldane as a technically experienced CEO with deep domain expertise in robotics and electronics, now channeling those skills into disruptive AI-driven EDA innovation through JITX. His leadership and JITX’s technology developments position the company as a potential key player in automating and modernizing PCB design processes.
