277 An Integrator's View of Applying AI

277 An Integrator's View of Applying AI

Nothing in industrial technology news annoys me more than the hype around artificial intelligence—AI. I recorded this podcast on the eve of the Automate trade show and conference in June 2026. Looking to for realistic use of Industrial AI, I'm bringing in an interview with a practitioner. Bryan DeBois is Director of Industrial AI at RoviSys, one of the largest independent system integrators. He has 20 years in MES, historians, and plant floor software. He leads teams that operationalize AI and data infrastructure in live plants, working with the C suite and ops to turn goals into running systems. We look at definitions of AI. Then turn to the technology development from when RoviSys developed its AI practice in 2019 pre-LLMs. RoviSys took autonomous AI beyond predictive applications. Hiring deep manufacturing expertise, they can use AI to assist the human in the loop to make constrained decisions. DeBois discusses real-world applications. He then leads us through the beginning of a project.

Aras Community Event 2026--Rise of the Agents

A first summary of my three days with the Aras community in Miami. These PLM events always return me to the time when I did this sort of work--manually. Then my first taste of computers digitizing the bill of materials as a first step in our data management journey. Unfortunately, that company hit a big bump in the road and I was invited to try other things--at other companies. Aras product managers showed how LLMs trained on the data within the app along with proper governance worked with agents to perform a number of tasks. Tasks in many cases that would require days of pain-staking work from a human. While I heard from an analyst in the market that they thought this was all painfully slow, I'd offer the thought that a company does not want to outpace its customers. Most will not want to jump into the deep end immediately. As always, this podcast was sponsored by Ignition from Inductive Automation.

Why AI in Manufacturing?

Episode 275. Why AI in Manufacturing? Why not? I explore how new technologies for knowledge work, unlike in manufacturing, create even more busy work distracting us from our real work--thinking, deep work. Looking beyond the hype, AI tools are going to help us do things. We just don't know exactly what is best. We must play with the tools to find the best ways to help us. We also need to consider the limits of text-based LLMs. Researcher Yan LeCun has looked at the limits of these technologies. How can they work for things like bringing a robot into the house, for example, when they are limited to digital and text and the environment is analog. Won't this take a system of models? Not just one model? Use them, but don't be awed. Or bamboozled by CEOs. This episode is sponsored by Inductive Automation.

Manufacturing Jobs--Is Investment Enough?

I was intrigued by an item in News Items by John Ellis quoting the Wall Street Journal regarding the continued slide in manufacturing employment in the US and the prolonged slide in manufacturing activity. The first Trump administration elicited promises of moving manufacturing to the US with the building of plants. Little of that actually happened. The Biden administration invested a few billion, but what has that brought. The second Trump administration thought that tariffs would provide the protection from competition to jump start manufacturing. I pose the idea that it takes more than investment. And protection from competition really just allows local companies leeway to raise prices. What it really takes is better, bolder, visionary leadership to search out customer needs, design products they will buy, and then produce the products. It takes more than waving a few dollars at the problem. This podcast is sponsored by Inductive Automation.

2025 Automation Fair and Software Market Thoughts

Thoughts on organization structures and Rockwell CEO Blake Moret's experiments with bringing in outsiders and setting his own directions. Thoughts on the industrial software market in general and Rockwell's evolution. What's happening with MES in particular. Rockwell upgrading and building new factories using its own products and services. Rok on Rok Repackaged cybersecurity offerings. Software defined automation--software distinct from the target controller--can target any Rockwell control. Question about IEC 61131 and targeting anyone's control fell on deaf ears. Thoughts on that market. Rockwell's use of AI, fitting trend of AI as automation tool, trained on the company's data. Rockwell's use of robotics to expand horizontally throughout manufacturing. Sponsored by Inductive Automation.